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This is a list of men's football players considered "the greatest of all time", so assessed by at least one expert or one group of experts. [lower-alpha 1] With the 20th century coming to an end, numerous lists were composed and votes held on the subject. [1]
Hyperbole and the influence of one's employer [2] [3] may have influenced some opinions. It has also been argued that due to the vast pool of talent, circumstantial differences, personal preferences, and the evolution of the game, it is difficult to compare players from different eras. [4] [5]
Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. In rhetoric, it is also sometimes known as auxesis. In poetry and oratory, it emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and creates strong impressions. As a figure of speech, it is usually not meant to be taken literally.
Player | Years | Club(s) | National team(s) | № of expert(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Michelle Akers | 1985–2000 | Two clubs | 1
| |
Mia Hamm | 1987–2004 | One club | 1
| |
Marta | 2000– | 1
| ||
Sun Wen | 1989–2006 | Three clubs
| 1
|
FIFA Player of the Century was a one-off award created by FIFA to decide the greatest football player of the 20th century, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000. Diego Maradona and Pelé were joint winners of the award. Maradona won the award based on the Internet poll, while Pelé won the award based on votes from FIFA officials, journalists and coaches. | The World Team of the 20th Century was chosen in 1998 to comprise the best association football players of the 20th century CE. The team comprises an eleven-member side, with one goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders, and three forwards. The FIFA All-Time Team is a fictive all-time association football team published by FIFA in 1994. It is an eleven-member side divided as one goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders, and three forwards. The FIFA World Cup Dream Team is an all-time FIFA World Cup all-star team published by FIFA in 2002 after conducting an internet poll of fans to select a World Cup dream team. Diego Maradona of Argentina received the most votes. More than one-and-a-half million fans worldwide voted in the poll, conducted by the official FIFA website, www.FIFAworldcup.com, with Maradona receiving 111,035 votes. Brazil's Pelé, who played for three World Cup-winning teams, won 107,539 votes and Zinedine Zidane, who scored twice for France in their 1998 triumph, came in third with 80,527. |
FIFA Female Player of the Century was a one-off award created by the global governing body FIFA to decide the greatest football female player of the 20th century, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000. American player Michelle Akers and Chinese player Sun Wen were joint winners of the award. Michelle Akers won the award based on votes from FIFA officials, journalists and coaches, while Sun Wen won the award based on the Internet poll. |
Diego Armando Maradona is an Argentine retired professional footballer and current manager of Mexican second division club Dorados. Many in the sport, including football writers, players, and fans, regard him as the greatest football player of all time. He was joint FIFA Player of the 20th Century with Pelé. Maradona's vision, passing, ball control and dribbling skills was combined with his small stature, giving him a low center of gravity which allowed him to maneuver better than most other football players; he would often dribble past multiple opposing players on a run. His presence and leadership on the field had a great effect on his team's general performance, while he would often be singled out by the opposition. A precocious talent, Maradona was given the nickname "El Pibe de Oro", a name that stuck with him throughout his career.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played as a forward. He is regarded by many in the sport, including football writers, players, and fans, as the greatest player of all time. In 1999, he was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century award. That same year, Pelé was elected Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee. According to the IFFHS, Pelé is the most successful domestic league goal-scorer in football history scoring 650 goals in 694 League matches, and in total 1281 goals in 1363 games, which included unofficial friendlies and is a Guinness World Record. During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the best-paid athlete in the world.
Futbol Club Barcelona, commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça, is a Spanish professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
The Ballon d'Or is an annual football award presented by France Football. It has been awarded since 1956, although between 2010 and 2015, an agreement was made with FIFA and the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year, and known as the FIFA Ballon d'Or. However, the partnership ended in 2016 and the award was reversed back to Ballon d'Or, while FIFA also reverted to its own separate annual award.
Gabriel Omar Batistuta is an Argentine retired professional footballer. After beginning his career in Argentina in 1988 with Newell's Old Boys, followed by River Plate and Boca Juniors where he won titles, the prolific striker played most of his club football with Fiorentina in Italy; he is their all-time top scorer in Serie A with 152 goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos AveiroGOIH ComM is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Juventus and captains the Portugal national team. Often considered the best player in the world and regarded by many as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has a record-tying five Ballon d'Or awards, the most for a European player, and is the first player to win four European Golden Shoes. He has won 27 trophies in his career, including five league titles, five UEFA Champions League titles and one UEFA European Championship. A prolific goalscorer, Ronaldo holds the records for most official goals scored in Europe's top-five leagues (414), the UEFA Champions League (124), the UEFA European Championship (9), as well as those for most assists in the UEFA Champions League (34) and the UEFA European Championship (6). He has scored 700 senior career goals for club and country.
Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often considered the best player in the world and regarded by many as the greatest player of all time,Messi has won a record-tying five Ballon d'Or awards, four of which he won consecutively, and a record five European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won a club-record 32 trophies, including nine La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and six Copas del Rey. Both a prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (412), a La Liga season (50), a club football season in Europe (73), a calendar year (91), El Clásico (26) and for the most hat-tricks in the UEFA Champions League (8), as well as those for most assists in La Liga (166) and the Copa América (11). He has scored over 680 senior career goals for club and country.
The Onze d'Or is an association football award given by French magazine Onze Mondial since 1976. The award honors the best player in Europe, with any player in a European league eligible. Since 1991, there has also been a vote for the best coach of the year.
World Soccer is an English language football magazine published by TI Media. The magazine was established in 1960. It specialises in the international football scene. Its regular contributing writers include Brian Glanville, Keir Radnedge, Sid Lowe and Tim Vickery. World Soccer is a member of the European Sports Magazines (ESM), an umbrella group of similar magazines printed in other languages. Other members include A Bola, Don Balón, Kicker, La Gazzetta dello Sport and Sport Express. The members of this group elect a European "Team of the Month" and a European "Team of the Year".
In association football, rugby league, rugby union and Australian rules football, a dummy or feint is a player deceiving the opposition into believing he is going to pass, shoot, move in a certain direction, or receive the ball and instead doing something entirely different, thus gaining an advantage.
Icons.com is an online retailer of authentic signed sports memorabilia based in Kentish Town, London. The website was launched in 1999 initially as the leading portal for the personal websites of the world’s top footballers. Since late 2008, it has sold merchandise and memorabilia signed by the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Gareth Bale, Luis Suárez, Sergio Agüero, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Paolo Maldini, Ronaldo, Diego Maradona, Pelé and Eric Cantona.
El Clásico is the name given in football to any match between fierce rivals Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Originally it referred only to those competitions held in the Spanish championship, but nowadays the term has been generalized, and tends to include every single match between the two clubs: UEFA Champions League, Copa del Rey, etc. Other than the UEFA Champions League Final, it is considered one of the biggest club football games in the world, and is among the most viewed annual sporting events. A fixture known for its intensity, it has featured memorable goal celebrations from both teams, often involving mocking the opposition.
New Maradona or New Diego is a title given by the press and public to promising Argentine football players in reference to Diego Maradona as a benchmark. Since Maradona retired, people have been anticipating someone to lead the Argentine national team to a World Cup final, like Maradona did twice.
This page details football records in Spain. Unless otherwise stated, records are taken from Primera División or La Liga. This page also include records from the Spanish domestic cup competition or Copa del Rey.
The FIFA Club World Cup is an international association football competition organised by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship was first contested as the FIFA Club World Championship in 2000. It was not held between 2001 and 2004 due to a combination of factors, most importantly the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner International Sport and Leisure. Following a change in format which saw the FIFA Club World Championship absorb the Intercontinental Cup, it was relaunched in 2005 and took its current name the season afterwards.
The Globe Soccer Awards are the annual awards given for excellence in football. EFAA and the ECA organize the Globe Soccer Awards. The Globe Soccer Awards have filled the gap in the panorama of football awards to mark a season of commitment at the highest possible level. Every year Globe Soccer organizes an official Gala Dinner. In this occasion the leading footballing names from all the continents attend the award ceremony which is broadcast live on many TV Networks. Cristiano Ronaldo have the most World Soccer awards with 5 times Player of the Year and 10 awards in all.
The Ronaldo–Messi rivalry is a football rivalry between fans of Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentinian forward Lionel Messi and supposedly between the athletes themselves. Having won a combined ten Ballon d'Or/FIFA Ballon d'Or awards, both are widely regarded not only as the two best players of their generation, but also regarded by many in the sport, including players, writers and fans, as the greatest of all time. Both players have won a combined 59 trophies during their careers thus far and have regularly broken the 50 goal barrier in a single season. They're amongst the 28 players in the history of the sport to score over 500 career goals, currently ranked at 6th (Ronaldo) and 7th (Messi) respectively, with both having scored over 680 goals each in their careers for club and country. Sports journalists and pundits regularly argue the individual merits of both players in an attempt to establish who they believe is the best player in modern football. It has been compared to past global sports rivalries such as the Muhammad Ali–Joe Frazier rivalry in boxing, the Federer–Nadal rivalry, Björn Borg–John McEnroe rivalry in tennis and the Ayrton Senna–Alain Prost rivalry in Formula One motor racing.
It's widely understood that everyone employed by Real Madrid will say that [Cristiano] Ronaldo is the better of the two [Lionel Messi and Ronaldo].
When he wasn't coach of the richest football team in the world, Zinedine Zidane was allowed opinions on things not pertaining to Real Madrid.
Baggio è il più grande giocatorino che abbia mai visto.
Faccio tanti auguri a Roberto, è un ragazzo straordinario, sa giocare a calcio come pochi, sicuramente il più forte col quale ho giocato. Non era alto, sembrava non fosse forte fisicamente ma lo era, ha avuto problemi gravi alle ginocchia ma non l'hanno fermato. Per il momento uno come lui non c'è in circolazione, negli ultimi 30 metri diventava cinico, non perdonava, sapeva far gol e mettere la palla perfetta al compagno.
With all respect for players such as Pelé, Johan Cruyff, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, for me Franz Beckenbauer continues to be the best player in the world of all time.
The legendary Brazilian footballer Pele famously named George Best as the world's greatest ever player.
'Di Stéfano’s the greatest player in history,' Herrera would later say.
After the sad death of Dutch icon Johan Cruyff at the age of 68 on Thursday, we ask 10 Eurosport writers in the UK and Ireland and around mainland Europe to name their greatest five players in the history of the game and why they merit their place in the top five.
Eusébio: 'He was the best player of all time,' said Alfredo Di Stéfano after Eusébio's death in January 2014.
Paolo Maldini is the best I’ve played against.
Former Spain coach José Antonio Camacho has talked about how he thinks the Argentine hero Diego Armando Maradona is the 'best player in the history of the game'.
SB: Who in your opinion is the greatest player of all time? GH: Diego Maradona.
'It was so emotional because in more than 20 years I didn't see him, to meet again, that's fantastic. For me he's the best player ever in football and he's massive. He remembered every single moment that we shared when we played at Newell's Old Boys. That is why he's Diego Maradona. He's fantastic not only on the pitch, but off the pitch he's a great personality.'
Diego Maradona 'is and will remain' the greatest ever, says Gabriel Batistuta, who believes Lionel Messi lacks the charisma to match him. [...] 'For me, [Maradona] was the greatest of all,' Batistuta told Corriere dello Sport.
[Rio Ferdinand] said: 'We were like school kids around a star coming to school. In my eyes he is the best footballer ever. He is one of my heroes if not the shining beacon when I was a kid.'
'Maradona was the real best footballer ever seen in the world. Telling you the truth, I always liked Maradona. Both (Pele and Maradona) have been fantastic players.' Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.
The late great Peppino Prisco considered him to be the best of all time: 'Meazza was great, unbeatable, even if he would occasionally run into a frightful crisis, caused by his intense sexual activity and his passion for the game. When he took over on the field, he did things that left the mouth ajar.'
Secondo Brera, e dunque secondo la storia, è stato il più grande di tutti.
Days before The Best Awards [Hoyos] says: 'He is the best ever'. [...] *Pep Guardiola said a little while ago that he’s the greatest player of all time, by a distance. What’s your view? *That’s the way I see it too, and I say that with the utmost respect for everyone else.
El entrenador del Southampton aseguró que 'Messi es el mejor jugador de todos los tiempos' y alabó el trabajo de Luis Enrique en el Barcelona, 'responsable de buena parte del éxito' del conjunto azulgrana esta temporada.
It has to be Lionel Messi who I am convinced is not only the best player I have ever seen but the best player ever.
Insomma, Cristiano è un fenomeno. Ma lei ha un debole soprattutto per Leo Messi. Come mai? «Amo Messi non in contrapposizione a Cristiano, ma perché per me è il più grande della storia, perché l’emozione che riesce a darmi è unica [...]».
Juventus’ Paulo Dybala admits Lionel Messi is ‘the best player in the history of football’ and that merely training with him for Argentina is ‘incredible’.
Fabregas believes Messi is the greatest player of all time, regardless of whether or not he wins a World Cup.
'I am not crazy enough to compare myself with Messi because he is the best there ever was and the best there will ever be.' That is what Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez had to say to reporters in Germany who have constantly compared him to Lionel Messi in the run-up to the European Champions League final.
Betis veteran Joaquin showered Messi with praise after the match, calling him 'the best in history'.
Terry played in all eight of those matches [against Barcelona] and is savouring the prospect of testing himself against Lionel Messi, a player he regards as the greatest in football history.
Gerd was and remains the best of all time, the Muhammad Ali of the penalty box.
The best of all was Pele, who is a mixture of Di Stefano, [Diego] Maradona, Cruyff and Leo Messi.
César Luis Menotti: 'The best of all was Pele'
1. Pelé (Brasil)
1.Pelé
Soccer: Pelé
1. Pelé
1.Édson Arantes do Nascimento - PELÉ (Brazil)
'The best player ever is without any doubt Pele. After that you have Alfredo [Di Stefano], [Johan] Cruyff, and Diego [Maradona],' Gatti said in an interview with Radio La Red.
Pele is the greatest player in football history, and there will only be one Pele in the world.
Messi can be the best, but first he has to beat Maradona, Romario and then eventually Pele.
Me enfrenté a él como defensa jugando primero en el Sao Bento y después en el Palmeiras, tuve que marcarle y no soy de dar patadas, era un jugador técnico, y digo que Pelé es el máximo futbolista de la historia.
Para mí, Pelé es el jugador más extraordinario que he visto en el mundo; tuve la suerte de jugar con grandes figuras del fútbol mundial, como con Maradona, pero Pelé es el más grande.
¿El mejor jugador que yo he visto? Pues eso tiene respuesta inmediata... Pelé, no hay otro que Pelé. ¡Ese es un fenómeno!
1. The King, Pelé (Brazil), 2. Johan Cruyff (Netherlands), 3. Diego Maradona (Argentina), 4. Myself, Roger Milla (Cameroon), 5. The Black Panther, Eusébio da Silva (Portugal)
I was really lucky early in my managerial career in Germany that I met Pele and Franz Beckenbauer and worked around them during the World Cup in 2006...Immediately for me, my two big heroes when I was growing up – whatever they say in the future, Pele is the best player until the end of the world – and they were completely cool, nice, friendly, thankful for their lives, stuff like that.
Personalmente, he visto de cerca a Pelé y tuve el honor y el “desagrado” de jugar contra él, para mí es el más grande de todos los tiempos.
Eu marcava mais o meia, que ficava mais atrás, o Mengálvio. Pelé era um ponta de lança, o maior que já existiu, era um inferno jogar contra ele, um inferno. Pelé é absolutamente incomparável, rapidez mental única. Te dava um drible sem você perceber. O que fazíamos era tentar antecipar, porque um jogador como ele era imarcável...Depois de Pelé e Di Stéfano é ele[Maradona], sem dúvida.
Tampoco acudirá Pelé, quien ha enviado una carta a la comisión que organiza el entierro. 'Me despido del comandante galopante. Ha sido mi amigo y el mejor futbolista de todos los tiempos', dice el brasileño en la misiva.
Up front Garcia named a striker that he said was the best ever. 'At striker I will go for the best player that’s ever played... Ronaldinho,' said Garcia.
'I’ve watched two million of [the Brazilian Ronaldo's] goals,' says Higuaín. 'For me, he’s the best ever, by a big margin.'
Alexis Sanchez think [ sic ] Ronaldo is the greatest player of all time [...] 'In my opinion he's the best player of all time - that's just my view.'
[C]annavaro feels the Argentine has the edge on the Portugal captain - though he considers the 28-year-old's Brazilian namesake to be the game's greatest ever. 'In my career, Diego Maradona had the biggest influence on me,' Cannavaro told 21CN. 'But I think there is another player who might be even greater. That’s the Brazilian Ronaldo.'
'I don’t know how I can explain it. There are many great players, but Ronaldo was the greatest and so one word from him is worth more than a thousand of all the others.'
Jorge Mendes said the 29-year-old forward was the 'best player ever' and the 'best sportsman ever'.
... I backed him vigorously in the debates against Messi for the title of G.O.A.T.
Karim Benzema says he believes his Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo is the best footballer of all time.
[Felix] added: 'I would like to play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo because he is simply the greatest. An idol, a world icon, an example for everyone.'
Crystal Palace striker Connor Wickham joked on Twitter about meeting the GOAT (greatest of all time) Cristiano Ronaldo
Creo que Cristiano es el mejor de todos los tiempos porque ha ganado también una Eurocopa con su país. Ha triunfado en todos los equipos en los que ha estado e incluso ganó una Champions en el United. Ha estado en tres países distintos... es el mejor futbolista de todos los tiempos
'Lo so, [Zico] ha vinto poco, non ha vinto niente di importante. Ma resta il piu' grande, inimitabile'. Questo dice Ronaldo in Olanda e in Spagna.
While there's debate in the men's game for the title of the best of all time — Pele, Maradona, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo among the contenders — coach Alen Stajcic said there was no debate in the women's game. "That's not even an opinion, it's a fact," he said.