The Greatest Footballer of All Time

Moby

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Right, given this comes up in a few threads across the forum regarding certain players, it would be interesting to see what people say as to who is the greatest of all time.

I completely realise that in a truly global sport that has run for more than a century there are numerous factors that would contribute to one's greatness and it is always difficult to point out just one name, which is why this is nothing but a light-hearted casual exercise to observe the spread across the forum. It's basically if you had to take one name as the greatest ever, who would it be. Doesn't need to go extremely academic in the explanation of justification of it.

For me, plenty of names but I'd go for the one and only

O Rei - Pelé


Winner of THREE World Cups, while being an incredible part in two of them. Played in one at the age of 17 and scored a brace in the final. In 1970, he was the talisman of what is usually known as the greatest national team of all time!

At the club level, he dominated Brazilian football and was the leader of one of the greatest club teams in Brazilian football history. Also took his team to win the premier club competition Copa Libertadores twice and destroyed European Champions Benfica when they met his Santos team at the time. If South Americans were eligible for Ballon D'or, he'd have about 6 or 7.

The most complete attacking player ever. Ahead of his time, a physical beast, the greatest goalscorer you can have on the pitch, with the footballing IQ far ahead of anyone else and the ability to pull the strings and combine everyone in the team to a level that elevates everyone's performance. The man you want on a big stage as seen by his heroics at the biggest stage at the age of 17! In terms of longevity he's second to none, the first and third WC win being separated by 12 years.
 

MounchesterUtd

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Played out but it has to be Lionel Messi

For a more hipster pick, Lothar Matthaus basically had no weaknesses except for late game comebacks
 

Šjor Bepo

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Its between Pele, Cruyff, Maradona, Messi and Di Stefano....which is harsh on the likes of Baresi and Beckenbauer.
Id go with Messi but saying that, Pele and Di Stefano are the greats that i didnt really watch so its possible that one of them is better but i cant imagine that as Messi is pretty much a perfect footballer. God among humans.
 

VorZakone

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The lack of a WC for me doesn't tarnish Messi's rep. I still believe he is the best footballer I have ever watched.
 

Keegs

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Its between Pele, Cruyff, Maradona, Messi and Di Stefano....which is harsh on the likes of Baresi and Beckenbauer.
Id go with Messi but saying that, Pele and Di Stefano are the greats that i didnt really watch so its possible that one of them is better but i cant imagine that as Messi is pretty much a perfect footballer. God among humans.
If you can put Messi in that group then Ronaldo should be there.
 

Lay

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For me its Messi.

Luis Ronaldo a close second.
 

roonster09

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Obvious answers are Pele, Maradona, Messi but I watched this 30 mins documentary of many players (Worlds best player and they did it for many players) Di Stefano stood out superbly. From the clips they showed and the interviews he looked like a amazing dream player.

Not watched enough clips though so I will go will popular opinion. Pele or Maradona.
 

sullydnl

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Pele, Maradona and Messi are the top three in my mind, though Cruyff deserves to be in the conversation too. Picking one definitively is impossible.
 

Enigma_87

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O Rei for me too.

14 games in WC's - 12 goals, 10 assists. His record at Santos and also against European sides is impeccable. Pele was a player that had no weakness - great in the air, with both feet, vision, passing, strength - the man got it all.
 

Keegs

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I'm sorry but anybody that can put Messi in the greatest to ever play list and leave Cristiano out I don't know how he's at the same level as Messi.
 

MounchesterUtd

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There's still time but perhaps the lack of a WC win will hurt his reputation in the future as compared to the big two.
The WC is a tough one for me. On one hand, the spectacle and romanticism of the WC is unmatched.

On the other, you need to be born in the right country, at the right time, to even have a chance at winning it. If the next GOAT caliber player was born in Japan or Honduras, he'll have slim (at best) chances at winning the cup, hence his stature as the GOAT takes a knock by no fault of his own.
 

Mrs Smoker

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I'm sorry but anybody that can put Messi in the greatest to ever play list and leave Cristiano out I don't know how he's at the same level as Messi.
Can't really tell...are you upset in people suggesting them being at same level, or not being?
 

sullydnl

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I'm sorry but anybody that can put Messi in the greatest to ever play list and leave Cristiano out I don't know how he's at the same level as Messi.
A lot of people (including myself) think Messi has been a better player than Ronaldo over their careers, so it's not that strange.

No need to turn this into a Messi v Ronaldo thread though.
 

VanGaalEra

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Cristiano Ronaldo
Maradona
Pele

Any of those three I can't argue with.
 

sullydnl

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There's still time but perhaps the lack of a WC win will hurt his reputation in the future as compared to the big two.
True, though you could argue that the CL is now the premier competition in world football, in which case Messi's record there is a big plus.
 

Keegs

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Can't really tell...are you upset in people suggesting them being at same level, or not being?
Not being people are making a list of Maradona,Pele and Messi as the greatest ever I don't see how Ronaldo is left out of such a list he is going to win the Balon D'or again most likely Ronaldo which means he has won it 4 times while Messi has won it 5 times. Ronaldo is of the same level as Messi and there's no two ways about it.I don't understand how you can put Messi on the list or declare him the greatest player ever and leave out the man who's bettered him multiple years and bet him multiple years for individual accolades it's ridiculous really.
 

Sigma

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Obvious answers are Pele, Maradona, Messi but I watched this 30 mins documentary of many players (Worlds best player and they did it for many players) Di Stefano stood out superbly. From the clips they showed and the interviews he looked like a amazing dream player.

Not watched enough clips though so I will go will popular opinion. Pele or Maradona.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football's_Greatest

This?

I've seen quite a lot of them too, they are pretty good. They name Pele as the best followed by Maradona

Maradona or Messi.

Pele didn't do it in a proper league.
This is a myth, back then the Brazillian league had all the best players, hence why Brazil won 3 world cups in 4
 

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I like this thread but anyone arguing over the inclusion / exclusion of Ronaldo or messi should be immediately banned from posting in it
 

.Rossi

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Ronaldinho was/is the best footballer I've ever seen. Certainly the most entertaining. Was almost like the ball was stuck to him.

The way his career went south after 2006 would probably tarnish his legacy but, he had won everything within the space of 4 years, both for club, country and individually so, I guess he just wanted to party.

The only opposition player I've tuned in to watch and actively went to try and see live
 

sullydnl

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Not being people are making a list of Maradona,Pele and Messi as the greatest ever I don't see how Ronaldo is left out of such a list he is going to win the Balon D'or again most likely Ronaldo which means he has won it 4 times while Messi has won it 5 times. Ronaldo is of the same level as Messi and there's no two ways about it.I don't understand how you can put Messi on the list or declare him the greatest player ever and leave out the man who's bettered him multiple years and bet him multiple years for individual accolades it's ridiculous really.
Maybe some people don't put all that much weight on individual awards?

Slightly off topic but the Ballon D'or has an exaggerated status these days imo. You have players like Pogba saying their dream is to win the Ballon D'or rather than, say, Champions Leagues and World Cups. It's really a very flawed prize, though I'm sure nice to win.
 

Lay

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Ronaldinho was/is the best footballer I've ever seen. Certainly the most entertaining. Was almost like the ball was stuck to him.

The way his career went south after 2006 would probably tarnish his legacy but, he had won everything within the space of 4 years, both for club and individually so, I guess he just wanted to party.

The only opposition player I've tuned in to watch and actively went to try and see live
Definitely one of the best I've ever seen. He got me back into football after I got pretty bored with it. Shame he didn't last longer at the top, but his peak is probably the most watchable out of anyone I've seen.
 

Carolina Red

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I've read folks say that Di Stefano could play pretty much anywhere on the pitch and be a star.

I don't know if that could be said for someone like Messi, who I think is the greatest of this generation of players.
 

P-Nut

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Not a single mention of Georgie in here. Quite surprising that, most people rate him up there with the best and if he was born in an exotic country he could have shown himself on the international stage.
 

Mr Bridger

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Diego Armando Maradona
Nowadays TV cameras capture every hart beat of a player, I often wonder what we missed out on with Maradona.
 

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I'd say Maradona who is more than a footballer, a truly living legend & the indisputable pride of a country.
 

sullydnl

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Not a single mention of Georgie in here. Quite surprising that, most people rate him up there with the best and if he was born in an exotic country he could have shown himself on the international stage.
Do most people really rate him up there with the likes of Pele? I suspect that number drops once you move beyond United fans and even more so once you move beyond fans from UK/Ireland.
 

sullydnl

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I'd say Maradona who is more than a footballer, a truly living legend & the indisputable pride of a country.
If we move beyond what they did on the pitch though then you could argue that Cruyff is even better. Obviously a legend in his own country and arguably had more influence on modern football than any other single person.
 

Šjor Bepo

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Lets please not ruin this thread with another Messi - Ronaldo debate, feel free to nominate both or even compare any of them with someone else but lets not go again into boring waters of Messi/Ronaldo debate.