All football players with names. The most famous football players in the world: Photo gallery

Among all sports, football is the most popular on the planet. The official date of the birth of football is December 8, 1863. More than 150 years have passed since that time, and the game has evolved significantly and has repeatedly undergone changes in the rules. For many today, football is not just a game, but a part of life. Some quickly run away from work in order to have time to watch their favorite team’s game on TV, others stand in line for hours to buy a ticket to see this or that match live. What is the most interesting match for a football fan, you ask? Well, of course, the one in which the best and most famous football players on the planet take part.

Throughout history, residents of the earth's hemisphere have seen many players who stood out from the crowd with their talent. So in the 60s of the 20th century the most skilled and famous football players were Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskás, in the 60s and 70s - Pele and Eusebio, in the 80s - Diego Maradona and Platini, in the 90s - Romario, in 2000s - Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Ronaldo, and currently Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar.

Particular attention today is paid to such names of modern football as Cristiano and Leo. The Portuguese and Argentinean constantly share first and second place in various ratings, tops, awards and nominations. They are mega talented football players who have won almost everything in their careers. Millions of boys around the world who dream of becoming such famous personalities are trying to imitate these two geniuses.

Brazilian forward Junior Neymar is trying to keep up with Messi and Ronaldo. After the player's transfer from Barça to Paris Saint-Germain for a record €222 million, his popularity and recognition increased significantly. Neymar is predicted to have a great future. This mega talented guy, in the near future, can become the sole leader on the football field, and win a bunch of various titles and awards, including the Golden Ball, which Junior, due to the presence of the leaders of Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​so and failed to win.

Popularity of football players on social networks

One of the few indicators that can be used to determine the popularity of a football player is social networks. With the development of the Internet, more and more people are trying to read news about their idols on social media. networks. Almost every football player has a page on at least one of the popular social networks (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook). Today Instagram is in great demand among the population. On this social network, the most popular football player is Cristiano Ronaldo.

Place	Player	Team	Online profile name	Number of subscribers
1.	Cristiano Ronaldo	real Madrid	Cristiano	113 000 000
2.		PSG	neymarjr	83 000 000
3.	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	leomessi	82 000 000
4.		Retired from career	davidbeckham	40 000 000
5.	James Rodriguez	Bavaria	hamesrodriguez10	33 000 000
6.	Gareth Bale	real Madrid	garethbale11	31 000 000
7.	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	Manchester United	iamzlatanibrahimovich	28 000 000
8.	Ronaldinho	Retired from career	Ronaldinho	27 000 000
9.	Luis Suarez	Barcelona	luissuarez9	25 000 000
10.	Marcelo	real Madrid	marcelotwelve	21 000 000

These tables are current at the time of writing.

Photos of the most famous football players in the world from Pele to Neymar

Below are photographs of famous football personalities. Here are the players whose names and surnames are most often discussed in society, written in newspapers and talked about in the news. In addition to the stars of Brazilian, Spanish, Argentine, English football, etc., you will also meet here some famous players from Russia and the former USSR.

Famous representatives of Brazilian football

Representatives of England

Representatives of France

Representatives of Argentina

Representatives of Italy

Representatives of Spain

Iker Casillas

Popular football portal "FourFourTwo"formed the hundred best football players of all time. “Sokker.ru” introduces readers to an interesting rating.

Places 100 to 91:

100. Gheorghe Hagi (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. Philipp Lahm (Germany)

92. Sandor Kocsis (Hungary)

91. Sepp Mayer (Germany)

Getting into the top 100 players in the history of the Game is a huge honor, so if someone's position seems unfairly low to you, remember how many thousands of players remained outside the top 100. Therefore, we take the “FourFourTwo” rating as a given, because we can argue on this topic ad infinitum, especially when it comes to the distribution of positions at the very top. In the top ten from the end we see the “Carpathian Maradona” Hadji and the Swedish star of all times Ibrahimovic. There are four world champions here: Brazilian Jalma Santos, German Philipp Lahm, Uruguayan Obdulio Varela and Argentinean Mario Kempes. The great German goalkeeper Mayer, the Hungarian goalscorer Kocsis, the Benfica legend Coluna are here, as is Neymar, who has the best years of his career ahead of him.

Places 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 Dzajic (Yugoslavia)

Of the world champions, only Roberto Carlos is here, but we see two Golden Ball winners - Stoichkov and Simonsen. Giggs and Batistuta don’t need additional introductions; Hugo Sanchez’s goals for Atlético and Real Madrid will tell the story. 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 Dzhajic in general is perhaps the greatest Serbian player in history.

Places 80 to 71:

80. Thierry Henry (France)

79. Gigi Riva (Italy)

78. Juste Fontaine (France)

77. Frank Rijkaard (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 Ballon d'Or in the first half of the 60s, with only Lev Yashin wedged between them. Jose Andrade, Cafu and Henry are world champions. John Charles is one of the top 20 Welsh heroes in the history of Wales, and Juste Fontaine holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup (13 goals scored, 1958 World Cup). Riva and Rijkaard were each stars in their respective eras, and Gigi spent almost his entire career at Cagliari, he is the main symbol of this club.

Places 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 never became 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 West German team. Mazzola is another Inter legend and the idol of future generations, Florian Albert can boast of the Ballon d'Or, and Theo Cubillas is the best player in the history of Peru. You probably already recognized Peter Schmeichel: the famous goalkeeper of Manchester United and accomplice of the “Danish Fairy Tale 1992”.

Places 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 Scirea (Italy)

52. Roberto Baggio (Italy)

51. Jairzinho (Brazil)

There are three Italians at once - the winners of the 1982 World Cup Zoff and Scirea, as well as Roberto Baggio, who missed the decisive penalty in 1994 and was left with silver. But Andres Iniesta scored the only goal in the 2010 World Cup final, for which he has since been applauded in all 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 to his name, like Kevin Keegan. Nordahl rocked Serie A in the mid-20th century, where he played for Milan and Roma, but the Argentine Pedernera is the most mysterious figure in this top ten. It is known that his names were Genius, Maestro and Football Napoleon, but 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.

Places 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 diverse composition. Here are a bunch of world champions from different countries and different eras, and the famous scorer of Dynamo Kiev, winner of the Golden Ball Oleg Blokhin, and the Austrian Sindelar with a tragic fate, and Buffon, who is still performing at a high level, and the iconic German captain Fritz Walter, who was in Soviet captivity during World War II. And also the ex-coach of Moscow “Spartak” Mikael Laudrup and Didi, who did not give in to Di Stefano and Puskas at Real, who did not want to share the glory.

Places 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 well-known to this day. For example, Paco Gento is the record holder for the number of European Cups; the Spaniard won this trophy six times. Paolo Rossi scored in the World Cup final and won the Ballon d'Or, and Nandor Hidegkuti was part of the Hungarian Golden Squad. A special place here goes to Sir Stanley Matthews, who played football until he was 50, was a model gentleman and won the first ever Ballon d'Or for European Footballer of the Year. A few years later, this award went to Luis Suarez Miramontes, who at the time of the award played for Barcelona, ​​and then moved to Inter, where he spent nine years.

Places 30 to 21:

30. Lothar Matthäus (Germany)

29. Raymond Kopa (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: he is the only goalkeeper to win the Golden Ball in 22nd place in the ranking. There are four Brazilians in the top ten with him, and Romario is higher than Ronaldinho, Carlos Alberto and Socrates. Why, Shorty even bypassed 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 cult football players 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 be in the top 100 strongest football players of all time. A unique achievement.

Places 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 world football star, although it is clear that it is impossible to create an “all-time” ranking based on objective indicators, because such indicators do not exist. How can we compare, say, Giuseppe Meazza and Paolo Maldini? It turns out that the basis is a certain historical “media rating”: the names of the big stars of the past still ring loudly, although decades have passed. Thanks to this, Garrincha and Muller, 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 end is near!

Places 10 to 1:

10. Ronaldo (Brazil)

9. Ferenc Puskás (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)

Led by two Argentines, the King of Football Pele has dropped to third place, and Cristiano Ronaldo is only fifth. Eight of the top ten players, besides Pelé and Beckenbauer, played for Real Madrid or Barcelona in their careers. This is how “FourFourTwo” got a hundred. How do you like it?

There are a lot of ratings of the best football players. Even the Guardian newspaper has its own. They also highlight lists of the best goalkeepers, the 100 best football players according to FIFA, the top 100 football players of the World Cup, Europe, or simply the top 100 of the year. The absolute list can be considered the list of “Best Football Players of the Century” from the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFHIIS).

In English this list is called Football player of the Century and over the last century only 66 people got there. This is probably where we should start.

Best players of the century (Football player of the Century)

It is unlikely that even people well versed in football will remember who Abdullah Majed or even Ferenc Puskan (66th and 6th place in the ranking, respectively) are. But the names of Pele, Maradona, Oleg Blokhin, Roger Milla, Garrincha are still heard. So, here is the absolute football TOP for today:
1. Pele (Brazil) - 1705
2. Johan Cruyff (Netherlands) - 1303
3. Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) - 1228
4. Alfredo Di Stefano (Argentina, Spain) - 1215
5. Diego Maradona (Argentina) - 1214
6. Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) - 810
7. Michel Platini (France) - 722
8. Garrincha (Brazil) - 624
9. Eusebio (Portugal) - 544
10. Bobby Charlton (England) - 508
11. Stanley Matthews (England) - 368
12. Marco Van Basten (Netherlands) - 315
13. Gerd Müller (Germany) - 265
14. Zico (Brazil) - 207
15. Lothar Matthäus (Germany) – 202
16. George Best (Northern Ireland) - 187
17. Juan Alberto Schiaffino (Uruguay) - 158
18. Ruud Gullit (Netherlands) - 119
19. Valdir Pereira Didi (Brazil) - 116
20. Gianni Rivera (Italy) - 116
21. Giuseppe Meazza (Italy) – 108
22. Matthias Sindelar (Austria) - 106
23. Fritz Walter (Germany) - 103
24. Robert Moore (England) - 98
25. Jose Manuel Moreno (Argentina) - 96
26. Hugo Sanchez (Mexico) - 85
27. George Weah (Liberia) - 79
28. Roger Milla (Cameroon) - 78
29. Jose Leandro Andrade (Uruguay) - 74
30. Juste Fontaine (France) – 73
31. Francisco Gento (Spain) - 73
32. Ladislao Kubala (Hungary, Spain) - 71
33. Franco Baresi (Italy) - 70
34. Josef Bican (Czechoslovakia) - 63
35. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Germany) - 59
36. Omar Sivori (Argentina) - 56
37. Elias Figueroa (Chile) - 55
38. Kevin Keegan (England) - 53
39. Sandor Kocsis (Hungary) - 52
40. Hector Scarone (Uruguay) - 51
41. Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia) - 46
42. Giacinto Facchetti (Italy) – 44
43. Raymond Kopa (France) - 41
44. Alessandro Mazzola (Italy) – 41
45. Uwe Seeler (Germany) – 40
46. ​​Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden) - 36
47. Zizinho (Brazil) - 35
48. Teofilo Cubillas (Peru) - 34

49. Arsenio Erico (Paraguay) - 30
50. Denis Law (Scotland) - 29
51. Silvio Piola (Italy) - 28
52. Adolfo Pedernera (Argentina) - 27
53. Obdulio Jacinto Varela (Uruguay) - 24
54. Arthur Friedenreich (Brazil) - 23
55. Mikael Laudrup (Denmark) - 22
56. Alberto Spencer (Ecuador) - 21
57. Jozsef Bozsik (Hungary) - 21
58. Tostao (Brazil) - 19
59. Ernst Otzvirk (Austria) – 18
60. Paul Van Himst (Belgium) – 11
61. Cha Beom Geun (South Korea) – 11
62. Rabah Majer (Algeria) - 10
63. Lakhdar Bellamy (Algeria) - 10
64. Oleg Blokhin (USSR) - 9
65. Luis Cubilla (Uruguay) - 9
66. Abdullah Majed (Saudi Arabia) - 9

Since the best goalkeepers are counted separately, their list includes 40 people. Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin (Dynamo Moscow) was recognized as the best goalkeeper of all time. Also on the list is Rinat Dasaev (17th place), who played for Spartak Moscow from 1978 to 1988.

Video

FIFA TOP 100

Since 2004, FIFA decided to establish its own list of the 100 best football players. The fact is that the organization itself turned 100 that year, so the occasion was more than suitable. This is how the FIFA 100 rating was born.

Footballer No. 1 Pele chose the candidates. 50 candidates were selected from active players, 50 from those who have already completed their careers. With the latter, Pele was unable to keep within fifty, and “” proposed 75 candidates. The total came out to 125.

Franz Beckenbauer was nicknamed Kaiser for his excellent acting

The list is divided by parts of the world, and Europe is divided into Eastern (with Turkey and the former USSR) and Western.

The best FIFA players in Eastern Europe:

• Belezoglu, Emre - Türkiye
• Boniek, Zbigniew – Poland
• Dasaev, Rinat - USSR
• Masopust, Josef – Czech Republic
• Nedved, Pavel - Czech Republic
• Puskas, Ferenc - Hungary
• Recber, Rüştu – Türkiye
• Stoichkov, Hristo – Bulgaria
• Hadji, Gheorghe - Romania
• Shevchenko, Andrey – Ukraine
• Suker, Davor – Croatia

Please note, Rinat Dasaev is already “the best” twice!

Rinat Dasaev

Difference between Soviet and Russian football:

• Rinat Dasaev is included in all lists of the best football players and goalkeepers;
• Igor Akinfeev could only become the worst goalkeeper of the 2014 World Cup.

Best Footballer in Europe (West):
1. Thierry Henry, turned sports journalist, number 1 in Europe!
2. Baggio, Roberto - Italy
3. Ballack, Michael - Germany
4. Baresi, Franco - Italy
5. Beckenbauer, Franz - Germany
6. David Beckham, whose face was smashed by Sir Old Ferguson with his boot.
7. Bergkamp, ​​Dennis - Netherlands
8. Bergomi, Giuseppe - Italy
9. Best, George - Northern Ireland
10. Boniperti, Giampiero - Italy
11. Breitner, Paul - Germany
12. Butragueno, Emilio - Spain
13. Buffon, Gianluigi - Italy
14. Banks, Gordon - England
15. Van Basten, Marco - Netherlands
16. Van de Kerkhof, Willy - Netherlands
17. Van de Kerkhof, René - Netherlands
18. Van der Elst, Franks - Belgium
19. Van Nistelrooy, Rood - Netherlands
20. Vieira, Patrick - France
21. Vieri, Christian - Italy

22. Gullit, Ruud - Netherlands
23. Davids, Edgar - Netherlands
24. Dalglish, Kenny - Scotland
25. Del Piero, Alessandro - Italy
26. Desailly, Marseille - France
27. Deschamps, Didier - France
28. Zoff, Dino - Italy
29. Seedorf, Clarence - Netherlands
30. Seeler, Uwe - Germany
31. Zinedine Zidane, French football player who knows how to butt properly
32. Kahn, Oliver - Germany
33. Cantona, Eric - France
34. Keegan, Kevin - England
35. Keane, Roy - Ireland
36. German footballer and coach Jurgen Klinsmann trained Joachim Löw, who in turn led the German national team to victory at the 2014 World Cup!
37. Kluivert, Patrick - Netherlands
38. Kopa, Raymond - France
39. Costa, Rui - Portugal
40. Cruyff, Johan - Netherlands
41. Koelemans, Jan - Belgium
42. Laudrup, Briand - Denmark
43. Laudrup, Mikael - Denmark
44. Lineker, Gary - England
45. Luis Enrique - Spain
46. ​​Mayer, Sepp - Germany
47. Maldini, Paolo - Italy
48. Matthäus, Lothar - Germany
49. Müller, Gerd - Germany
50. Neeskens, Johan - Netherlands
51. Nesta, Alessandro - Italy
52. Owen, Michael - England
53. Papin, Jean-Pierre - France
54. Pires, Robert - France
55. Platini, Michel - France
56. Pfaff, Jean-Marie - Belgium
57. Rijkaard, Frank - Netherlands
58. Raul - Spain
59. Rensenbrink, Rob - Netherlands
60. Rivera, Gianni - Italy
61. Rossi, Paolo - Italy
62. Rummenigge, Karl-Heinz - Germany
63. Totti, Francesco - Italy
64. Trezeguet, David - France
65. Trésor, Marius - France
66. Thuram, Lilian - France
67. Facchetti, Giacinto - Italy
68. Figo, Luis - Portugal
69. Fontaine, Juste - France
70. Charlton, Bobby - England
71. Shearer, Alan - England
72. Schmeichel, Peter - Denmark
73. Eusebio - Portugal

Jurgen Klinsmann (left) and Joachim Löw at a training session with the German national team

This list is perhaps the most “famous”. Beckham, Platini, Thierry, Figo, Raul, Klinsmann, van Basten, Zidane - everyone knows them and remembers them even after retiring from their careers or becoming coaches.

FIFA Americas Footballer of the Year (South and North):
1. Batistuta, Gabriel - Argentina
2. Valderrama, Carlos - Colombia
3. Veron, Juan Sebastian - Argentina
4. Zanetti, Javier - Argentina
5. Di Stefano, Alfredo - Argentina
6. Zico - Brazil
7. Junior - Brazil
8. Carlos Alberto - Brazil
9. Roberto Carlos - Brazil
10. Cafu - Brazil
11. Kempes, Mario - Argentina
12. Crespo, Hernan - Argentina
13. Cubillas, Teofilo - Peru
14. Maradona, Diego - Argentina
15. Passarella, Daniel - Argentina
16. Pele - Brazil
17. Rivaldo - Brazil
18. Rivelino - Brazil
19. Romerito - Paraguay
20. Romario - Brazil
21. Ronaldinho - Brazil
22. - Brazil
23. Saviola, Javier - Argentina
24. Zamorano, Ivan - Chile
25. Santos, Djalma - Brazil
26. Santos, Nilton - Brazil
27. Sanchez, Hugo - Mexico
28. Sivori, Omar - Argentina
29. Socrates - Brazil
30. Falcao - Brazil
31. Figueroa, Elias - Chile
32. Francescoli, Enzo - Uruguay
33. Hamm, Mia - USA
34. Akers, Michelle - USA

Gabriel Batistuta

Gabriel Batistuta is the best here. Pele stands modestly in 16th place, and Maradona is not even included. Perhaps because of the famous Argentine football player’s addiction to drugs, or maybe because of something else. Garrincha, who had big problems with alcohol at the end of his career, is also not among the best football players in America. FIFA stands for a healthy lifestyle, even at the expense of football history.

Brazilians dominate the list, but maybe that will change. After the last World Cup in the homeland of Pele, Zico and Cafu, many started talking about a serious crisis in Brazilian football.

Asia and Africa in FIFA 100

There are only two Asian players on the list: Hidetoshi Nakata from Japan and Hong Myung Bo from South Korea. The first one left football back in 2006 and preferred to do business; Hong Myung Bo also ended his playing career, but did not leave the sport. He has been coaching the South Korean national team since 2005. At the 2014 World Cup, the Koreans did not leave Group H, like the Russian team.

There are more Africans on the list, as many as five. In first place is Pele, but another one, Abedi from Ghana. He was accompanied by George Weah (Liberia), El-Hadji Diouf (Sinegal), Jay Jay Okocha (Nigeria) and Cameroonian Roger Milla, who, like Rinat Dasaev, is among the TOP 66 best players of the century.

Cameroon national team forward Roger Milla

The appearance of FIFA 100 (actually 125) was met with hostility and is still criticized to this day. FIFA was accused of bias, and also of the fact that it was not Pele who actually chose, but the organization’s president, Sepp Blatter. And someone saw a political order in this whole matter. Brazil midfielder Geston even tore up the first FIFA 100 list, and Marco van Basten and Uwe Seeler refused to be photographed for the booklet.

And this is the symbolic world team of the wives and girlfriends of football players.

That’s why Russia is not represented here, it’s completely unclear!

Football TOP 100 Guardian

On May 30, 2014, the British Guardian newspaper conducted a large-scale study and survey of fans and experts from different countries to compile its list of the 100 best football players on the planet.

For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that Akinfeev was included in the symbolic European team

Experts, including Lothar Matthäus, John Barnes, Zico, named the 40 best players each. For first place, the candidate was given 40 points, for last place - 1. The points were summed up, multiplied by group coefficients, and as a result the following table was obtained:

Football player		World Championships	Matches and goals at the World Cup
	Brazil	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
2. Diego MARADONA	Argentina	1982, 1986, 1990, 1994
3. Franz BECKENBAUER		1966, 1970, 1974
4. RONALDO	Brazil	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006			1998, 2002, 2006
6. Johan Cruyff	Holland
7. Lothar MATTHEUS	FRG/Germany	1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998
8. Gerd MÜLLER
9. GARRINCHA	Brazil	1958, 1962, 1966
10. Michel Platini		1978, 1982, 1986
11. EUSEBIO	Portugal
12. Paolo MALDINI		1990, 1994, 1998, 2002
13. JAIRZINHO	Brazil	1966, 1970, 1974
14. Bobby CHARLTON		1962, 1966, 1970
		2002, 2006, 2010
16. ROMARIO	Brazil
17. Just FONTAINE
18. Paolo ROSSI		1978, 1982, 1986
19. Dino ZOFF		1970, 1974, 1978, 1982
20. Bobby MOORE		1962, 1966, 1970
21. Ferenc PUSKASH
	Brazil	1978, 1982, 1986
23. RONALDINHO	Brazil
24. Roberto BAGGIO		1990, 1994, 1998
	Brazil	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
26. Fabio CANNAVARO		1998, 2002, 2006, 2010
27. RIVALDO	Brazil
28. Mario ZAGALLO	Brazil
29. Johan NESKENS	Holland
30. Lev YASHIN		1958, 1962, 1966
31. Mario KEMPES	Argentina	1974, 1978, 1982
32. Roberto RIVELINO	Brazil	1970, 1974, 1978
33. CRISTIANO RONALDO	Portugal
34. CARLOS ALBERTO	Brazil
35. ROBERTO CARLOS	Brazil	1998, 2002, 2006
36. Roger MILLA		1982, 1990, 1994
37. Paul BREITNER
38. Lilian Thuram		1998, 2002, 2006
39. Karl-Heinz RUMMENIGGE		1978, 1982, 1986
40. Giuseppe MEAZZA
41. Gordon BANKS
42. Oliver KAHN	Germany	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
43. Zbigniew BONEK		1978, 1982, 1986
44. Gianluigi BUFFON		1998, 2002, 2006, 2010
45. Daniel PASSARELLA	Argentina	1978, 1982, 1986
46. ​​Franco BARESI		1982, 1990, 1994
47. Gary LINEKER
48. Jalma SANTOS	Brazil	1954, 1958, 1962, 1966
49. Nilton SANTOS	Brazil	1950, 1954, 1958, 1962
50. Uwe SEELER		1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
51. Lionel MESSI	Argentina
52. TOASTAO	Brazil
53. Andreas BREHME	FRG/Germany	1986, 1990, 1994
54. Jeff HURST
55. Sepp MAYER		1970, 1974, 1978
56. Hristo STOICHKOV	Bulgaria
	Brazil
58. Sandor KOCIS
59. Luis FIGOO	Portugal
60. Marcel DESAILLY
61. Gheorghe HAGI		1990, 1994, 1998
62. Giuseppe BERGOMI		1982, 1986, 1990, 1998
63. Fritz WALTER
64. Carles PUYOL		2002, 2006, 2010
65. Andres INIESTA
66. Paul GASCOINE
67. Grzegorz LATO		1974, 1978, 1982
68. Obdulio VARELA
69. Juan SCHIAFFINO
70. Alcides GIJA
71. Helmut RAS	Germany
72. Frank DE BOER	Holland
73. Rud KROL	Holland
74. Elias FIGUEROA		1966, 1974, 1982
75. LEONIDAS	Brazil
76. Gheorghe POPESCU		1990, 1994, 1998
77. Teofilo CUBILLAS		1970, 1978, 1982
78. JJ OKOCHA		1994, 1998, 2002
	Brazil	1954, 1958, 1962
80. Gianni RIVERA		1962, 1966, 1970, 1974
81. Sergio BATISTA	Argentina
82. Igor BELANOV
83. Salvatore SCILLACHI
84. Wesley SNYDER	Holland
85. BELLINI	Brazil	1958, 1962, 1966
86. Alessandro DEL PIERO		1998, 2002, 2006
87. Louis MONTI	Argentina/Italy
88. Thomas N'KONO		1982, 1990, 1994
89. Claudio GENTILE
90. BEBETO	Brazil	1990, 1994, 1998
91. Héctor CHUMPITAS
92. Dragan STOJKOVIC	Yugoslavia
93. Matthias ZINDELAR
94. Rinat DASAEV		1982, 1986, 1990
95. Philip LAM	Germany
96. Jurgen KLINSMANN	Germany	1990, 1994, 1998
97. Antonio CABRINI		1978, 1982, 1986
98. LEONARDO	Brazil
99. Giacinto FACCHETTI		1966, 1970, 1974
100. Thomas BROLIN

Lev Yashin and Rinat Dasaev, together with Igor Belanov, represent Soviet football. Russia has nothing to boast about yet. The top three football players of all time will hardly come as a surprise: the great Pele, the legendary Maradona, the first. We will find out in 2114 whether any of the football players of the 21st century will be able to displace the titans on the podium!

Football can be confidently called the most popular game in the world. Millions of fans watch the ongoing championships with bated breath and debate about which team is the best. At the same time, the names of the strongest players are known even to those people who are not fond of football. Who can be proud of the title “the most famous football player in the world”? You will learn about this by reading this article.

Over the past few years, the most famous football player in the world has been Cristiano Ronaldo. The captain of the Portuguese national team was born in Funchal in 1985. Interestingly, the parents named the future star in honor of American President Ronald Reagan. Ronnie, as his fans call him, began playing at the age of eight, and during the 2004 European Championship he was recognized as the most promising young player. In 2008, Ronaldo became the best football player of the year, and in 2012 he received the status of the most famous athlete in the world.

Many are amazed by Ronaldo's style of play: he behaves quite unpredictably for his opponents, forcing them to make fatal mistakes. And there are real legends about Ronaldo's free kicks: they are considered truly brilliant, because the ball, as if enchanted, flies at great speed along a rather intricate trajectory.

Ronaldo is loved not only as a gifted player, but also as an open, sociable person. Showing full concentration on the field, Ronaldo does not forget to greet the fans with a charming smile.

Many admirers of Ronaldo's talent closely monitor his personal life, because such a young man simply cannot help but have a huge number of dizzying novels. In 2010, Ronaldo began dating Russian model Irina Shayk, but the couple broke up five years later. Ronaldo has a son, who was born in 2010. True, the mother of the child is Irina Shayk, and there are two surrogate mothers at once, one of whom provided the egg, and the other carried the baby. During numerous interviews, the football player refuses to name the names of his child’s mothers, but admits that he sincerely rejoices in his fatherhood and dreams that in the future he will have many children: all that remains is to find a suitable spouse.

Pele (Edson Arantis do Nascimento)

Pelé is considered one of the most outstanding players in the history of football and is included in the 100 most influential people in the world according to Time magazine. The achievements of this athlete are amazing: he managed to score more than 1,200 goals in 1,363 matches. Pele has won 32 championships, more than thirty times he managed to score four goals against the opponent per game, and in four matches Pele scored five goals. In 1964, he managed to set an unprecedented record by putting eight goals into the opponent’s goal at once.

Pele's secret is that he is able to perform every technique of the game much better than any other football player. He could easily overtake an opponent or jump higher than other players, and Pele was also excellent at kicking with both feet. It is not surprising that he instilled real terror in his opponents, because it is simply impossible to surpass his technique.

It is surprising that a football player who has achieved such heights remains an open, friendly and very gentle person. Pele's fans could be sure that their idol would not refuse them a joint photo and autograph. However, the great football player seemed to be replaced when he found himself on the field: Pele turned into a silent, dangerous opponent who was simply impossible to resist.

Pele managed to try himself in many professions. He starred in the series and even worked as an actor in erotic films. More than once, the football player was invited to advertise various products: Pele’s fans literally swept off the shelves everything their idol touched. True, the athlete refuses to advertise tobacco and alcohol on principle. From 1995 to 1998, Pele even managed to serve as Brazil's Minister of Sports. By the way, Pele currently owns the company “Cafe Pele”.

When Pele said goodbye to football, he could not hide his tears. Thousands of his fans cried with him: when such famous people leave the sport, an entire era passes with them...

Lev Yashin received the status of the best goalkeeper in the world according to all existing ratings. Lev was born in 1929 into a simple Soviet family, quite far from sports. However, the abilities of the future champion manifested themselves at a fairly early age: all day long he played football with his yard friends. During Lev Yashin’s childhood, football was considered one of the most romantic sports, and Soviet boys dreamed that one day they would be able to defend the honor of their native country in the sports arena. Maybe this was the reason why Lev Yashin decided to devote himself to football. True, he had to work hard to achieve his goal.

After Lev Yashin graduated from college, he went to work at one of the factories near Moscow. The football player's youth occurred during the Second World War, so he had to spend many hours at a time at the machine. However, after a working day, Yashin went to training: coach Larionchikov trained with the factory guys, who recognized the talents of the young mechanic.

After the war, Yashin's career began to rapidly develop. During one of the matches, he was noticed by the coach of the Dynamo youth team: it was this team that the young football player dreamed of joining as a child. True, the first matches were rather unsuccessful, and from 1950 to 1952 he almost did not appear on the field, more often staying on the bench. Due to failures, Yashin even started playing hockey, achieving quite impressive results in this sport.

In 1954, Yashin finally returned to football. And this decision turned out to be correct: soon the whole world was talking about the new Soviet football player. Yashin’s abilities were amazing: the world nicknamed him “Black Panther” for the color of his goalie uniform, as well as his ability to make acrobatic, cat-like jumps. Yashin also had another nickname: “Black Spider.” That's what they called him because of his long arms, with which he could reach the ball flying into the goal. The player’s manner was also interesting: he was the first to start playing at exits throughout the penalty area. True, such a game was not understood by everyone. Many believed that Yashin was simply distracted from his direct responsibility - protecting the goal. And the Dynamo coach was scolded more than once for the fact that the goalkeeper creates a real “circus” on the field.

Unfortunately, in 1989, Yashin developed gangrene, and therefore the footballer’s leg was amputated. The football player failed to overcome the disease, and on March 20, 1990, he died from ongoing gangrene.

Diego Maradona

The future football star was born in Buenos Aires in October 1960. Maradona, like many Argentine boys, began kicking the ball as soon as he learned to walk. True, it’s quite difficult to call this game football: at first Diego simply ran and kicked the ball. However, after some time, he learned the rules of this game and moved to a new level.

On his seventh birthday, Maradona's cousin gave the boy the first soccer ball in his life. Diego was so happy that he even slept with the ball in his arms for a while. After long training sessions, during which Maradona simply kicked the ball around the room with his sisters, the boy began to play full-fledged football with the older guys. True, players significantly older than Maradona in age easily outflanked and overtook little Diego. But gradually Maradona learned to play on par with stronger opponents: perhaps this is the reason for his success. At the first tryout for the team, in which boys under the age of 14 played, Diego impressed the coach so much that he decided that the dwarf was trying to deceive him: a child simply cannot handle the ball so skillfully!

Maradona himself considers his first match for the Argentinos Juniors club to be his debut. Maradona's team failed to win, but the young football player was praised by sports journalists. From that moment on, the career of the great Argentine began to rapidly develop. He soon became captain of the Argentina national team and was able to win first the Italian Cup and then the UEFA Cup. But soon after achieving these dizzying successes, the irreparable happened: cocaine was found in Maradona’s blood... It turned out that the football player relieves stress in this way after intense games. Indeed, sometimes it seemed that Diego had great difficulty controlling himself on the field. He even received his nickname - “The Hand of God” - because in the heat of the match he scored a goal with his hand, which is strictly prohibited by the rules of football.

Due to the scandal that broke out, Diego was disqualified for a year and a half, after which he returned to football, vowing never to touch drugs again. But on the eve of one of the championships, a doping test showed that Maradna was taking ephedrine. The football player was disgraced from the game, and he had to watch the matches from the spectator stands.

Unfortunately, Diego Maradona never managed to return to big-time sports. Thus ended the career of one of the most brilliant football players of the 20th century: now only numerous articles in the yellow press remind us of Maradona.

David Beckham was born in 1975 in London. Like many British boys, David was passionate about football from childhood. In addition, Beckham's parents supported Manchester United and did not miss a single home match of their favorite team. It is not surprising that little David entered football school, and at the age of 14 he began playing for Manchester United.

In 1992, the young football player won the English Football Youth Cup. It was then that Beckham was noticed by the head coach of Manchester United, who invited the future star to the main team. Beckham scored his first goal against an opponent in 1994 in a match with the Turkish Galatasaray. In 1996, the footballer played for the English national team for the first time, and already in 1997 he became footballer of the year in his native country. In the same year, Beckham met one of the vocalists of the Spice Girls, which was at the peak of its popularity, Victoria, who soon became his wife.

Beckham's main strength is long-range shots: the footballer scored most of his goals from the penalty line.

It is noteworthy that Beckham is considered not only one of the most successful football players in the UK, but is also included in the lists of the sexiest and most stylish men on the planet. Many people call Beckham a “man-brand”: the football player has earned more than $200 million from his image. Finally, together with his wife, Beckham introduced the fashion for family values: the couple has been together for more than 15 years, four children were born in the marriage, and in every interview David and Victoria emphasize how important it is for spouses to respect and appreciate each other.