# The greatest footballers of all time

The IFFHS top 10 (May 2025), which almost exactly matches FourFourTwo's, plus ten more legends who always appear in these rankings. With their Ballons d'Or and World Cups.

- 12 votes · 20 items
- Oct 17, 2025 · don_merengue
- https://even.best/en/l/382/the-greatest-footballers-of-all-time

## Top 20

1. **Diego Armando Maradona** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Argentina. World champion at Mexico 86, with the 'Hand of God' and the Goal of the Century against England.
2. **Cristiano Ronaldo** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Portugal. Five Ballons d'Or, five Champions Leagues and the all-time top scorer in international football.
3. **Johan Cruyff** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Netherlands. Three Ballons d'Or and father of Total Football at Ajax, Barça and with the Dutch national team.
4. **Ronaldo Nazário** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Brazil. 'The Phenomenon': two Ballons d'Or and two World Cups (1994 and 2002), scoring eight goals in 2002.
5. **Zinedine Zidane** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — France. World champion in 1998 with two goals in the final, and Ballon d'Or that year.
6. **Franz Beckenbauer** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Germany. 'Der Kaiser': two Ballons d'Or, world champion as a player (1974) and as a coach (1990).
7. **Ronaldinho** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Brazil. World champion in 2002 and Ballon d'Or in 2005 with Barcelona.
8. **Gerd Müller** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Germany. 'Der Bomber': 68 goals in 62 games for Germany and world champion in 1974.
9. **Lev Yashin** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Soviet Union. 'The Black Spider', the only goalkeeper to win the Ballon d'Or (1963).
10. **Pelé** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Brazil. The only player with three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970).
11. **Ferenc Puskás** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Hungary and Spain. 84 goals in 85 games for Hungary; FIFA's goal-of-the-year award bears his name.
12. **Michel Platini** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — France. Three Ballons d'Or in a row (1983-1985) and European champion in 1984, scoring nine goals.
13. **Marco van Basten** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Netherlands. Three Ballons d'Or and the volley in the Euro 1988 final.
14. **Eusébio** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Portugal. Benfica's 'Black Panther', Ballon d'Or in 1965 and top scorer at the 1966 World Cup.
15. **Garrincha** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Brazil. The bandy-legged winger, world champion in 1958 and 1962.
16. **Paolo Maldini** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Italy. 25 seasons at AC Milan and five European Cups.
17. **Xavi Hernández** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Spain. The brains of the Spain side that won the Euros (2008, 2012) and the World Cup (2010).
18. **Lionel Messi** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Argentina. Eight Ballons d'Or (a record) and world champion in Qatar 2022; number one for both IFFHS and FourFourTwo.
19. **Alfredo Di Stéfano** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Argentina and Spain. The 'Blond Arrow' won the first five European Cups with Real Madrid.
20. **Andrés Iniesta** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Spain. Scored the winner in the 2010 World Cup final and won four Champions Leagues with Barça.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.