Note: This is the same article I published on Soccerlens.com, which you can find here.
It’s that time of the year again. The time when a random (ok, let’s call it ‘well-respected’ if you prefer) football publication makes an “All Time Best” ranking that never fails to create controversy and offend a few people. FourFourTwo did one of those last month, this time it’s the turn of the ‘Association of Football Statisticians’ to make its Top 100, after studying every fact and figure from the beautiful game over the past 100 years. Points are given for goals scored by forwards and clean sheets for defenders. Players also get awarded marks for trophies won, captaincy and the level they played at throughout their career.
It should come as no big surprise to see Pelé at nº1 spot (the Brazilian legend totalling 16,799.44 points), but the names and rankings further down the list are bound to raise some eyebrows. The analysis of The Sun highlights the biggest problems in English Premiership terms:
- Manchester United legends George Best, Denis Law and Eric Cantona don’t make the top 100.
- Ali Daei’s 109 goals in 149 games for Iran puts him at 26th – ahead of players like Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho.
- Diego Maradona is ranked only 6th.
The publishers explain to The Sun that Best misses out because he never participated in a World Cup tournament, and had a fairly short career, while Ali Daei won his place by scoring 109 goals in 149 international matches for… Iran.
The Daily Star takes a look the UK players, and finds out that England’s top star is Bobby Charlton in 23rd spot, two places above Scotland’s Kenny Dalglish. David Beckham is 44th, Kevin Keegan at 46th, Gary Lineker 56th, Welsh ace Ryan Giggs 62nd, and Michael Owen 68th. Alan Shearer misses out of the top 100.
Further analysis of the ‘Best 100′ reveals that the top 3 trio is 100% Brazilian (with Ronaldo 2nd and Romario 3rd… and Cafu closing down the Auriverde block at 10th). Figo is 4th, Zidane 5th, and other big names such as Platini (13th), Maldini (15th), Zico (16th), Gullit (18th) and Cruyff (21st) are excluded from the Top 10.
The most represented nation is France (with 16 players), followed by Brazil (11), Italy and Germany (10). England totals 7, Argentina 5 (Messi not included).
Also, in terms of overall football career, the most represented European league is the Serie A. Indeed, most of the Top 100 played at one point or another in Italy: Serie A totals at least 58 players in that ranking, closely followed by La Liga (44), and the EPL (36).
Other represented leagues include the Bundesliga (22), the French Ligue 1 (22), the Dutch Eredivisie (20), and the Portuguese Superliga (5). As for South America, the Campeonato Brasileiro counts 11 players while the Argentine Apertura/Clausura only 8 (most of the Brazilian/Argentine stars obviously beginning their career back home). An interesting note is the total of 13 players who played in the MLS/USL (mostly at the end of their careers), making North America the destination of choice for footballers close to retirement.
As for the Italians, aside from the aforementioned Paolo Maldini the remaining 9 players in the list are Paolo Rossi (43rd), Alessandro Costacurta (49th), Dino Zoff (51st), Alessandro Del Piero (60th), Demetrio Albertini (64th), Giacinto Facchetti (75th), Franco Baresi (77th), Gianni Rivera (78th) and Roberto Baggio (79th).
The Top 100 is revealed in the book Greatest Ever Footballers, on sale next week by Headline publishers for £14.99 (€21.50).
Here’s the full list.
| 1 |  |
Pelé | (Brazil) |
| 2 |  |
Ronaldo | (Brazil) |
| 3 |  |
Romário | (Brazil) |
| 4 |  |
Luís Figo | (Portugal) |
| 5 |  |
Zinedine Zidane | (France) |
| 6 |  |
Diego Maradona | (Argentina) |
| 7 |  |
Lothar Matthäus | (Germany) |
| 8 |  |
Gerd Müller | (Germany) |
| 9 |  |
Franz Beckenbauer | (Germany) |
| 10 |  |
Cafu | (Brazil) |
.
| 11 | Roberto Carlos | (Brazil) |
| 12 | Marco van Basten | (Holland) |
| 13 | Michel Platini | (France) |
| 14 | Rivaldo | (Brazil) |
| 15 | Paolo Maldini | (Italy) |
| 16 | Zico | (Brazil) |
| 17 | Raúl | (Spain) |
| 18 | Ruud Gullit | (Holland) |
| 19 | Eusébio | (Portugal) |
| 20 | Ferenc Puskás | (Hungary) |
| 21 | Johan Cruyff | (Holland) |
| 22 | Alfredo di Stefano | (Argentina) |
| 23 | Bobby Charlton | (England) |
| 24 | Jürgen Klinsmann | (Germany) |
| 25 | Kenny Dalglish | (Scotland) |
| 26 | Ali Daei | (Iran) |
| 27 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | (Germany) |
| 28 | Gabriel Batistuta | (Argentina) |
| 29 | Michael Laudrup | (Denmark) |
| 30 | Hristo Stoichkov | (Bulgaria) |
| 31 | Dennis Bergkamp | (Holland) |
| 32 | Frank Rijkaard | (Holland) |
| 33 | Thierry Henry | (France) |
| 34 | Pavel Nedved | (Czech Rep) |
| 35 | Gheorghe Hagi | (Romania) |
| 36 | Peter Schmeichel | (Denmark) |
| 37 | Andriy Shevchenko | (Ukraine) |
| 38 | Sepp Maier | (Germany) |
| 39 | Didier Deschamps | (France) |
| 40 | Lilian Thuram | (France) |
| 41 | Enzo Francescoli | (Uruguay) |
| 42 | Hakan Şükür | (Turkey) |
| 43 | Paolo Rossi | (Italy) |
| 44 | David Beckham | (England) |
| 45 | Jean-Pierre Papin | (France) |
| 46 | Kevin Keegan | (England) |
| 47 | Marcel Desailly | (France) |
| 48 | Oliver Kahn | (Germany) |
| 49 | Alessandro Costacurta | (Italy) |
| 50 | Clarence Seedorf | (Holland) |
| 51 | Dino Zoff | (Italy) |
| 52 | Patrick Kluivert | (Holland) |
| 53 | Jari Litmanen | (Finland) |
| 54 | Daniel Passarella | (Argentina) |
| 55 | Bixente Lizarazu | (France) |
| 56 | Gary Lineker | (England) |
| 57 | Ronaldinho | (Brazil) |
| 58 | Sylvain Wiltord | (France) |
| 59 | Bebeto | (Brazil) |
| 60 | Alessandro Del Piero | (Italy) |
| 61 | Davor Šuker | (Croatia) |
| 62 | Ryan Giggs | (Wales) |
| 63 | David Trezeguet | (France) |
| 64 | Demetrio Albertini | (Italy) |
| 65 | Patrick Vieira | (France) |
| 66 | Jürgen Kohler | (Germany) |
| 67 | Laurent Blanc | (France) |
| 68 | Michael Owen | (England) |
| 69 | Youri Djorkaeff | (France) |
| 70 | Frank De Boer | (Holland) |
| 71 | Emilio Butragueño | (Spain) |
| 72 | Hugo Sánchez | (Mexico) |
| 73 | Rudi Völler | (Germany) |
| 74 | Djalma Santos | (Brazil) |
| 75 | Giacinto Facchetti | (Italy) |
| 76 | Kanu | (Nigeria) |
| 77 | Franco Baresi | (Italy) |
| 78 | Gianni Rivera | (Italy) |
| 79 | Roberto Baggio | (Italy) |
| 80 | Oscar Ruggeri | (Argentina) |
| 81 | Gheorghe Popescu | (Romania) |
| 82 | Jon Dahl Tomasson | (Denmark) |
| 83 | Raymond Kopa | (France) |
| 84 | Carlos Valderrama | (Colombia) |
| 85 | Rui Costa | (Portugal) |
| 86 | Gary Neville | (England) |
| 87 | Edgar Davids | (Holland) |
| 88 | Claudio Taffarel | (Brazil) |
| 89 | Paul Scholes | (England) |
| 90 | Diego Simeone | (Argentina) |
| 91 | Bryan Robson | (England) |
| 92 | Roy Keane | (Rep of Ireland) |
| 93 | Brian Laudrup | (Denmark) |
| 94 | Henrik Larsson | (Sweden) |
| 95 | Fabien Barthez | (France) |
| 96 | Michael Ballack | (Germany) |
| 97 | Jan Koller | (Czech Rep) |
| 98 | Edwin van der Sar | (Holland) |
| 99 | Robert Pirès | (France) |
| 100 | Johan Neeskens | (Holland) |
Posted in Soccerlens, World News |
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1.Pele
2.Maradona
3.Zidane
4.Ronaldo brazil
5.Zico
6.Cryuff
7.Muller
8.Garincha
9.Van Basten
10.Romario
this truly is the saddest excuse for a list ive ever seen in my life.
where is george best?
eusebio not in the top 10?
ronaldo number 2?
really pathetic stuff.
players right now
1.messi
2.ronaldo
3.iniesta
4.cannavaro
5.ronaldino
6.kaka
7.maicon
8.cassillas
9.buffon
10.xavi
1. Pele
2. Franz Beckenbaur
3. Ronaldo
4. Lionel Messi
5. Ian Rush
6. Fernando Torres
7. Steven Gerrard
8. Cristiano Ronaldo
9. Kenny Dalglish
10. Zinadine Zidane
what about johan qruyff.
U don’t know C. Ronaldo, Messi, Kaka, G. Best, & Eric Cantona,,,,,!!!!
U don’t know Wayne Rooney
you dont know landondonovan
1 Maradona
2 Pele
3 Cruyff
4 Zidane
5 Ronaldo
6 Garrincha
7 Beckenbauer
8 Eusebio
9 Van basten
10 Puskas
today
1 messi
2 maicon
3 robben
4 ronaldinho
5 villa
6 sneijder
7 kaka
8 rooney
9 ibrahimovic
10 ronaldo (the real one)
11 c. ronaldo
lampard didnt make the list
the same for terry, gerrard, ferdinand, giggs, carragher for if you ask about where they are.
Hm. France seems a tad over represented.
I’ve been watching these lists for years and it’s usually Brazil,Italy and Germany in that order. Don’t see how that should have changed.
Hey George you should get your facts strate Ryan Giggs is on the list and he did not play for england he played for Wales
1. Pele (Brazil)
2. Ronaldo (Brazil)
3. Diego Maradona (Argentina)
4. Gerd Muller (Germany)
5. Zinedine Zidane (France)
6. Oliver Kahn (Germany)
7. Luis Figo (Portugal)
8. Ruud Gullit (Holland)
9. Dunga (Brazil)
10. Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)
11. Arjen Robben (Holland)
12. Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic)
13. Lionel Messi (Argentina)
14. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
15. David Villa (Spain)
16. Steven Gerrard (England)
17. Kaka (Brazil)
18. Landon Donovan (USA)
19. Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
20. Wesley Sneijder (Holland)
21. Paolo Rossi (Italy)
22. Dirk Kuyt (Holland)
23. Robin van Persie (Holland)
24. Michael Owen (England)
25. George Best (Northern Ireland)
26. Craig Bellamy (Wales)
27. Miroslav Klose (Germany)
28. Ronaldinho (Brazil)
29. Robinho (Brazil)
30. Iker Casillas (Spain)
31. Kanu (Nigeria)
32. Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
33. Maicon (Brazil)
34. Xavi (Spain)
35. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
36. Edwin van der sar (Holland)
37. Tim Howard (USA)
38. Lucas Podolski (Germany)
39. Fernando Torres (Spain)
40. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
41. Thierry Henry (France)
42. Rivaldo (Brazil)
43. Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Mexico)
44. Zico (Brazil)
45. Didier Drogba (Cote d’Ivorie)
46. Michael Essien (Ghana)
47. Marco van Basten (Holland)
48. Davor Suker (Croatia)
49. Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)
50. Clarence Seedorf (Holland)
Sorry Wayne Rooney, Cristiono Ranaldo, Romirio,and David Beckham but you would definetly be my next picks
1.pele (brazil)
2.diego maradona (argentina)
3.george best (northern ireland)
4.oliver kahn (germany)
5.nedved (czech republic)
6.ronaldo (brazil)
7.franz beckenbauer (germany)
8.lionel messi (argentina)
9.gianluigi buffon (italy)
10.zidane (france)
anda ARSHAVIN
Lol, jeremy Dunga in top 10? the list lost credibility once i saw that. i guess you just started watching football considering you dont even have johann cruyiff or michael platini in your top 50!
11. Arjen Robben (Holland)
12. Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic)
13. Lionel Messi (Argentina)
14. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
15. David Villa (Spain)
16. Steven Gerrard (England)
17. Kaka (Brazil)
18. Landon Donovan (USA)
19. Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
20. Wesley Sneijder (Holland)
21. Paolo Rossi (Italy)
22. Dirk Kuyt (Holland)
23. Robin van Persie (Holland)
24. Michael Owen (England)
25. George Best (Northern Ireland)
26. Craig Bellamy (Wales)
27. Miroslav Klose (Germany)
sorry but in no way are any of these players you listed better than ronaldinho- 1 world cup, 1 champions league, 2 fifa world player, 1 balon d’or cmon man learn your stuff not even messi has these accolades
My Top 20 Ever Would Be
Pele
Maradona
Ronaldo (Brazillian)
Zidane
Figo
Beckenbauer
Carlos
Mattheus
Maldini
Romario
Muller
Cruyff
Cafu
Eusebio
Van Basten
Platini
Rivaldo
Zico
Raul
Cruyff
1.Ronaldinoh
2.ronaldo
3.Becham
4.ROONEY
5.C RONALDO
According to me that is the top 5 i have never seen pele and maradona play
My Best Players 2010 Would Be:
Goal Keapers:
Iker Casilas
Gianluigi Buffon
Julio Cesar
Eduardo
Shay Given
Defenders:
Carlos Puyol
Lucio
Maicon
Sergio Ramous
Phillipe Mexes
John Terry
Ashley Cole
Gerrard Pique
Phillip Lahm
Walter Samuel
Javier Zanetti
Rio Ferdinand
Fabio Cannavaro
Gabriel Cheillini
Per Mertasacker
Eric Abidal
Pepe
My 2010 Top Midfielders
Lional Messi
Xavi
Cristiano Ronaldo
Andres Iniesta
Bastien Schweinsteiger
Arjen Robben
Wesley Sneijder
Cesc Fabregas
Mesut Ozil
Dani Alves
Lukas Podolski
Frank Ribery
Steven Gerrard
Frank Lampard
Nigel De Jong
Martin Van Bommel
Rafael Van Der Vaart
Jeremy Toulolon
Florent Malouda
Sergio Busquettes
James Milner
Nani
David Silva
My 2010 Top Strikers Would Be
David Villa
Diego Forlan
Fernando Torres
Luis Fabiano
Thomas Muller
Carlos Teves
Wayne Rooney
Luis Suarez
Dider Drogba
Miraslov Klose
Gonzalo Higuin
Sergio Aguero
Diego Milito
Pedro
Karim Benzema
this list is good but zico should be in top 10
my top 10 would be
1louis davidson
2oliver wilson
3jay wills
4troy dyer
5mike mortimer
6jamie deireck
7callum stickland
8angelo chiquet-kaan
9joe gauci
10izaak kahl
WHAT A NONSENSE……. GEORGE BEST SHOULD BE RIGHT AT THE VERY TOP OF ANY COMPILED LIST OF GREATEST FOOTBALLERS, NEVERMIND NOT PLAYING IN ANY WORLD CUPS AND RETIRING EARLY…IMAGINE IF HE HAD PLAYED FOR ENGLAND AND PLAYED UNTIL HE WAS IN HIS 30S.. GEORGE WAS THE BEST AND IM SURE NOT ONE PERSON WHO HAS COMMENTED HERE EVER SAW HIM PLAY
maradona good pele better george best
he should be in top 10 but… not in top 3 for me
hey wanna know what i think? i think tht they should make a sony playstation soccer game with all those big stars that will kill
Not a lot of world class players on my list but here it is:
Pele (Brazil)- He’s #1 because he came before Maradona.
Maradona (Argentina)- He’s #2 because he was the modern day Pele.
Zidane (France)- He’s #3 because he destroyed Brazil by himself in ’98.
Luis Figo (Portugal)- He’s #4 because he tought C.Ronaldo all he knows.
Rivaldo (Brazil)- He’s #5 because of his success with Brazil & Barcelona.
To Gabriel
I did not just start watching futbol I have been watching it for several years
And what you said about Ranaldinho is not true Steven Gerrard hold the goal of the Millenium, George Best was the best player to never play in a world cup. Lionel Messi Player Of the YEAR!!!!!!! And Miroslav Klose 2nd Place on the most goals scored in world cups 14 goals.
1) Zidane
Giggs
2) Maradona
3) Ronaldo
4) Ronaldinho
5) Henry
6) Pele
7) Best
9) Van Nistelrooy
10) Bergkamp
This is my top ten. In the past, attacking players, such as Pele, only looked good because defences had no strategy. More modern attackers, such as Zidane, Van Nistelrooy and Ronaldinho have been able to deal with this.
In the mid-90s in PSV,BARCA and INTER (97-98) Ronaldo’s elastic ,step over,double lunge and other skills was best ever,and he was fastest ever.The player like 90s Ronaldo was 1000 times better than Zidane,Figo,Rivaldo,Raul…Only Pele and Zico could close to him.
And Ronaldinho was best player of decade,100 times better than Messi,Cron.
This is the top players ever
1 Pele
2 Beckenbauer
3 Zico
4 Ronaldo
5 Maradona
6 Cruyff
7 Platini
8 Puskas
9 Stefano
10 Dino Zoff
11 Romario
12 Baggio
13 Matthäus
14 Müller
15 Ronaldinho
16 Paolo Rossi
17 Garrincha
18 Sneijder (Best Player of 2010)
ronaldinho on 57 ARE YOU KIDDING
why AFRICAN is not on the list like roger milla, geoge weah, samuel eto’o, didier drogba. thas is the rubbish list i never see. ask michel platini who is roger milla or geoge weah if you can’t remember.
i personally think james grady should be at least consided in the top 20 players of all time
1 Pele 2 Johan Cruijff 3 Zidane 4 Beckenbauer 5 Gerd Muller 6 Eucibio 7 van basten 8 Michel Platini 9 Rummenigge 10 Garrincha
my top 10 of all time
pele
maradonna
ronaldinho
ronaldo
zico
zidane
beckenbauer
romario
figo
giggs
My present top young players
neymar
ganso
douglas costa
guiliano
hazard
sanchez
muller
pastore
ozil
1 pele
2 messi
3 c.ronaldo
4 ronaldinho
5 maradona
6 ronaldo(brazil)
7 rooney
8 f.torres
9 robben
10 kaka
11 beckham
12 zidane
13 drogba
14 henry
15 casillas
16 terry
17 drogba
18 puyol
19 klose
20 xavi
21 totti
22 ibrahimovic
23 gerrard
24 sniejder
25 lampard
26 lucio
27 podolski
28 zico
29 r.carlos
30 kahn
31 van der vaart
32 figo
33 f.inzaghi
34 toni
35 pirlo
36 sergio ramos
37 anelka
38 robinho
39 d.milito
40 gattuso
41 silva
42 tevez
43 ozil
44 raul
45 del peiro
46 maldini
47 kaladze
48 e’to
49 van persie
50 atharv
1 Diego Maradonna (Argentina)
2 Pele (Brazil)
3 George Best (Northen Ireland)
4 Ronaldo (Brazil)
5 Romario (Brazil)
6 Gerd Muller (Germany)
7 Luis Figo (Portugal)
8 Paolo Malidini (Italy)
9 Eusebio (Portugal)
10 Lionel Messi (Argentina)
my top 10 is:
1. pele
2. maradona
3. baggio
4. beckenbauer
5. baresi
6. puskas
7. eusebio
8. platini
9. ronaldo
10. best
the best players still playing now are:
messi
christy
rooney
bale
xavi iniesta
villa
buffon
cannavaro
ronaldino
kaka
NB: Some are not currently at their best now
the top 10 ballers are:
baggio
baggio
baggio
baggio
baggio
baggio
baggio
baggio
baggio
baggio
where is Hugo Sanchez?!
1.maradona
2.pele
3.crujf
4.beckenbauer
5.puskas
6.zidane
7.ronaldo
8.zico
9.di sefano
10.eusebio
today:-
1.messi
2.c.ronaldo
3.xavi.
4.inesta
5.wayne rooney
6.david villa.
7.drogba.
8.eto’o
9.fabregas
10.tevez
My top15 Would Be
1.Henry
2.Zidane
3.Ronaldinho
4.C.Ronaldo
5.Rooney
6.Gerrard
7.Drogba
8.Sneijder
9.Robben
10.vanPersie
11.Messi
12.D.Vila
13.Anelka
14.Essien
15.Thuram
1.Pele-Brazil
2.Diego maradona- Argentina
3.Franz beckenbauer- Germany
4.Michel platini- France
5.Zidane- France
6.Paulo Rossi- Italy
7.Zico- Brazil
8.Johan Cryuft- Holland
9.Ian Rush- Wales
10. Rudd Gullitt- Holland
11. Roberto Baggio- Italy
12. Ronaldo- Brazil
13.Bobbi charlton-England
14.Lothar Mattheus-Germany
15.Luis Figo-Portugal
16.Juergen Klinsman-Germany
17.Paulo Maldini-Italy
18.Marco van basten-Holland
19.Peter schmicheal-Denmark
20.Thiery Henry-France
21.Dennis Bergkamp-Holland
22.Romario-Brazil
23.Georgi Hagi-Romania
24.Gary Lineker-England
25.Carlos Alberto-Brazil
what?
The best team:
Casillas – Beckenbauer, Nesta, Maldini – Rivaldo, Zidane, Bozsik – Puskas, Maradona, Crujff, Pelé