The history of football has seen many great players. But only a few are true legends. These are the top 10 footballers of all time.
It is not an easy task to determine who the best soccer player of all time is. If someone from England is asked, he would quite likely choose Bobby Charlton. An Argentinian, on the other hand, can make the easy pick of Diego Maradona just as a Brazilian would for Pele.
To make our top ten list as fair as possible, we ranked the players according to their skills, titles, and influence on the game.
10. Franz Beckenbauer
To make our top ten list as fair as possible, we ranked the players according to their skills, titles, and influence on the game.
10. Franz Beckenbauer
Years Active: 1964-1983
National team: Germany (103 caps, 14 goals)
Clubs: Bayern Munich, New York Cosmos, Hamburger SV
Franz Beckenbauer is a famous German footballer highly regarded both for his achievements and his influence on football. He is ranked as the greatest football defender of all time.
Beckenbauer played sweeper, a soccer position he redefined into someone who can both stop the opposition’s attack and lead the team’s scoring. Elegant on the field, his technical skills and its influence on his teammates and the game earned him the nickname of Der Kaiser (The Emperor).
Beckenbauer has one of the most impressive records in club and national levels. With Bayern Munich, the club where he spent most of his career, he won the European Champions Cup in 1974, 1975, and 1976. With the German national football team, he won the 1972 European Nations Championship and the 1974 World Cup, each time as captain. He also won the most prestigious individual award twice, the Ballon d’Or (Best European Footballer of the Year), in 1972 and 1976.
After his playing career ended in 1983, he embarked into a successful career as manager, winning the 1990 World Cup with the German national team. In foreign media, the German national team is regularly described as (Die) Mannschaft (literally meaning the team). The nickname Die Adler (the eagles) or Deutsche Adler (German eagles) is also used as their nickname.
National team: Germany (103 caps, 14 goals)
Clubs: Bayern Munich, New York Cosmos, Hamburger SV
Franz Beckenbauer is a famous German footballer highly regarded both for his achievements and his influence on football. He is ranked as the greatest football defender of all time.
Beckenbauer played sweeper, a soccer position he redefined into someone who can both stop the opposition’s attack and lead the team’s scoring. Elegant on the field, his technical skills and its influence on his teammates and the game earned him the nickname of Der Kaiser (The Emperor).
Beckenbauer has one of the most impressive records in club and national levels. With Bayern Munich, the club where he spent most of his career, he won the European Champions Cup in 1974, 1975, and 1976. With the German national football team, he won the 1972 European Nations Championship and the 1974 World Cup, each time as captain. He also won the most prestigious individual award twice, the Ballon d’Or (Best European Footballer of the Year), in 1972 and 1976.
After his playing career ended in 1983, he embarked into a successful career as manager, winning the 1990 World Cup with the German national team. In foreign media, the German national team is regularly described as (Die) Mannschaft (literally meaning the team). The nickname Die Adler (the eagles) or Deutsche Adler (German eagles) is also used as their nickname.
Aside from the Brazilian Mario Zagallo, Beckenabauer is the only footballer who has won the World Cup both as a player and a coach.
9. Michel Platini
9. Michel Platini
Years Active: 1972-1987
National team: France (72 caps, 41 goals)
Clubs: Nancy, Saint-Etienne, Juventus
Michel Platini is a French football player who played as an attacking midfielder during his career. Reputed as one of the best free kick specialists in history, Platini is the principal architect of the successes of the French soccer squad and Juventus in the eighties.
Platini was a playmaker with a great vision of the game and an innate instinct for goal-scoring. His incredible football technique and his aptitude to be a leader earned him the nickname of Le Roi (The King, in French)
Platini is the winner of, among other titles, the 1985 European Cup with Juventus and the 1984 Euro Cup with France. During the European Football Championship of 1984, he scored 9 goals in 5 matches, making him the tournament’s top scorer of all time—a record which still stands today. Among his numerous individual awards is the Ballon d’Or, which he won three consecutive times, from 1983 to 1985.
A year after retiring in 1987, he became the coach of France’s national team. He ended his career as manager for France in 1992, when the team was eliminated in the first round of the 1992 European Championship. In 2007, he won the UEFA presidency, a position he holds until now.
8. Eusebio da Silva Ferreira
National team: France (72 caps, 41 goals)
Clubs: Nancy, Saint-Etienne, Juventus
Michel Platini is a French football player who played as an attacking midfielder during his career. Reputed as one of the best free kick specialists in history, Platini is the principal architect of the successes of the French soccer squad and Juventus in the eighties.
Platini was a playmaker with a great vision of the game and an innate instinct for goal-scoring. His incredible football technique and his aptitude to be a leader earned him the nickname of Le Roi (The King, in French)
Platini is the winner of, among other titles, the 1985 European Cup with Juventus and the 1984 Euro Cup with France. During the European Football Championship of 1984, he scored 9 goals in 5 matches, making him the tournament’s top scorer of all time—a record which still stands today. Among his numerous individual awards is the Ballon d’Or, which he won three consecutive times, from 1983 to 1985.
A year after retiring in 1987, he became the coach of France’s national team. He ended his career as manager for France in 1992, when the team was eliminated in the first round of the 1992 European Championship. In 2007, he won the UEFA presidency, a position he holds until now.
8. Eusebio da Silva Ferreira
Eusebio da Silva Ferreira is a Mozambique-born Portuguese football icon, more popularly known as Eusebio. He was the top player of Benfica and the Portuguese national team of the 1960s.
Eusebio was noted for his great skill, agility, and scoring ability. As a striker he was fast and cunning, able to perform amazing stunts. With the Portuguese national team, he scored 41 goals in 64 appearances. His club performance with Benfica is even more phenomenal, bagging 317 goals in 301 matches!
Eusebio established his career in Benfica, with which he became a European Football Cup winner in 1962. He also helped the Portuguese soccer squad win third place in the 1966 World Cup and finished the tournament as top scorer with nine goals. As recognition of his talent, he was given the most prestigious individual award in Europe, the Ballon d’Or in 1965. He also won two European Golden Boots (1968, 1973), the award given to the footballer who scored most goals in all the top leagues in Europe in one season.
Unfortunately, Eusebio had to cut his international career short in 1974 because of a knee injury. But he continued playing in club level and went to North America where he won an NASL title with Toronto Croatia and, later, a Mexican league title with CF Monterrey.
Eusebio was noted for his great skill, agility, and scoring ability. As a striker he was fast and cunning, able to perform amazing stunts. With the Portuguese national team, he scored 41 goals in 64 appearances. His club performance with Benfica is even more phenomenal, bagging 317 goals in 301 matches!
Eusebio established his career in Benfica, with which he became a European Football Cup winner in 1962. He also helped the Portuguese soccer squad win third place in the 1966 World Cup and finished the tournament as top scorer with nine goals. As recognition of his talent, he was given the most prestigious individual award in Europe, the Ballon d’Or in 1965. He also won two European Golden Boots (1968, 1973), the award given to the footballer who scored most goals in all the top leagues in Europe in one season.
Unfortunately, Eusebio had to cut his international career short in 1974 because of a knee injury. But he continued playing in club level and went to North America where he won an NASL title with Toronto Croatia and, later, a Mexican league title with CF Monterrey.
Bobby Charlton was the leader of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team and was a member of the Busby Babes, the famous Manchester lineup of the 1950s. He is considered as the best English footballer of all time.
Charlton had an incomparable finesse as a ball passer and scorer, capable accurate chip shots and strong low-flying shots. Although he was never assigned as striker, he still holds the most number of goals scored for England: 49 goals in 106 appearances.
Aside from the 1966 World Cup championship, Charlton also won the 1968 European Cup and several domestic championships with Manchester United. Among his individual honors are the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (1966), and the Ballon d’Or (1966).
After leaving his long-time club Manchester United, Charlton began a manager-player career with lower-division team Preston North End but it turned out to be unsuccessful. He left Preston at the end of the 1974-75 season and became a pundit for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). He is also involved in several charitable organizations.
6. Johan Cruyff
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