Zinedine Yazid Zidane, popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most successful coaches in the world. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Zidane was a playmaker renowned for his elegance, vision, passing, ball control, and technique. He received many individual accolades as a player, including being named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000 and 2003, and winning the 1998 Ballon d'Or.
Paolo Cesare Maldini is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left-back and centre-back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time. As the Milan and Italy captain for many years he was nicknamed "Il Capitano". Maldini held the record for most appearances in Serie A, with 647 and holds the joint-record for most European Cup/UEFA Champions League final appearances (8) alongside Paco Gento. He most recently served as technical director for Milan, as well as being co-owner of USL Championship club Miami FC.
Nílton dos Santos was a Brazilian footballer who primarily played as a wingback. At international level, he was a member of the Brazil squads that won the 1958 and 1962 World Cups.
Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker or attacking midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, he finished as La Liga's top goalscorer twice with Valencia where he amassed 116 goals in 184 league games.
Just Louis Fontaine was a French professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored the most goals ever in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, with thirteen in six matches in the 1958 FIFA World Cup tournament. In March 2004, Pelé named him one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony.
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr and the Portugal national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or awards, a record three UEFA Men's Player of the Year Awards, and four European Golden Shoes, the most by a European player. He has won 33 trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, the UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Nations League. Ronaldo holds the records for most appearances (183), goals (140) and assists (42) in the Champions League, goals in the European Championship (14), international goals (128) and international appearances (205). He is one of the few players to have made over 1,200 professional career appearances, the most by an outfield player, and has scored over 850 official senior career goals for club and country, making him the top goalscorer of all time.
Laurent Robert Blanc is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, and was most recently the manager of Ligue 1 club Lyon. He has the nickname Le Président, which was given to him following his stint at Marseille in tribute to his leadership skills.
Rafael Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player. Nadal has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 209 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. Nadal has won 22 Grand Slam men's singles titles, including a record 14 French Open titles. He has won 92 ATP-level singles titles, including 36 Masters titles and an Olympic gold medal, with 63 of these on clay courts. Nadal is one of only two men to complete the Career Golden Slam in singles. His 81 consecutive wins on clay constitute the longest single-surface win streak in the Open Era.
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record eight Ballon d'Or awards, a record six European Golden Shoes, and was named the world's best player for a record eight times by FIFA. Until leaving the club in 2021, he had spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles, and the UEFA Champions League four times. With his country, he won the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (474), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (eight), and most assists in La Liga (192) and the Copa América (17). He also has the most international goals by a South American male (106). Messi has scored over 800 senior career goals for club and country, and has the most goals by a player for a single club (672).
The Bola de Ouro is an annual award given each year, since 1973, by Brazilian sports magazine Placar to the best player in the Campeonato Brasileiro. A group of sports journalists watch every match of the competition and rate players 1 to 10 based on their performance. At the end of the season, the players with the best average rating in each position are awarded the Bola de Prata, and the player with the best overall average rating is the recipient of the Bola de Ouro.
At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game.
Karim Mostafa Benzema is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad. Regarded as one of the best strikers of all time, he is a creative forward known for his technical skills, vision and versatility on the field, Benzema is Real Madrid's all-time second-highest goalscorer and top assist provider. He won 24 trophies with Real Madrid, including four La Liga, three Copa del Rey, and five UEFA Champions League titles.
The Liga I, also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top football competition, being contested by 16 clubs which take part in a promotion and relegation system with the Liga II. The teams play 30 matches each in the regular season, before entering the championship play-offs or the relegation play-outs according to their position in the regular table.
The Premier League Golden Boot is an annual association football award presented to the leading goalscorer in the Premier League. For sponsorship purposes, it was called the Carling Golden Boot from 1994 to 2001, the Barclaycard Golden Boot from 2002 to 2004, the Barclays Golden Boot from 2005 to 2016, the Cadbury Golden Boot from 2017 to 2020, and the Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Golden Boot for 2021. Since 2022, it is referred to as the Castrol Golden Boot. In addition to the trophy, winners of the Golden Boot are usually given £1,000 for every goal they scored throughout the season to donate to a charity of their choice, although Robin van Persie was given £30,000 after scoring 26 goals in the 2012–13 season.
The ATP Masters events, known as ATP Masters 1000 tournaments since 2009, are an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour since its inception in 1990. The Masters tournaments, along with the Grand Slam tournaments and the year-end championships, make up the most coveted trophies on the annual ATP Tour calendar. In addition to the quadrennial Summer Olympics, they are collectively known as the 'Big Titles'.
Kylian Mbappé Lottin is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the France national team. Regarded as one of the best players in the world, he is known for his dribbling, speed, and finishing.
Pedro González López, more commonly known as Pedri, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays primarily as a central-midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team.
Robert Lewandowski,
Kosovare Asllani (2022)
