Greatest Football Player in the World - List of Best Soccer Players

Greatest Football Players in the World | Best Soccer Player of All Time

FIFA World Player of the Year is an award football given to the player who was selected as the best in the world by the coach and captain of the international team. This award was awarded in 1991 as an award for the best male player in the world. Elections are made in a voting system based on position voting, each coach has three votes, worth five points, three points and one point, and the winner is determined based on the number of points. European-based Brazilian players have dominated the award, winning 8 of the 18 awards, the second-most French country, which has won three times. In the case of the number of players who have received awards, Brazil leads with five awards, followed by Italy and Portugal twice.

The youngest winner of this award is Ronaldo, who won it at the age of 20 in 1996. He won it again in 1997 and 2002. Both Ronaldo and Ronaldinho won twice in a row. Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane won this award three times. The oldest winner is Fabio Cannavaro, who was 33 years old when he won this award in 2006. In 2010, the FIFA World Player award and the Ballon d'Or it France Football merged and best male players in the world since it was awarded the FIFA Ballon d'Or each year.

An award for female players was added in 2001. Awards for women have fewer individual winners. So far, only five players have won awards. Only 2011 winner Homare Sawa and 2012 winner Abby Wambach won only one award. Marta has won five times in a row, Birgit Prinz has won three times in a row, and Mia Hamm has won twice in a row. The oldest winner is Sawa, who was 33 when he won it in 2011. The youngest winner is Marta, who won in 2006 at the age of 20.

After criticism from several parts of the media for previous years' nominations, in 2004 FIFA compiled a short list of 35 male and 21 female players, in which the national team manager and, for the first time, team captain and representative from FIFPro (professional player organization all over the world) can vote.

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1. Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi

Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini, known as Messi, is an Argentine soccer player who plays as a striker or midfielder. Has spent his entire career at FC Barcelona in the Primera Division of Spain and the Argentina team, teams who is captain. Frequently considered the best player in the world and one of the best of all time, is the first player in history to have won, among other distinctions, five times the Golden Ball - a Golden Ball and four FIFA Ball de Oro - obtaining the first four consecutively. In addition to receiving six Golden Boots. With Barcelona he has won 34 titles, including ten from La Liga and four from the UEFA Champions League, as well as six titles from the Copa del Rey. Prolific goalscorer, holds, among others, the record for most goals in a season and a calendar year, top scorer in La Liga, the Supercopa of Spain, the European Super Cup, and non-European player with more goals in the UEFA Champions League.

He can play as a left or right wing and a center forward. Before playing for Real Madrid, he had played at Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United.

3. Neymar

Neymar

Neymar da Silva Santos Junior aka Neymar is a Brazilian football player who usually plays as left winger. In August 2017, he signed a contract until mid-2022 with Paris Saint-Germain, who took over from FC Barcelona. Neymar made his debut in 2010 in the Brazilian national football team. Neymar made his debut in March 2009 in the main force of Santos, where he attended the youth academy since 2003 and extended his commitment in August 2011 until the summer of 2014. In 2011 he won the Bola de Ouro, the prize for best footballer in the Brazilian Série A and the FIFA Puskás Award for scoring the best goal of the past year. In 2011 and 2012, he was voted the best football player in South America, while in 2010, 2011 and 2012 he won the prize of top shooter in the Brazilian league.

4. David Beckham

David Beckham

David Beckham, OBE is an English former soccer player, whose professional career covered more than twenty years (1992-2013). He is also a celebrity beyond the sports field, with a lucrative advertising activity that continues today. Beckham developed the first eleven years of his sports career at Manchester United, where he made his debut with the first team in 1992, with 17 years. With United, Beckham won the Premier League six times, the FA Cup twice and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He later became part of Real Madrid, where he won the League in his last season with the club, forming part of the Galactic Era of Real Madrid. In July 2007 Beckham signed a five-year contract with the Major League Soccer club, Los Angeles Galaxy. While he was a Galaxy player, he spent two years on loan at Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010. He retired from football at Paris Saint-Germain de la Ligue 1 in France in 2013.

5. Pelé

Pelé

With the Brazilian national team, he won the World Cups of 1958, 1962 and 1970, being the player who has obtained it more times and younger than 17, and participated in four - also in 1966, in which he scored, being who in more editions have done it with 12 goals in total. He was the "best player" in 1970 and "the best young player" in 1958. made his professional debut with Santos in 1956, where he played until 1974 and became the "best club in the world" in 1962 and 1963, obtaining a title of the Supercup of Intercontinental Champions, two of the Intercontinental Cup, two of the Copa Libertadores de América, six of the Brazilian Serie A Championship, four of the Rio-São Paulo Tournament and ten of the Paulista Championship.

6. Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona is a former soccer player and current Argentine technical director. He is currently the La Plata Gymnastics coach of the Argentine Super League. He is considered the "best historical player" of the Napoli of Italy and one of the best players in the history of the Argentine National Team and in the history of world football. It is recognized by many experts, journalists, former soccer players and fans as the "best player in history". He has also been listed by some media as the "best player in the history of the World Cup", in which he was the "best player" in 1986, together with Pelé he was chosen by FIFA as the "best footballer of the twentieth century" and obtained the fifth position in the IFFHS vote.

7. Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Known as "The Phenomenon", he is considered by various agencies, characters and means associated with the sport, as the best center forward in the history of football and one of the best and more prolific attackers. In its sport fullness noted for its speed, dribbling and definition, events for which was included by FIFA in the Hall of Fame in 2016. Figure of the historic Brazilian team that won the 2002 World Cup, added to the national team another World Cup (1994), a Confederations Cup (1997), a bronze medal in the Olympic Games (1996), and two American Cups (1997, 1999). He also won a runner-up in the 1998 World Cup. These successes were completed at club level with thirteen titles, nine of them in Europe, playing for PSV Eindhoven, Soccer Club Barcelona, Football Club Internazionale, Real Madrid Football Club and Associazione Calcio Milan.

8. Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah

9. Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer

10. Lothar Matthäus

Lothar Matthäus

11. Mesut Özil

Mesut Özil

12. Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Bergkamp

Gianluigi Gigi Buffon (born in Carrara, January 28, 1978, age 40) is a professional soccer player from Italy. He now joined the club from Paris, Paris Saint-Germain FC Previous bought from Turin, Juventus FC in 2018.

14. Jean-Pierre Papin

Jean-Pierre Papin

15. José Mourinho

José Mourinho

Manuel Neuer is a player of football from Germany, who plays as a goalkeeper. He currently plays for Bayern Munich. He also played for the German national team.

17. N'Golo Kanté

N'Golo Kanté

N'Golo Kanté is a French footballer of Malian descent who usually plays as the central midfielder. In July 2016, he signed a contract with Chelsea until mid-2021, which paid approximately € 36,000,000 to Leicester City for him. Kanté made his debut on March 25, 2016 in the French national football team, in a friendly game against the Netherlands (2–3 wins). Four days later he made his first international goal, in a friendly match against Russia won 4–2. National coach Didier Deschamps included Kanté on May 12, 2016 in the French selection for the European Championship 2016, domestically. He and his teammates reached the final.

18. Paolo Maldini

Paolo Maldini

19. Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola

20. Philippe Coutinho

Philippe Coutinho

21. Robert Lewandowski

Robert Lewandowski

22. Roberto Carlos

Roberto Carlos

23. Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho

24. Sergio Agüero

Sergio Agüero

25. Toni Kroos

Toni Kroos

26. Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane

27. Abby Wambach

Abby Wambach

28. Alex Ferguson

Alex Ferguson

29. Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan

30. Alexis Sánchez

Alexis Sánchez

31. Alfredo Di Stéfano

Alfredo Di Stéfano

32. Anthony Martial

Anthony Martial

33. Arjen Robben

Arjen Robben

34. Birgit Prinz

Birgit Prinz

35. Bobby Charlton

Bobby Charlton

36. Bobby Moore

Bobby Moore

37. Cafu

Cafu

38. Carlos Alberto Torres

Carlos Alberto Torres

39. Cristiane

Cristiane

40. Dani Alves

Dani Alves

41. David Silva

David Silva

42. David de Gea

David de Gea

43. Davor Šuker

Davor Šuker

44. Edinson Cavani

Edinson Cavani

45. Ernesto Valverde

Ernesto Valverde

46. Eusébio

Eusébio

47. Fatmire Bajramaj

Fatmire Bajramaj

48. Ferenc Puskás

Ferenc Puskás

49. Franco Baresi

Franco Baresi

50. Franz Beckenbauer

Franz Beckenbauer

51. Garrincha

Garrincha

52. Gary Lineker

Gary Lineker

53. George Best

George Best

54. George Weah

George Weah

55. Gerard Piqué

Gerard Piqué

56. Gerd Müller

Gerd Müller

57. Hanna Ljungberg

Hanna Ljungberg

58. Homare Sawa

Homare Sawa

59. Hristo Stoichkov

Hristo Stoichkov

60. Isco

Isco

61. Jairzinho

Jairzinho

62. Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff

63. Jürgen Klinsmann

Jürgen Klinsmann

64. Karim Benzema

Karim Benzema

65. Kelly Smith

Kelly Smith

66. Kristine Lilly

Kristine Lilly

67. Lev Yashin

Lev Yashin

68. Marcelo Vieira

Marcelo Vieira

69. Marco van Basten

Marco van Basten

70. Marta

Marta

71. Mia Hamm

Mia Hamm

72. Michel Platini

Michel Platini

73. Nadine Angerer

Nadine Angerer

74. Nadine Keßler

Nadine Keßler

75. Ole Gunnar Solskjær

Ole Gunnar Solskjær

76. Paulo Dybala

Paulo Dybala

77. Raphaël Varane

Raphaël Varane

78. Renate Lingor

Renate Lingor

79. Roberto Baggio

Roberto Baggio

80. Romelu Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku

81. Romário

Romário

82. Ryan Giggs

Ryan Giggs

83. Shannon Boxx

Shannon Boxx

84. Sun Wen

Sun Wen

85. Thibaut Courtois

Thibaut Courtois

86. Thomas Häßler

Thomas Häßler

87. Thomas Müller

Thomas Müller

88. Tiffeny Milbrett

Tiffeny Milbrett

89. Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney

90. Zico

Zico

91. Andriy Shevchenko

Andriy Shevchenko

92. Andrés Iniesta

Andrés Iniesta

93. Antoine Griezmann

Antoine Griezmann

94. Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard

95. Fabio Cannavaro

Fabio Cannavaro

96. Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres

97. Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard

98. Gabriel Batistuta

Gabriel Batistuta

99. Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale

100. Harry Kane

Harry Kane

101. Kaká

Kaká

102. Kevin De Bruyne

Kevin De Bruyne

103. Kylian Mbappé

Kylian Mbappé

104. Luis Suárez

Luis Suárez

105. Luka Modrić

Luka Modrić

106. Luís Figo

Luís Figo

107. Oliver Kahn

Oliver Kahn

108. Paul Pogba

Paul Pogba

109. Raúl

Raúl

110. Rivaldo

Rivaldo

111. Samuel Eto'o

Samuel Eto'o

112. Sergio Ramos

Sergio Ramos

113. Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry

114. Xavi

Xavi

115. Zlatan Ibrahimović

Zlatan Ibrahimović