As many as a million people play football, and another million hopes to play it. Therefore, we’ve compiled a list of the best to do it.
From being played by a leather and cloth ball in the muds and fields of Britain to being a multi-billion sport, football has had quite the journey. It’s the most popular ball game, both in players and spectators.
The World Cup final boasts a viewership well into a few billion. Similarly, there have been many greats of the game who’ve spent their lives in the service of the game. Their names have been sung, chanted, and been the subject of prayers of entire countries.
Likewise, they’ve also put whole nations on the map and taken others off it simply by their finesse and class on the pitch. The footballing giants include Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Brazil, Belgium, Argentina, and England.
Spawning international stars gave birth to football cultures in these countries, giving rise to further interest and talents. Thus, we feel that compiling a list of all these legends in no specific order was mandatory.
List Of Top 10 Footballers Of All Time
Diego Maradona
The argentine is widely dubbed as the greatest player in history. A dismal managerial career only followed a star-studded career as a football. His excellence on the pitch, particularly for his country, helped him win the joint FIFA player of the 20th Century.
The Argentinian player was shorter than most of his opponents (5ft,5in); which only helped him show off his creative abilities exhibiting great vision and an eye for goal.
The shorter height made it easier for him to swerve away and weave in through the defenses and be a real pickle for defenders and goalkeepers to deal with.
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Maradona broke the world record transfer fees twice, first when moving to Barcelona for 5 million euros in 1982 and 2 years later when he transferred to Napoli for 6.9 million.
He played for many clubs, but his time at Napoli is where the iconic Maradona played his best football. The Argentinian also played 4 FIFA World Cups with Argentina and captained them through the infamous 1986 world cup win.
He also voted the best goal of the Century (PICTURE OF THE GOAL) for his dribble against 5 English players in that same tournament. He won the golden ball (player of the tournament) as well.
Maradona’s professional career stretched over 22 years from 1976 to 1998; scoring 310 and 34 goals for club and country, respectively.
While the latter part of his life and career was riddled with troubles such as drug abuse, criminal offenses, and general controversy; Maradona’s name is written on the first page of football history. Diego passed away recently in 2020, aging just 60 years old.
Zinedine Zidane
Famously dubbed as Zizou, Zidane had just as successful a career as a player as he’s having as a coach. As rare and impressive as that may be, we’re focusing on his footballing abilities for now.
