Top 10 Greatest Players of All Time

As the years go by, football has been bringing more and more important and respected names to the sport, with new players becoming phenomena in what they do and conquering with their talent, making football more than a sport, a work of art!

With that in mind, we brought you a list of 10 names that have already secured their place in history and for me, they are the greatest in the world when it comes to football!

10th - Zinédine Zidane

Born in the city of Marseille, France, Zidane was born in 1972 and made his debut as a professional athlete in 1988, playing for Cannes, France. He won his first title as a player in 1995, when he won the Intertoto Cup with Bordeaux. After that, he played for just two teams: Juventus (1996 to 2001) and Real Madrid (2001 to 2006). World champion with France in 1998, he retired from the field in 2006, shortly after the unfortunate decision to “headbutt” the Italian player Materazzi and finish runner-up in the World Cup.

Not abandoning football, in June 2014 Zidane returned from his “retirement” as a football coach for the Real Madrid Castilla team (Spanish series B) and just two years later he became coach of Real Madrid's main team, winning in the first year victories such as the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.

With a total of 31 goals as number 10 for the French national team, 26 titles and countless awards in his playing career.

9th - Ronaldo

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Ronaldo Fenômeno, as he became known worldwide, was born in 1976 and began his football career in futsal in 1989 and only played on the field in the professional league in 1993 for Cruzeiro, where he began his career, already winning the Copa do Brasil. and the Campeonato Mineiro in the same year.

Due to several injuries suffered during his career, Ronaldo Fenômeno announced his retirement in 2011, the year in which he played for Corinthians and unfortunately for medical reasons he was prevented from continuing his career.

With a total of 62 goals for the Brazilian national team, Ronaldo played for several teams such as Barcelona (where he was voted best player in the world in 1996), Real Madrid, Milan and others until arriving at Corinthians.

Having played for Brazil in 2 World Cups, 2 Copa América, 3 times the Best Player in the World award, 1 award for the best player in Europe among many others.

8th - Alfredo Di Stéfano

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1926 and nicknamed “The Blonde Arrow” (La Saeta Rubia) due to his above-average speed on the field and the color of his hair, Alfredo Di Stéfano played throughout his history both for the national team Argentina and later for the Spanish national team and is considered one of the greatest footballers in history.

He began his professional career in 1945 at River Plate, winning the Argentine Championship in the same year. In 1949 he started playing for Millonarios (City of Bogotá, Colombia) where he ended up catching the attention of Real Madrid, which he joined in 1953.

Retiring his boots in 1964, Alfredo Di Stéfano did not stay away from football and began a career as a Coach in 1965 that lasted until 1990, ending with the Real Madrid team which was the team he was coaching that year.

Passing away at the beginning of 2014, he left a good collection of awards such as 2 Ballon d'Ors, 10 times the best goalscorer award, 1 Copa América, 5 times winner of the European Champions Cup, 8 times Champion of Spain among other awards. He left his mark on Football at a time when it was played with a different strength and dedication than today and he certainly deserves his recognition and his place in the Golden Era of Football!

7th - Cristiano Ronaldo

Reaching 900 goals in official games (at the date of this article), Cristiano Ronaldo, also known by the nickname CR7, was born in the city of Funchal, Portugal in 1985. One of the most coveted players today, CR7 boasts a career that is the envy of football in the United States. nowadays and even goes beyond the limits of the field, being famous even among people who don't follow the sport, also known for its beauty and constant advertisements for different brands on TV and the internet.

Playing since 1995, he began his career in the Professional League in 2001 with Sporting Clube de Portugal. Later he also played for Manchester United, Real Madrid among others.

In his collection of awards, we have: 3 times Best Player in the World, 5 Ballon d'Ors, 4 times Best Player in Europe, 13 times Footballer of the Year (winning almost every year from 2007 to 2020) among many other awards.

6th - Mané Garrincha

Manoel Francisco dos Santos, better known as Garrincha, was born in 1933 in the state of Rio de Janeiro, played for the Brazilian national team as a Right Winger and was noticed by the public mainly for his disconcerting dribbling, even being called (at the time) the best dribbler of the history of Football.

His career began in 1953, at the age of 19, where he was signed by Botafogo and became the team's starting right winger, where he played practically his entire career, with the exception of when he represented Brazil in 3 World Cups and 2 Copa América.

Retiring from football in 1972, Mané Garrincha passed away in 1983 at just 49 years old and despite his not so long career in football, he marked history with 2 World Cups for Brazil and 1 award for Best Goalscorer, being immortalized also with his nickname giving his name to a stadium in Brasília called Arena BRB Mané Garrincha.

5th - Franz Beckenbauer

Franz Anton Albert Beckenbauer, also known as “Kaiser” (Emperor), was born in 1945 in Munich, Germany and had an extensive history in football both as a player, being probably the greatest defender in history (the only one on the “Top” best lists in the world) and as a coach.

Starting his professional career in 1964 at Bayer Munich, “Kaiser” played for a few clubs throughout his more than 20 years as a player, including the New York Cosmos, Hamburg and Bayer Munich. He also played for the German National Team between 1965 and 1977, the year he retired from the field, returning to the world of football years later as coach of the West German National Team.

In his collection of awards, we have 2 Ballon d'Ors, 4 times Footballer of the Year, 1 time World Champion, 1 European Champion Award among many others!

4th - Lionel Messi

Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini was born in 1987 in the city of Rosario, Argentina and has been considered the best player in the world more than once and is the player with the most official goals for a single club (672 goals).

Starting his career in professional clubs with Barcelona C in 2003 and the following year moving to Barcelona (main club), Messi played for a few clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami. Despite playing for teams in Spain, the only team in which Messi played was Argentina, where he scored 109 goals in 187 counting only official games for the team.

As for his awards: 8 Ballon d'Ors, 4 times Best Player in the World, 3 times Best Player in Europe, 23 times Top Scorer of the Year award, 4 times Footballer of the Year, 1 time World Champion with Argentina and others.

3rd - Johan Cruyff

Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, he is considered by IFFHS as the best European footballer of the 20th century and the second greatest in the world in that century, below only Pelé. Considered as a revolutionary, tactical, offensive, collective and efficient player, he is considered a of the drivers of "modern football". If, currently, there are versatile players in football who can play without a fixed position on the field, without compromising their individual performances, much is due to this brilliant star and no less to his coach at Ajax, Barcelona and the Dutch National Team.

He began his professional career in 1964 at the club Ajax (Amsterdam) and played for some clubs during his career such as Barcelona, ​​Los Angeles Aztecs, Washington Diplomats, Levante and Feyenoord. He also played for the Netherlands National Football Team and Catalonia. He later became Coach of the teams Ajax (1986 – 1988), Barcelona (1988 – 1996) and Catalonia (2009 – 2013).

On his “shelf” we have 3 Ballon d'Ors, 7 times Top Scorer, 3 European Cups, 1 time Spanish Champion, 1 time UEFA-Supercup winner and more.

2nd- Diego Maradona

Born in 1960 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was a footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and is considered one of the greatest players of all time. He led Argentina to win the 1986 FIFA World Cup and was responsible, in the quarter-finals, for the Goal of the Century.

Unfortunately, a few years later in his career, the 1994 World Cup was marked as the end of Maradona's successful career with the national team, after he was caught in an anti-doping test in the match against Nigeria. Starting his professional club career in 1976, he played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, ​​Napoli, Sevilla, Newll’s Old Boys and Boca Junior. After the sad event in 1994 that made him leave the Fields, Maradona became Coach until 2020 when he passed away due to a cardiorespiratory arrest.

Some of his awards throughout his career are: 4 times Footballer of the Year, 5 times Top Scorer, 1 time World Champion for Argentina, 2 times Italian Champion among others.

1st - Pele

Born in 1940 in the city of Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Edson Arantes do Nascimento is today described as “The King of football” and is the only player to win three World Cups.

Two-time Libertadores champion with Santos and the greatest player of his time, where the history of football was still being written, Pelé transcended the status of an athlete and became a symbol of the sport not only in Brazil, but known throughout the world!

His name needs no introduction and in his collection we have 3 World Cups for Brazil, 6 times Top Scorer, 6 times Brazilian Champion, 2 Libertadores, 2 World Cups (also with Santos), among others.

And this is our list of the Top 10 names in the history of Football!

For those of you who love football, keep an eye on the website as there are still lots of articles coming.

I'll stop here for today and see you next time!