Top 100 Soccer Players Ever – by the ‘Association of Football Statisticians’

‘Greatest Ever Footballers’ by Headline publishersNote: 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 page of the ‘Daily Star’ with the Top 100 article

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 Pele Pelé (Brazil)
2 Ronaldo Ronaldo (Brazil)
3 Romario Romário (Brazil)
4 Figo Luís Figo (Portugal)
5 Zidane Zinedine Zidane (France)
6 Maradona Diego Maradona (Argentina)
7 Matthaus></td>  <td>Lothar Matthäus </strong></td>  <td><strong>(Germany) </strong></td>  </tr>  <tr>  <td><strong>8 </strong></td>  <td><strong><img src= Lothar Matthäus (Germany)
8 Muller Gerd Müller (Germany)
9 Beckenbauer Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)
10 Cafu 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)



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  • 274 Responses to “Top 100 Soccer Players Ever – by the ‘Association of Football Statisticians’”

    1. soccerfan8 says:

      1.Pele
      2.Maradona
      3.Zidane
      4.Ronaldo brazil
      5.Zico
      6.Cryuff
      7.Muller
      8.Garincha
      9.Van Basten
      10.Romario

    2. binehee says:

      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.

    3. heebajiba says:

      players right now
      1.messi
      2.ronaldo
      3.iniesta
      4.cannavaro
      5.ronaldino
      6.kaka
      7.maicon
      8.cassillas
      9.buffon
      10.xavi

    4. Smoothfish says:

      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

    5. isaac says:

      what about johan qruyff.

    6. Galih says:

      :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
      U don’t know C. Ronaldo, Messi, Kaka, G. Best, & Eric Cantona,,,,,!!!!

    7. Galih says:

      U don’t know Wayne Rooney :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

    8. james says:

      you dont know landondonovan :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

    9. george says:

      1 Maradona
      2 Pele
      3 Cruyff
      4 Zidane
      5 Ronaldo
      6 Garrincha
      7 Beckenbauer
      8 Eusebio
      9 Van basten
      10 Puskas

    10. george says:

      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 :lol: :lol: :lol:
      the same for terry, gerrard, ferdinand, giggs, carragher for if you ask about where they are.

    11. The Kleenex Box says:

      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.

    12. JEREMY says:

      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

    13. JEREMY says:

      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)

    14. JEREMY says:

      Sorry Wayne Rooney, Cristiono Ranaldo, Romirio,and David Beckham but you would definetly be my next picks

    15. awesomeperson says:

      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)

    16. rashid kayumov says:

      anda ARSHAVIN :???:

    17. gabriel says:

      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

    18. Dan says:

      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

    19. lentle innocent makhwaje says:

      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

    20. Dan says:

      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

    21. Dan says:

      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

    22. Dan says:

      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

    23. Fernando Torres says:

      this list is good but zico should be in top 10 ;-)

    24. the awesome guy says:

      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

    25. DJ says:

      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

    26. george says:

      maradona good pele better george best :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

    27. george says:

      he should be in top 10 but… not in top 3 for me :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

    28. gur says:

      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

    29. Nest790 says:

      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.

    30. JEREMY says:

      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.

    31. Frank says:

      1) Zidane
      2) Maradona
      3) Ronaldo
      4) Ronaldinho
      5) Henry
      6) Pele
      7) Best
      8) Giggs
      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.

    32. liwen says:

      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)

    33. aarin says:

      ronaldinho on 57 ARE YOU KIDDING :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :evil: :evil: :evil:

    34. bob thy says:

      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.

    35. i personally think james grady should be at least consided in the top 20 players of all time :o

    36. Beckenbauer says:

      1 Pele 2 Johan Cruijff 3 Zidane 4 Beckenbauer 5 Gerd Muller 6 Eucibio 7 van basten 8 Michel Platini 9 Rummenigge 10 Garrincha

    37. Mario says:

      :idea: ! Cristiano Ronaldo

    38. Kupid 91 says:

      my top 10 of all time
      pele
      maradonna
      ronaldinho
      ronaldo
      zico
      zidane
      beckenbauer
      romario
      figo
      giggs

    39. Kupid 91 says:

      My present top young players
      neymar
      ganso
      douglas costa
      guiliano
      hazard
      sanchez
      muller
      pastore
      ozil

    40. atharv says:

      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

    41. simon says:

      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)

    42. nicholas says:

      my top 10 is:

      1. pele
      2. maradona
      3. baggio
      4. beckenbauer
      5. baresi
      6. puskas
      7. eusebio
      8. platini
      9. ronaldo
      10. best

    43. nicholas says:

      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

    44. baggio says:

      the top 10 ballers are:

      baggio
      baggio
      baggio
      baggio
      baggio
      baggio
      baggio
      baggio
      baggio
      baggio

    45. alex says:

      where is Hugo Sanchez?!

    46. diniyar says:

      1.maradona

      2.pele

      3.crujf

      4.beckenbauer

      5.puskas

      6.zidane

      7.ronaldo

      8.zico

      9.di sefano

      10.eusebio

    47. diniyar says:

      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

    48. marchis says:

      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

    49. Boon says:

      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

    50. Gerre says:

      what?

      The best team:
      Casillas – Beckenbauer, Nesta, Maldini – Rivaldo, Zidane, Bozsik – Puskas, Maradona, Crujff, Pelé