FROM Pele to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. On BeautyHack - 10 success stories of legendary athletes of the 20th and 21st centuries.

David Beckham

David is ranked 6th on the FIFA 100 European roster, which was compiled by Pele in 2004. Since then, the football player has serious competitors, but his popularity has not fallen from this. In 1999, the already famous Manchester United player married Spice Girls singer Victoria Adams - thus forming an ideal fruitful union, which today turns 19 years old. During this time, the stars turned their names into brands and became the parents of four children. David has repeatedly become the best player in the world and played for clubs in Europe and North America and the England national team - from 1996 to 2010. And in 2003 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire. Now Beckham is 43 years old, and time is only good for him - watch Instagram stars as proof!

Pele

Many people learned the real name of Pele in 1958, when 17-year-old, promising in the big sport, Brazilian guy Edson Araantis do Nascimento became the world champion in the Brazilian national team. Pele repeated this achievement twice more - in 1962 and 1970, setting a championship record. The Santos forward scored 1,281 goals throughout his career, making him the most capable scorer in football history. Now 77 years old, Pele is married to Brazilian Marcia Sibeli Aoki (third marriage) and is the father of five children.

Diego Maradona

At the end of June, Diego Maradona came to Russia and attended the final match of the Confederations Cup in St. Petersburg and several matches in the 2018 World Cup. And on July 16, the famous footballer plans to be in Belarusian Brest (which he has already announced on his Instagram).

Diego ruined his reputation at the end of his career with news of drug addiction, arrests and even air rifle shooting at journalists, but he remains a cult player. In 1986, Maradona scored the legendary goal against England and earned the nickname "Michelangelo from football." In the same year, the Argentine team became the world champion. In 2000, FIFA named him the Player of the Century.

Lionel Messi

Despite the fact that the capital of the Argentine national team has already left the 2018 World Cup, he has not lost the respect of his peers and growing footballers. Lionel earned him for his exciting technique and a huge list of achievements. He became the champion of Spain 9 times with Barcelona. He won the Champions League 4 times. While playing for Argentina, he became Olympic champion in 2008 and brought the team silver at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

In an interview with FIFA before the championship in Russia, Messi said that he considered the birth of his third child the most anticipated event of the year. Since 2017, the footballer has been married to Antonella Roccuzzo.

Zinedine Zidane

This year, one of the most famous players of the 20th century left his post as head coach of Real Madrid, bringing his team a victory in the Champions League in Kiev. Zinedine will not remain idle: he continues to train, collaborates with sports brands (for example, Adidas), and in his family there are four potential football players - all the sons followed in the footsteps of their father (we wrote more about the talented children of athletes).

Zidane himself officially retired in 2006. As part of the French national team, he became world champion in 1998 and almost single-handedly led the team to victory in the European Championship in 2000. The signature qualities of a football player are temperament, jewelery control of the ball, agility and exceptional eyesight.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Lev Yashin

While the Russian team is making history at the 2018 World Cup, BeautyHack could not help but talk about the outstanding Soviet player who turned the idea of ​​goalkeeper defense upside down and brought the Soviet Union a gold medal at the 1956 Olympics. Lev Ivanovich was the first to leave the goal in order to intercept blows and interfere with the attackers, for which he received the nickname "Black Spider" (his uniform was also invariably black). Yashin played 22 seasons in the Dynamo team and ended his career, devoting himself to coaching.

Zico

Another footballer who made the Brazilian national team famous and delivered shots that were contrary to the laws of gravity. He became Brazilian champion four times and South America's best footballer three times. After completing his career, Zico managed to become the Minister of Sports of his country, and then went into coaching, having worked with teams around the world: from the Japanese national team to CSKA.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan retired from the Swedish national team just two years ago. Playing from the age of eight, the footballer managed to become famous for strong and accurate punches, hot temper on the field and tattoos. Ibrahimovic has represented Malmo, Ajax, Inter, Barcelona and moved to Los Angeles Galaxy in 2018.

On the field, Zlatan is famous for his track and field techniques - the result of regular taekwondo practice. The footballer received a black belt at the height of his career - in 2010. Moreover, it was presented by Mauro Sarmiento, an Italian taekwondo fighter, a participant in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.

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10

Lev Ivanovich Yashin- Soviet football goalkeeper who played for Dynamo Moscow and the USSR national team. Olympic champion in 1956 and European champion in 1960, 5-time champion of the USSR. The only goalkeeper in history to receive the Ballon d'Or. He is considered one of the first goalkeepers in world football to widely master the game at the exits and throughout the penalty area.

9

Brazilian footballer, played as a striker. According to many football organizations, professionals and athletes, he is one of the best players in the history of football. Two-time world champion, vice world champion, best field footballer of the 1998 and 2002 World Championships, top scorer of the 2002 World Cup, record holder for the number of matches in which a football player scored at least one goal, record holder for the number of goals scored in all international tournaments, three times the best footballer of the year according to FIFA and World Soccer magazine, two-time winner of the Golden Ball, winner of the Golden Boot.

8

Hungarian footballer, striker, recognized by many polls as one of the greatest players in the history of football, a member of the Hungarian Golden Team. Ferenc Puskas was recognized during his lifetime as the best Hungarian footballer of all time. For the national teams of Hungary and Spain he played 89 matches, scored 84 goals, played 534 matches in the major leagues of Hungary and Spain, scored 512 goals. The name of Ferenc Puskas is a multisport stadium in Budapest. The FIFA goal of the year is named after a football player.

7

Argentine and Spanish footballer, striker. After completing his player career, he worked as a coach. As a footballer, he was twice champion of Argentina, three times champion of Colombia and eight times winner of the Spanish Championship. Di Stefano has won the Colombian Cup, the Spanish Cup and the Intercontinental Cup once. He won the Minor World Cup twice and won the European Cup five times. As a coach, Alfredo has won two Argentinean championships, one Spanish championship, one Spanish Super Cup and one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

6

Portuguese footballer playing for the Spanish club Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team, in which he became the European champion in 2016. He was the most expensive footballer in the history of football until 2013 - 80 million pounds sterling was paid for his transfer from English Manchester United to Real Madrid. The best scorer in the history of the Portuguese national team, as well as the record holder for the number of matches played for it. He is considered one of the best footballers of our time. Winner of the Golden Boot in 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2015. In 2008, he was named the best player of the year in European club football according to UEFA and the best player in the Champions League, received the Golden Ball as the best football player in Europe and the FIFA Player of the Year award as the best football player in the world. In January 2015, he won his third Ballon d'Or as the best football player in the world in 2014.

5

German footballer and coach who played as a center-back or midfielder. During his career, he was twice elected the footballer of the year in Europe, played on the fields of three world championships, 103 times was called up to the ranks of the German national team. He won the 1974 FIFA World Cup as team captain. With Bayern Munich, he won the European Cup three times in a row in 1974-1976 and the 1967 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The only footballer to have played on three different teams as captain. He played for Bayern Munich, Hamburg and New York Cosmos. As head coach, he won the 1990 World Cup with the FRG national team.

4

Former French footballer, now the head coach of the Spanish club Real Madrid. Considered one of the greatest footballers in history. Zidane was named the best footballer in the world three times (1998, 2000, 2003), in 1998 he won the Golden Ball as the best footballer in Europe. In 2004, he was recognized by UEFA as the best footballer of the last 50 years. In 2016, Zidane was named the best French player in football history by France Football. In 2001, Zinedine moved to Real Madrid for a record at that time 75 million euros. The Frenchman won two Italian championships with Juventus, one Spanish championship with Real Madrid. From 1994 to 2006 he played for the French national team, in which he became the world champion (1998) and Europe (2000).

3

Dutch footballer and coach of the Netherlands national team, Ajax and Barcelona. Cruyff became the personification not only of all Dutch football, but also of a whole style - the so-called total football, in which his Ajax teams and the Netherlands national team from the early 1970s began to play for the first time. In total, during his career, he played 752 matches, scored 425 goals. A three-time Ballon d'Or winner, he has won the European Cup three times as a player and once as a coach. Widely recognized as one of the best footballers of the 20th century.

2

The retired Argentine footballer played in the positions of an attacking midfielder and striker. He played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, ​​Napoli, Sevilla and Newells Old Boys. Played 91 matches and scored 34 goals for Argentina. World Champion 1986. Vice World Champion 1990. Participant of four world championships. 1979 World Youth Champion. The best player in the 1986 World Cup. South America Footballer of the Year 1979 and 1980. Twice a member of the symbolic teams of the world championships. Champion of Argentina in the Boca Juniors club. Two-time champion of Italy with the Napoli club. In 1999, Maradona was named the best athlete of the 20th century in Argentina. The author of the goal against England, dubbed the "Goal of the Century", and recognized as the best goal in the history of the World Championships; in the same game, scored the ball with a hand, this event is known as the "Hand of God".

1

Edson Arantis do Nascimento (better known as Pelé)- Brazilian footballer, striker. He played for the Santos and New York Cosmos clubs. Played 92 matches and scored 77 goals for the Brazilian national team. The record holder for the number of world championships won as a player - three titles. The only footballer to become a world champion three times as a player. Participant of four world championships. The secret of Pele's skill lies in his phenomenal physique and enormous hard work. It is known that at the peak of his sports career, he ran the 100-meter distance in less than 11 seconds, thereby very slightly inferior to the performance of professional track and field athletes-sprinters. Unusually gifted by nature, Pele, nevertheless, spent a lot of time working out the individual components of football technique, thanks to which, for example, he hit the ball equally well with both feet. Another undoubted advantage of it is excellent dribbling and dribbling. According to experts, there were no weak points in Pele's technique, his specific manner of playing in many ways changed the idea of ​​\ u200b \ u200bthe possibilities and the very essence of football.

Popular football portal «FourFourTwo"Has formed the top 100 footballers of all time. Socker.ru acquaints readers with an interesting rating.

Ranks 100 to 91:

100. Gheorghe Haji (Romania)

99. Mario Coluna (Portugal)

98. Mario Kempes (Argentina)

97. Neymar (Brazil)

96. Obdulio Varela (Uruguay)

95. Jalma Santos (Brazil)

94. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)

93. Philip Lahm (Germany)

92.Sandor Kocis (Hungary)

91.Sepp Mayer (Germany)

It is a great honor to be among the top 100 players in the history of the Game, so if someone's position seems undeservedly low to you, remember how many thousands of players remained outside the top 100. Therefore, we take the "FourFourTwo" rating for granted, because one can argue on this topic indefinitely, especially when it comes to the distribution of positions at the very top. In the top ten from the end we see Haji's "Carpathian Maradona" and the Swedish star for all times Ibrahimovic. There are four world champions here: Brazilian Jalma Santos, German Philip Lam, Uruguayan Obdulio Varela and Argentinean Mario Kempes. The great German goalkeeper Mayer, the Hungarian striker Kocis, the Benfica legend Kolun are here, as is Neymar, who has the best years of his career ahead of him.

Ranks 90 to 81:

90. Roberto Carlos (Brazil)

89. Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)

88. Allan Simonsen (Denmark)

87. Javier Zanetti (Argentina)

86. Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina)

85. Uwe Seeler (Germany)

84. Giacinto Facchetti (Italy)

83. Ryan Giggs (Wales)

82. Hugo Sanchez (Mexico)

81.Dragan Jaic (Yugoslavia)

Of the world champions here only Roberto Carlos, but we see two holders of the Ballon d'Or - Stoichkov and Simonsen. Giggs and Batistuta do not need additional introductions, for Hugo Sanchez his goals for Atletico and Real will tell. We note the presence of two legends of Inter Milan from different eras - Facchetti and Zanetti, Uwe Seeler, nicknamed Furious, was the brightest German player in the interval between the first two world championships. Well, Dragan Jaic is possibly the greatest Serbian player in history.

Ranks 80 to 71:

80. Thierry Henry (France)

79. Gigi Riva (Italy)

78. Just Fontaine (France)

77. Frank Ryckard (Netherlands)

76.Dennis Lowe (Scotland)

75. Cafu (Brazil)

74. Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia)

73. Omar Sivori (Argentina)

72. Jose Andrade (Uruguay)

71. John Charles (Wales)

Masopust, Sivori and Low won the Golden Ball in the first half of the 60s, only Lev Yashin wedged in between them. Jose Andrade, Cafu and Anri are world champions. John Charles is among the top 20 Welsh heroes in the history of Wales, and Just Fontaine holds the record for the most goals scored in one World Cup (13 goals scored, World Cup 1958). Riva and Rykard were stars each in their era, and Gigi spent almost his entire career at Cagliari, he is the main symbol of this club.

Seats 70 to 61:

70. Paul Breitner (Germany)

69.Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands)

68.Sandro Mazzola (Italy)

67. Florian Albert (Hungary)

66. Teofilo Cubillas (Peru)

65. Jimmy Johnston (Scotland)

64. Johan Neeskens (Netherlands)

63. Gordon Banks (England)

62.Dixie Dean (England)

61. Peter Schmeichel (Denmark)

Three Britons at once: the cult Celtic player Jimmy Johnston, the great goalkeeper and world champion Banks, and the hero of the early 20th century Dixie Dean. The Dutch Bergkamp and Neeskens worked magic, although they did not become world champions, Johan even scored in one of his finals, but Paul Breitner responded in kind and eventually celebrated the victory as part of the FRG team. Mazzola is another Inter legend and the idol of the next generations, Florian Albert boasts the Ballon d'Or, and Teo Cubillas is the best player in Peruvian history. You probably already recognized Peter Schmeichel: the famous goalkeeper of Manchester United and an accomplice of Danish Fairy Tale 1992.

Seats 60 to 51:

60. Kevin Keegan (England)

59. Andres Iniesta (Spain)

58. Adolfo Pedernera (Argentina)

57. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Germany)

56.Daniel Passarella (Argentina)

55.Dino Zoff (Italy)

54. Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden)

53. Gaetano Shirea (Italy)

52. Roberto Baggio (Italy)

51. Jairzinho (Brazil)

Three Italians at once - the winners of the 1982 World Cup Zoff and Shirea, as well as Roberto Baggio, who did not score the decisive penalty in 1994 and remained with the silver. But Andres Iniesta became the author of the only goal in the final of the 2010 World Cup, for which he has since been applauded at all the stadiums in Spain. Jairzinho and Passarella are also world champions, but Karl-Heinz Rummenigge did not win the world championship with Germany, but he has two Golden Balls, like Kevin Keegan. Nordahl in the middle of the XX century lit up in Serie A, where he played for Milan and Roma, but the Argentinean Pedernera is the most mysterious figure in this top ten. It is known that his name was Genius, Maestro and Football Napoleon, but still Adolfo's career took place in South America in the 30s, 40s and 50s of the last century, so there is not much evidence of his greatness.

Seats 50 to 41:

50. Xavi (Spain)

49. Nilton Santos (Brazil)

48. Mikael Laudrup (Denmark)

47. Roberto Rivellino (Brazil)

46. ​​Juan Alberto Schiaffino (Uruguay)

45. Oleg Blokhin (USSR / Ukraine)

44. Didi (Brazil)

43. Fritz Walter (Germany)

42. Matthias Sindelar (Austria)

41. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)

This ten has a motley composition. There are a lot of world champions from different countries and different eras, and the famous Dynamo Kiev scorer, the Golden Ball winner Oleg Blokhin, and the Austrian Sindelar with a tragic fate, and Buffon, who still performs at a high level, and the cult German captain Fritz Walter, who was in Soviet captivity during the Second World War. And also the ex-coach of the Moscow "Spartak" Mikael Laudrup and Didi, who did not pass in "Real" Di Stefano and Puskas, who did not want to share the glory.

Seats 40 to 31:

40. Kenny Dalglish (Scotland)

39. Nandor Hidegkuti (Hungary)

38. Gianni Rivera (Italy)

37. Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)

36. Paco Gento (Spain)

35. Luis Suarez Miramontes (Spain)

34. Stanley Matthews (England)

33. Gunther Netzer (Germany)

32. Paolo Rossi (Italy)

31. Jose Manuel Moreno (Argentina)

There is not a single active player in this top ten, although all these names are still heard today. For example, Paco Gento is the record holder for the number of European Champions Cups, the Spaniard has won this trophy six times. Paolo Rossi scored in the World Cup final and won the Ballon d'Or, while Nandor Hidegkuti was part of the Hungarian Golden squad. A special place here is occupied by Sir Stanley Matthews, who played football until he was 50 years old, was an exemplary gentleman and won the first ever Golden Ball for the best football player of the year in Europe. A few years later, this award went to Luis Suarez Miramontes, who at the time of the presentation played for Barcelona, ​​and then moved to Inter, where he spent nine years.

Seats 30 to 21:

30. Lothar Matthäus (Germany)

29. Raymond Copa (France)

28.Socrates (Brazil)

27. Bobby Moore (England)

26. Valentino Mazzola (Italy)

25. Carlos Alberto (Brazil)

24. Ronaldinho (Brazil)

23. Eusebio (Portugal)

22. Lev Yashin (USSR / Russia)

21. Romario (Brazil)

We note the high position of Lev Ivanovich Yashin: the only goalkeeper who holds the Golden Ball in 22nd place in the rating. Four Brazilians are in the top ten with him, and Romario was higher than Ronaldinho, Carlos Alberto and Socrates. Why, Shorty even walked around Eusebio, who, symbolically, took the next place with his friend Yashin. Bobby Moore and Lottar Matthäus are the captains of their teams at the victorious world championships and the cult footballers of their countries. Special attention should be paid to Valentino Mazzola, who is seriously ahead of his son. Valentino and Sandro are the only father and son to make it into the top 100 strongest footballers of all time. Unique achievement.

Seats 20 to 11:

20.Paolo Maldini (Italy)

19. Bobby Charlton (England)

18. Giuseppe Meazza (Italy)

17. Gerd Müller (Germany)

16. Zico (Brazil)

15. Franco Baresi (Italy)

14. George Best (Northern Ireland)

13.Marco van Basten (Netherlands)

12. Michel Platini (France)

11. Garrincha (Brazil)

Everyone is a star of world football, although it is clear that it is impossible to make a rating of "all time" based on objective indicators, because such indicators do not exist. Here's how to compare, say, Giuseppe Meazza and Paolo Maldini? It turns out that the basis is a kind of historical "media rating": the names of the big stars of the past still sound loud, although decades have passed. Thanks to this, Garrincha and Müller, Charlton and van Basten, Best and Maldini, Meazza and Platini, Zico and Baresi can be located in neighboring positions. But who is cooler than them and who got No. 1, the denouement is close!

Places 10 to 1:

10. Ronaldo (Brazil)

9. Ferenc Puskas (Hungary)

8. Zinedine Zidane (France)

7. Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)

6. Alfredo Di Stefano (Argentina)

5. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

4. Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)

3. Pele (Brazil)

2. Lionel Messi (Argentina)

1. Diego Maradona (Argentina)

At the head of the two Argentines, the King of Football Pele rolled back to the third line, and Cristiano Ronaldo - only the fifth. Eight of the top ten players, apart from Pele and Beckenbauer, have played for Real Madrid or Barcelona in their careers. Here's a hundred turned out for "FourFourTwo". How do you like it?

Over the years, fans, experts and players have been trying to determine the 10 best footballers in the world ever. This is not easy to do, because professional football has been played for a very long time, and in the early stages there was no video technology yet, so there are simply no video recordings of matches, for example, from the 1920s, 1930s, and there is no way to see how they played at that time.

In order to determine the best, it is necessary to take into account the participation and achievement of players not only in domestic leagues, but also at the World and European Championships, continental cups, appearances for the national team and other major tournaments. Particular attention should be paid to individual football player awards such as golden boot, golden ball, etc.

TOP 10 best players in the history of football

Diego Maradona

For many, Maradona is number 1 in football. He was a very good player who played for many years in Serie A, where teams pay special attention to defense. But there were no impassable paths for the Argentine striker. He alone could beat all the defense and beautifully hammer the ball into the goal net. Playing for Napoli, Diego won two Serie A titles. The footballer achieved great heights with the Argentine national team, winning the World Cup in 1986. In this championship, in addition to winning, Maradona became famous as a footballer who scored the ball with his hand. Later this goal was named "The Hand of God".

Müller is one of the best players in German football history. The player was renowned for his scoring ability and scored in almost every game. Gerd became the top scorer of the European Cup 4 times, 4 times became the winner of the Bundesliga, 3 times - the winner of the Champions Cup, and also became the owner of the "golden boot" in 1970 and 1972.

The footballer received the nickname "black panther" for his ability to take complex balls flying at different heights, and his lightning speed. Eusebio is a true legend of all Portuguese football. He became a hero for Benfica, a club for which he played 15 seasons and scored 476 goals in 445 games.

In those days (60s-70s), the forward was one of the most productive players in the world. He won the Golden Boot three times in 65th, 68th and 73rd and also became the top scorer of the Portuguese championship seven times. Eusebio also won the Golden Ball in 1965.

Zinedine Zidane

Even in the early stages of his career, Zidane showed the makings of a champion. He won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship with the French national team. Zidane also long remained the most expensive footballer in the world after being bought by Real Madrid from Juventus for € 75 million.

At club level, the Frenchman has won Serie A, La Liga and the Champions League twice. In 1998, he received the Golden Ball award, a prize awarded annually to the best footballer in Europe. In 2006, Zidane had the opportunity to win the world championship for the second time in his career, but in the final the French lost to the Italians, and Zinedine himself left that World Cup with a scandal.

Alfredo di Stefano

Di Stefano's game has been imitated and amazed by millions. He was an excellent striker. His starry time came in the 50s of the XX century after he moved to Real Madrid. Alfredo helped the “creamy” 5 times in a row to win the European Cup, which in the whole history has not been possible for any club.

In the football world, the merits and achievements of Di Stefano are highly appreciated. He was recognized as one of the top scorers in the history of football, as well as the greatest Spanish player of the 20th century.

Cristiano Ronaldo

"Phenomenon" of the 21st century. So in modern football, the Portuguese Ronaldo is sometimes called, who owns amazing technique and scores beautiful goals from both feet to madness. In 2017, the forward managed to win 4 golden balls and 4 golden boots. " The Portuguese is also a 4-time winner of the UEFA Champions League. He is one of the top scorers in Real Madrid and Portugal. This is a real phenomenon and a talent. He has not yet completed his football career, but has already entered the list of the best football players in the world in history.

Michelle Platini

Platini spent his best years at Juventus Turin. With this club, the Frenchman won two Serie A, the European Cup, the Cup Winners' Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup. Michel was a midfielder in his role, but this did not prevent him from becoming the top scorer of the Italian championship three times. Platini won the golden boot 3 more times. In the French national team, he also showed himself well, becoming the European champion in 1984. At this European Championship, Michel Platini scored 9 goals, and to date, his achievement has not been surpassed by a single player, and to this day he remains the top scorer in the history of this tournament.

Platini finished his player career at the age of 32, and after a while he took over as UEFA President.

Pele

The king of football. This is how you can call Pele, who over the years has delighted millions of football fans around the world with his brilliant game. The Brazilian was extremely agile, had good speed, technique and dribbling. All this together helped the striker to play at a high level and score goals. By the way, during his career in all tournaments, he scored 1279 goals in 1363 games.

The King spent most of his career at Santos, Brazil, with which he won 10 Brazilian championships. He has been the top scorer of the Brazilian Championship 11 times, and is also the only footballer to win the World Cup 3 times.

Johan Cruyff

Cruyff stood out from other footballers. He used close control of the ball, which, combined with his quick dashes and movements, simply tore apart the opponent's defense. The Dutchman was a nominal forward, but during the match he could often change his position, pulling from the flank, but to the center of the midfield.

Johan Cruyff played for Ajax Amsterdam and with these club he won 8 Eredivise titles and three times in a row the European Cup. The Dutchman also won the Golden Ball 3 times in a row.

Lionel Messi

Modern football cannot be imagined without Lionel Messi. This Argentinean was dubbed the heir of Maradona, although according to many, Leo has long surpassed his compatriot. On the football field, the Argentinian stands out for his incredible speed, dribbling, passing, hitting. In general, this is exactly the player who can do almost everything. And it was not for nothing that he was nicknamed "alien".

Playing for Barcelona, ​​Messi managed to collect many different titles, both team and individual. He has won the La Liga 8 times, the Spanish Cup 5 times, the Champions League 4 times, the UEFA Super Cup 3 times and the Club World Cup 3 times. In addition, Lionel was awarded 5 golden balls, which is an absolute record. Messi also received the Golden Boot prize 4 times. The only trophy that the Argentine has not yet conquered is the World Cup. But even without this trophy, Leo was among the ten best footballers in the world in the entire history of football.

Outcomes

Here is the top 10 best footballers collected by the editors of the site Footbnews.ru. Of course, the legendary Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin, the Brazilians Zico and Garrincha, the legendary Bobby Charlton could also get into this rating, but you cannot fit all of them into one list, so you can soon see these players in our article titled “100 best football players in the world for the whole story. "

Top 10 great football players in the world

Pele won three world championships, photo: sportskeeda.com

Ask at the Church of Maradona in Napoli who is the best footballer in the world and you will get a definite answer. Ask the same question in Brazil and people of different ages will say different names. It is hard for the modern football fan to believe that there has ever been a player capable of doing the same on the pitch as Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

We tried to compile an objective top 10 of the best players. To do this, we took as a basis the titles and records of football players, and also took into account the contribution to the popularization and development of football.

10. Zinedine Zidane

Club career: 1988–2006

Zidane won the 1998 World Cup in France, photo: sky.com

Zidane at the age of 10 received a football player's license, and at the age of 14 he signed his first contract with the French club "Caen". He played for all French youth teams from 17 to 21 years old. At 23 he won his first title with Bordeaux - the Intertoto Cup. In 1996, at the age of 24, Zinedine left the French championship and moved to Juventus. In 1998 he became world champion with the French national team and received the Golden Ball. Two years later, Zidane won the European Championship with the French national team. In 2001, Zinedine moved to Real Madrid, with which he won six trophies.

During his career, Zidane has won six trophies each with Juventus and Real Madrid, winning the championship and the Super Cup both in Italy and in Spain. Zidane has won the UEFA Super Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and the Intertoto Cup twice.

Zidane once received the Ballon d'Or and three times became the best player in the world according to FIFA: in 1998, 2000 and 2003. Zinedine is on the FIFA 100 list from 2004, and is part of the symbolic national team of the 21st century according to UEFA from 2012. Voted the best French footballer of all time by France Football and L "Équipe in 2016 and 2018.

FIFA 100 is a list of the 125 best football players in the world from FIFA and Pele.

9. Ronaldo

Club career: 1993–2011

Ronaldo at the 2002 World Championships in Korea and Japan, photo: sportbible.com

Ronaldo started playing football at the age of six, and at 12 he became a regular player in the children's futsal club Valkeire. In 1993, Ronaldo moved to his first professional football club, the Brazilian Cruzeiro. After Cruzeiro, Ronaldo played for PSV, Barcelona, ​​Inter, Real Madrid, Milan and Corinthians.

Ronaldo has twice become the champion of Spain, won the Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup. Ronaldo won the World Cup twice and received the Ballon d'Or twice.

Ronaldo is the youngest player (20 years old) to receive the FIFA Player of the Year award and the first player to receive it twice in a row. Ronaldo holds the record for the Brazilian national team for the number of goals in the world championships - 15. "Critter" is also on the FIFA 100 list.

8. Gianluigi Buffon

Club career: 1995 - present

Buffon has played for Juventus for 17 years, photo: telegraph.co.uk

Buffon has played for Italian amateur teams since the age of six. In 1995, at the age of 17, he signed a contract with the Italian Parma, for which he played for six years. Buffon spent 17 years of his career for Juventus, and since 2018 has been playing for PSG.

Buffon has won the Italian Championship 11 times, the Italian Cup and Super Cup 5 times. He won the UEFA Cup once with Parma. With PSG he won the French Super Cup. Buffon is the world champion and European champion among youth.

Buffon has been named Italy's goalkeeper of the year 12 times, the Champions League's best goalkeeper three times and the World Cup's best goalkeeper once. In the 2015/16 season, Buffon set the Serie A record for the most time without conceding a goal - 974 minutes (11 matches). Buffon is the only goalkeeper to win the Champions League title.

Buffon finished second in the 2006 Ballon d'Or poll, behind only Fabio Cannavaro. Gianluigi has played the most international caps of any European footballer. Buffon played for the Italian national team for 20 years. Listed on the FIFA 100 list.

7. Maradona

Club career: 1976–1997

Diego Maradona with the FIFA World Cup after winning the 1986 World Cup final, photo: sportsnet.ca

Maradona began playing at the age of nine with the Argentinos Juniors youth team. Everyone in the team was three years older than Maradona, but Maradona's level allowed him to play with the elders. From the age of 16, Maradona moved to the main team. Throughout his career, Maradona played for Boca Juniors, Barcelona, ​​Napoli, Sevilla and Newells Old Boys.

Maradona has won the Argentine Championship with Boca Juniors, the Cup, Super Cup and the Spanish League Cup with Barcelona. He won the championship, the Italian Cup and Super Cup, as well as the UEFA Cup with Napoli. Maradona is the 1986 world champion. He also won the U-20 World Championship in 1979.

Maradona five times became the top scorer of the Argentine championship, and also became the top scorer of the championship and the Italian Cup.

Maradona is FIFA's Player of the Century, AFA's 1993 Argentinean Footballer of All Time, and 1986's World Cup Player of the Year.

Until 1995, only European footballers could receive the Golden Ball. Therefore, only in 1996, Maradona was awarded the honorary "Golden Ball" for his contribution to the development of football. In 2014, Maradona was recognized as the second winner in 1986 and 1990, along with Igor Belanov and Lothar Matteus.

6. Lionel Messi

Club career: 2003 - present

Messi celebrates a goal in El Clásico at the Santiago Bernabeu, photo: Getty Images

Messi started playing football at the age of five at the Grandoli amateur club. In 1995, at the age of eight, he began playing for the first professional club, the Newells Old Boys. At the age of 13, Lionel signed a contract with Barcelona. For three years Messi played for the second and third teams of the Catalans, and in 2003, at the age of 16, he played the first match for the main team.

In 19 years at Barcelona, ​​Messi has won nine Spanish championships, six Cups and eight Spanish Super Cups. Four Champions League Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, three Club World Championships. With Argentina, Messi won the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2005 World Youth Championship.

Messi is a five-time Golden Boot winner and a five-time Golden Ball winner. Lionel has been Argentina's Player of the Year 11 times and the Champions League top scorer five times. Messi is the top scorer in Argentina's history with 65 goals. One of the top 50 players in the UEFA Champions League of the last 20 years and the symbolic Argentina national team of all time.

5. Cristiano Ronaldo

Club career: 2002 - present

Ronaldo won the Champions League five times, photo: Getty Images

At the age of eight, Ronaldo played for the Andorinha amateur team. In 1995, at the age of 10, Cristiano signed a contract with the local club Nacional. Throughout his career, Ronaldo has also played for Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid (Madrid), and has been playing for Juventus since 2018.

With Manchester United, Cristiano has won three English Premier League titles, two League Cups, the FA Cup and Super Cup, the Champions League and the Club World Cup. With Real Madrid, Ronaldo twice won the championship, the Cup and the Super Cup of Spain. He won the Champions League four times, the UEFA Super Cup twice and the Club World Cup three times. With Juventus, Ronaldo won the Italian Super Cup. And with the Portuguese national team he became the European champion in 2016.

Ronaldo has received the Golden Boot four times and the Ballon d'Or five times, and became the Champions League top scorer seven times. Cristiano is the top scorer in UEFA club history with 106 goals, the top scorer in the history of the UEFA Champions League with 104 goals and the top scorer in the history of the Club World Cup with seven goals.

4. Johan Cruyff

Club career: 1964-1984

Johan Cruyff at the 1974 World Cup, photo: Getty Images

At the age of 10, Cruyff began playing for the youth team of Ajax, and at 17 he moved to the main team. Johan Cruyff has played for Barcelona, ​​Los Angeles Aztex, Washington Diplomats, Levante and Feyenoord.

With Ajax, Cruyff has won eight Dutch league titles, five Dutch Cups, three European Cups, a UEFA Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup. With Barcelona he won the championship and the Spanish Cup. With Feyenoord - the championship and the Cup of the Netherlands.

Johan Cruyff received the Ballon d'Or three times. In 2010 he was awarded the highest FIFA award - the FIFA Order of Merit for his significant contribution to the development of football. It is ranked first in the list of the best European footballers of the 20th century according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFIIS). Listed on the FIFA 100 list.

3. Franz Beckenbauer

Club career: 1964-1983

Franz Beckenbauer in 1977 played with Pele for one club - New York Cosmos, photo: si.com

Beckenbauer has played for the 1906 Munich team since the age of nine. Throughout his career, Beckenbauer has played for three other clubs: Bayern Munich, New York Cosmos and Hamburg.

With Bayern Munich, Beckenbauer won the championship and the FRG Cup four times. Three times in a row - the European Champions Cup, once - the Cup Winners' Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. He won the US Championship three times with New York Cosmos. I won the FRG championship once with Hamburg. With the German national team, Beckenbauer won both the World Championship and the European Championship.

Franz Beckenbauer has received the Ballon d'Or twice and became Germany's Player of the Year four times. Beckenbauer was included in the 20th century World Team in 1998 and in the symbolic teams of three world championships: 1966, 1970 and 1974. Listed on the FIFA 100 list.

2. Marco Van Basten

Club career: 1981–1993

Ruud Gullit and Marco Van Basten with the European Cup, photo: twitter.com/championsleague

Van Basten started playing football at the age of seven with the Dutch EDO team. At the age of 17, Marco moved to Ajax, where he spent six years, after which he moved to Milan.

With Ajax, Van Basten won the Netherlands Championship and Cup three times, as well as the Cup Winners' Cup. With Milan, Marco won the Italian championship and the Italian Super Cup four times, as well as twice the European Cup, European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup. Van Basten became the 1988 European champion with the Netherlands national team.

Van Basten received the Golden Ball three times and the Golden Boot once. He became the top scorer of the Netherlands championship four times and the Italian championship twice. He became the best player and scorer of the 1988 European Championship. In 2012, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame, included in the FIFA 100 list.

1. Pele

Club career: 1956-1977

Pele kisses the Jules Rimet prize, photo: theguardian.com

Pele started playing football at age seven, playing for youth teams. He began his professional player career at the age of 15, playing for Santos. Pele only changed clubs once, joining New York Cosmos at 35.

Pele has won the Brazilian Championship six times and the Brazilian Cup five times. He won the Paulista League 10 times and the Rio-Sao Paulo tournament four times. He won the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup twice. Also won the Intercontinental Super Cup. With New York Cosmos, Pele won the North American Football League. He won the world championship three times with the Brazilian national team.

Pele is the only footballer to become a three-time world champion. Pele, the IOC's 1999 Athlete of the Century, FIFA's Player of the Century, ranks first among the world's best footballers of the 20th century, according to a poll by IFFIIS. Included in the national team of the World Cup of All Time since 2002 and is included in the FIFA 100 roster.

At 73, Pele was awarded the honorary Golden Ball for his contribution to the development of football. After revising the awards in 2014, Pele became the second winner from 1958 to 1961 and in 1963, 1964 and 1970.