World’s Best Footballers Forever

Football has got a lot of great players. The following list is about the world’s best football players forever. The following footballers are the players who mastered the game , became stars at their clubs, countries and all over the world.

1) Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona was the winner of the 1986 World Cup Soccer Tournament. Maradona almost singlely won the World Cup Trophy for Argentina in 1986. At that time, he became  the star for his two goals against England. The 1st goal was made with his hand and it was called “The Hand of God“.
The 2nd goal was in outstanding class and might be voted “The Goal of the Century“. Maradona in Napoli won the only two Series A Championships and won the UEFA Cup in 1989 also. At that time with Napoli, Maradona looked like someone from another planet. He was just unstoppable at that time.
Diego Maradona was a great dribbler also. Considering all, Maradona is the number 1 in our list of World’s Best Footballers Forever.

2) Pelé

Edson Arantes do Nascimento is actually called as “Pele”. He is called “The king of football“. He was a Brazilian footballer who scored more than 1000 of goals in his wonderful career and became 3 times world cup trophy winner  with Brazil. He played mostly at Santos at which he won the Copa libertadores and Intercontinental Cup two times. Pele was great in shooting, heading, dribbling, passing and even defending though he was an striker (forwarder). His greatness in football makes him the number 2 in our list of World’s Best Footballers Forever.

3) Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff was the player of the 1974. He was a Dutch footballer.  He introduced first the ‘Total Football’.  Johan Cruyff had the ability of a great technique of dribbling & very fast acceleration. He could suddenly change his playing direction. Johan Cruyff was a total footballer, that is why, he could play in any position.But, he often played as a midfielder. Johan Cruyff won the European Cup Football Trophy three times with Ajax Club. He was the nine times champion of The Netherlands National Team. He also won La Liga with Barcelona once. He was been elected as the European Best Player of the Century in 1999. But he could not won the world cup football for his country. It was his drawback. Considering all, he has been the number 3 in our list of World’s Best Footballers Forever.

4) Franz Beckenbauer

Franz Beckenbauer was a great footballer in Germany. He was called as “Der Kaiser”. He introduced a new style of playing football as an attacking sweeper. He could often make a rush from his own penalty area to the opposition’s penalty area. He was a great defender but he scored 60 goals for Bayern Munich Club. He won the World Cup football trophy in 1974 for his homeland as a captain of the national football team of Germany. In 1999, he was elected the second place behind Johan Cruyff as the Best European Footballer of the Century. Considering all, Franz Beckenbauer has become the number 4 in our list of World’s Best Footballers Forever.

5) Alfredo Di Stéfano

Alfredo Di Stéfano was born in Argentina but played football for Colombia and Spain. He was a great footballer of Spain (Real Madrid Football Club). He played at Real Madrid from the 1950s to 1960s. He gave his team to the five consecutive European Cup Football Champion victories from the period of 1956-1960. He became 08 times Spanish Soccer Champion and received the Ballon d’Or two times. Alfredo was a striker but could play almost every positions in the field. He could assist defending and setting up an strike or scoring goals. He had a great strenth, tactical knowledge and long vision. In spite of being one of the greatest players of all time, he never played in the world cup football tournament for various political reasons. Considering all, he has been the number 5 in our list of World’s Best Footballers Forever.

6) Ferenc Puskás

Ferenc Puskás was a great player of Hungary. He played in Real Madrid team alongside Alfredo Di Stéfano from the 1950s to 1960s. He won three European Football Championship and scored 04 goals in the 1960′s final play against Eintracht Frankfurt club. Puskás was so good player of the famous Hungarian team that Hungary became 2nd in the 1954 World Cup Football Championship. He had a big left foot and could score 90% times in the penalty area. He scored 84 goals in 85 matches for Hungary and 324 goals for Real Madrid Club. Considering all, he has got the number 6 in our list of World’s Best Footballers Forever.

7) Garrincha

Garrincha was a great soccer player of Brazil. He was known as “little bird”. He was born in Brazil and played mostly at Botafogo Club. Garrincha won two World Cup Football Trophies with Brazil. He wasvery popular for his great dribbling and fast acceleration. He led Brazil National Football Team in the 1962 World Cup Football Championship without the injured Pelé. He might be one of the most underrated football players of all time as the fact that he was in the shadow of Pelé. But definitely he was  one of the greatest soccer players of all time. Considering all, he has achieved the number 7 in our list of World’s Best Footballers Forever.

8) Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane was a great player of France national football team. He achieved three times FIFA World Player of the Year as well as World Cup Football Trophy winner of 1998. He was one of the best players of the last decade. Zidane was most famous for his short pass, ball control and his 360 roulette move. He was a real play maker . Zidane was a successful football player with the French National Team (World Cup 1998 winner, European Champion 2000 & 2006 runner-up). Considering all, he has achieved the number 8 in our list of World’s Best Footballers Forever.

9) Eusébio

Eusebio was a great forwarder of Portugal National Football Team. He was born in Mozambique but played for Portugal. He played mostly at Benfica Club at which he won the European Football Trophy in 1962. He scored two goals in the 5-3 final play against Real Madrid. He scored 733 goals in 745 games in his career. Eusebio was well known for his great dribbling, fast acceleration and long powerful shots. In the World Cup 1966, Eusebio assisted his national football team to got the third position. Considering all, he has achieved the number 9 in our list of World’s Best Footballers Forever.

10) Ronaldo

Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima was renowned as “O Fenômeno”. He was on his way to win the 1998 World Cup Football Trophy but couldn’t achieved the championship trophy. After four years, he took the revenge by scoring two goals in the final play against Germany and winning the world cup 2002 tournament. Ronaldo was a dangerous striker. His strike to goal was very difficult to defend. In 2006 World Cup tournament, Ronaldo scored his 15th World Cup goal and became the record holder of scoring the most goals in World Cups for all time. Considering all, he has achieved the number 10 in our list of World’s Best Footballers Forever.

There are some other great players  who didn’t make the list of World’s Best Footballers Forever due to their maturity, continuing the playing etc.

1. George Best

2. Lionel Messi

3. Michel Platini

4. Lev Yashin

5. Marco van Basten

6. Mágico González

7. Cristiano Ronaldo