100 Greatest Football (Soccer) Players

[Tim]

Criteria: Influence, achievements (team & personal), level & style of play

1. Lionel Messi
2. Pelé
3. Diego Maradona
4. Alfredo di Stéfano
5. Cristiano Ronaldo
6. Johan Cruyff
7. Franz Beckenbauer
8. Ferenc Puskás
9. Michel Platini
10. Garrincha
11. Eusébio
12. Ronaldo
13. Zinedine Zidane
14. Lev Yashin
15. Gerd Müller
16. Bobby Charlton
17. Marco van Basten
18. Zico
19. Paolo Maldini
20. Franco Baresi
21. Giuseppe Meazza
22. Romário
23. Xavi
24. Matthias Sindelar
25. Roberto Baggio
26. Andres Iniesta
27. Lothar Matthäus
28. Stanley Matthews
29. George Best
30. Ronaldinho
31. Gianluigi Buffon
32. Bobby Moore
33. Sándor Kocsis
34. José Manuel Moreno
35. José Leandro Andrade
36. Manuel Neuer
37. Didi
38. Luka Modric
39. John Charles
40. Giacinto Facchetti
41. Ruud Gullit
42. Juan Schiaffino
43. Zizinho
44. Kylian Mbappé
45. Dino Zoff
46. Nilton Santos
47. Djalma Santos
48. Thierry Henry
49. Fritz Walter
50. Rivelino
51. Gordon Banks
52. Valentino Mazzola
53. László Kubala
54. Raymond Kopa
55. József Bozsik
56. Michael Laudrup
57. Gianni Rivera
58. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
59. Uwe Seeler
60. Luis Suárez (1935)
61. Silvio Piola
62. Jose Nasazzi
63. Leônidas da Silva
64. Nándor Hidegkuti
65. Josef Bican
66. Kenny Dalglish
67. Mário Coluna
68. Johan Neeskens
69. Günter Netzer
70. Iker Casillas
71. Adolfo Pedernera
72. Sandro Mazzola
73. Oleg Blokhin
74. Jairzinho
75. Rivaldo
76. Omar Sivori
77. Angel Labruna
78. Daniel Passarella
79. Sergio Ramos
80. Gunnar Nordahl
81. Robert Lewandowski
82. Just Fontaine
83. Francisco Gento
84. Falcão
85. Nils Liedholm
86. Sócrates
87. Neymar
88. Luis Suárez (1987)
89. Andrea Pirlo
90. Ernst Ocwirk
91. Josef Masopust
92. Denis Law
93. Peter Schmeichel
94. Sepp Maier
95. Ruud Krol
96. Cafu
97. Frank Rijkaard
98. Kevin De Bruyne
99. Wayne Rooney
100. Arsenio Erico
101. Luís Figo
102. Jimmy Johnstone
103. Elías Figueroa
104. Gaetano Scirea
105. Sergio Busquets
106. Obdulio Varela
107. Carlos Alberto Torres
108. Hristo Stoichkov
109. Mo Salah
110. George Weah
111. Paul Breitner
112. Philipp Lahm
113. Ricardo Zamora
114. Roberto Carlos
115. György Sárosi
116. Tom Finney
117. Kevin Keegan
118. Jimmy Greaves
119. Tostão
120. Jose Altafini
121. Thomas Müller
122. Harry Kane
123. Oliver Kahn
124. Toni Kroos
125. Dixie Dean
126. Arthur Friedenreich
127. Fernando Peyroteo
128. Teófilo Cubillas
129. Raimundo Orsi
130. Luis Monti
131. Rafael Gordillo
132. Zbigniew Boniek
133. Dragan Dzajic
134. Paul Van Himst
135. Hugo Sánchez
136. Grzegorz Lato
137. Kurt Hamrin
138. Francesco Totti
139. Kaká
140. Rodri
141. Alessandro Del Piero
142. Mario Kempes
143. Erling Braut Haaland
144. Zlatan Ibrahimović
145. Gabriel Batistuta
146. Gerson
147. Patrick Vieira
148. Roy Keane
149. Zoltán Czibor
150. Paolo Rossi

[Tim]

Denis Law RIP.

[ManPerson]

Emiliano Martinez should probably be added.

[Tim]

Sadly gotta disagree here, great national team keeper but if we talking totality of football I see him quite a bit behind of Thibaut Courtois, Gianluigi Donnarumma, even Alisson Becker as far as contemporary keepers go.

[Tim]

Kevin Keegan RIP

[ManPerson]

RIP

[ManPerson]

I'm curious how Mbappe and Modric compare.

[Tim]

Guess to me Luka's longevity, elite club trophy cabinet and Ballon d'Or win outweight Mbappe's national team heroics for now given that Modric's been great for Croatia too.

[ManPerson]

Fair enough.

[Bruno]

123. Jude Bellingham
.
.
Toni Kroos
Kaka
Del Piero
Kempes

Why Jude ahead?

[Tim]

Guess I jumped the gun on Jude a little bit (though I do expect him to make the list further down in his career). I will remove him for now, ditto for Lamine Yamal.