Rank your top 20 players of all time

[Halds]

I've been following the 3xRonaldo and the Platini threads, and it's interesting how different we value players. It's like discussing what music is the best. Some like pop and some like heavy metal. Some like new music and some like old. Some might say, that the best album is the one that has sold the most and others might argue that the best album is the one with the most grammy awards. These rankings will always be subjective based on personal preferences, so there's obviously no correct answer here.

And the fact that we haven't actually seen all these great players from the past makes it even more difficult to make a correct judgement. We know they were great, because everybody who saw them play said so, but how do you judge the likes of di Stefano, Puskas, etc.?

I am interested in your flawed opinion. From what you have seen, heard or read about, with all your subjectivity and bias.. How would you rank the top 20 best players ever?

 

[RedRonaldo]

1. Pele
2. Messi
3. C.Ronaldo
4. Maradona
5. Cruyff
6. Di Stefano
7. Beckenbauer
8. Platini
9. Best
10. Eusébio
11. Puskas
12. Zico
13. L.Ronaldo
14. Zidane
15. Garrincha
16. Müller
17. Romario
18. Charlton
19. S.Matthew
20. Ronaldinho

Based on overall achievements, stats, legacy, peak, and limited number of footages I’ve seen.

 

[Inter Yer Nan]

1. Pele
2. C.Ronaldo
3. Messi
4. Maradona
5. Cruyff
6. Di Stefano
7. Best
8. Eusebio
9. Platini
10. Beckenbauer
11. Garrincha
12. Zico
13. Puskas
14. Zidane
15. Ronaldo 9
16. Charlton
17. Iniesta
18. Xavi
19. Baresi
20. Figo

Roughly and off the top.

 

[Moby]

1. Pelé
2. Maradona
3. Cruyff
4. Messi
5. Cristiano
6. Beckenbauer
7. Di Stefano
8. Ronaldo
9. Zico
10. Platini
11. Best
12. Garrincha
13. Van Basten
14. Charlton
15. Puskas
16. Muller
17. Matthaus
18. Baresi
19. Romario
20. Eusebio

 

[Joga Bonito]

1. Maradona
2. Pele
3. Messi
4. Beckenbauer
5. Cruyff
6. Di Stefano
7. Platini
8. C.Ronaldo
9. Puskas
10. Sir Bobby Charlton
11. Ronaldo
12. Zico
13. Eusebio
14. Müller
15. Best
16. Baresi
17. Matthäus
18. Ronaldinho
19. Xavi
20. Garrincha

 

[markhughes]

1. Pele
2. Maradona
3. L Ronaldo
4. Di Stefano
5. Messi
6. C.Ronaldo
7. Bobby Charlton
8. George Best
9. Puskas
10. Romario
11. Eusebio
12. Beckenbauer
13. Muller
14. Rooney
15. Platini
16. Koeman
17. Matthaus
18. Garrincha
19. Henry
20. Zola

Top 10 is in order but after that it's players who popped in to my head.

 

[Infordin]

1. Messi
2. Pele
3. Maradona
4. Cristiano
5. Cruyff
6. Di Stefano
7. Platini
8. Beckenbauer
9. Puskas
10. Best
11. Eusebio
12. Zico
13. Zidane
14. Ronaldo9
15. Romario
16. Garrincha
17. Gerd Muller
18. Ronaldinho
19. Meazza
20. Xavi

I put about 4 minutes of thought into this.

 

[jackal&hyde]

I never understood how people can have these ranks with players they've only ever seen a few minutes of. Sure you can go by stats and by what others have said but still, football has changed so much over the years that even if i have seen Pele play how do i rank his stats vs Ronaldo or Messi? I'l write a list o players that i've seen a bit later.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

So much conjecture in a view partly based on what one has read /heard but I'd go with.

1. Messi
2. Maradona
3. Pele
4. Di Stefano
5. Beckenbauer
6. Cristiano
7. Cruyff
8. Ronaldo 9


Yeah I'm done. This got more pointless as it went on.

 

[giorno]

1. Maradona
2. Pelé
3. Messi
4. Cristiano Ronaldo
5. Di Stefano
6. Cruyff
7. Ronaldo
8. Puskas
9. Beckenbauer
10. Platini
11. Garrincha
12. Zidane
13. Van Basten
14. Eusebio
15. Best
16. Romario
17. Zico
18. Gerd Muller
19. Charlton
20. Matthaus

 

[Treble]

Top 20 is hard to do as there were plenty of great players in the past whose fame has faded a bit. Two names that nobody has put in their top 20 are Sandor Kocsis and Lev Yashin. Kocsis was a phenomenal forward with 75 goals in 68 international apps for Hungary. He was scoring goals for Barca well into his 30s after leaving communist Hungary in 1956. Lev Yashin is arguably the most legendary keeper.

 

[Treble]

1. Maradona
2. Pelé
3. Messi
4. Cristiano Ronaldo
5. Di Stefano
6. Cruyff
7. Ronaldo
8. Puskas
9. Beckenbauer
10. Platini
11. Garrincha
12. Zidane
13. Van Basten
14. Eusebio
15. Best
16. Romario
17. Zico
18. Gerd Muller
19. Charlton
20. Matthaus

Great list. No Italian?

 

[Invictus]

I would like to do this in tier format — the exact order within the parameters of a given tier doesn't really matter and could periodically change...

Players that go on the “Mt. Rushmore of Football”:

1. Pelé
2. Diego Maradona
3. Franz Beckenbauer
4. Lionel Messi

5. Alfredo Di Stéfano
6. Cristiano Ronaldo
7. Johan Cruyff

8. Ferenc Puskás
9. Michel Platini
10. Fenômeno

11. Garrincha
12. Zico
13. Eusébio
14. George Best
15. Franco Baresi

16. Gerd Müller
17. Marco Van Basten
18. Zinedine Zidane

19. Bobby Charlton
20. Xavi
21. Lothar Matthäus
22. Paolo Maldini
23. Romário

24. Giuseppe Meazza
25. Frank Rijkaard
26. Didi
27. Elías Figueroa
28. Ronaldinho

29. Andrés Iniesta
30. Gianluigi Buffon / Lev Yashin

 

[BlackShark_80]

1. Pele
2. Maradona
3. Messi
4. Cruyff
5. Di Stefano
6. Beckenbauer
7. Cristiano
8. Ronaldo
9. Platini
10. Garrincha
11. Best
12. Zico
13. Puskas
14. Eusebio
15. Meazza
16. Zidane
17. Baresi
18. Charlton
19. Matthaus
20. Muller

 

[giorno]

Great list. No Italian?

Honestly i stand by the top15(though tomorrow i might shuffle the order around a bit), last 5 are just the first 5 that came to mind

I'm also starting chronologically from Puskas and Di Stefano. So no Valentino, Zizinho, Matthews, Meazza, Andrade, etc....

 

[TRUERED89]

I would like to do this in tier format — the exact order within the parameters of a given tier doesn't really matter and could periodically change...

Players that go on the “Mt. Rushmore of Football”:

1. Pelé
2. Diego Maradona
3. Franz Beckenbauer
4. Lionel Messi

5. Alfredo Di Stéfano
6. Cristiano Ronaldo
7. Johan Cruyff

8. Ferenc Puskás
9. Michel Platini
10. Fenômeno

11. Garrincha
12. Zico
13. Eusébio
14. George Best
15. Franco Baresi


16. Gerd Müller
17. Marco Van Basten
18. Zinedine Zidane

19. Bobby Charlton
20. Xavi
21. Lothar Matthäus
22. Paolo Maldini
23. Romário

24. Giuseppe Meazza
25. Frank Rijkaard
26. Didi
27. Elías Figueroa
28. Ronaldinho

29. Andrés Iniesta
30. Gianluigi Buffon / Lev Yashin

If you’re going to involve Keepers, Buffon over Big Pete really ?

edit: World Cup winner I suppose...

 

[Halds]

I never understood how people can have these ranks with players they've only ever seen a few minutes of. Sure you can go by stats and by what others have said but still, football has changed so much over the years that even if i have seen Pele play how do i rank his stats vs Ronaldo or Messi? I'l write a list o players that i've seen a bit later.

It's obviously very flawed making such a list. But IF you should make a list and you would want it to be as correct, as you THINK it should be, based on all you have seen, heard and read, then it would not feel right leaving out the likes of di Stefano and Puskas because almost everybody who've seen them ranks them in a top20 minimum. If you were to give a qualified guess to the best of your knowledge and preferences, how would that turn out?

Anyway.. Here is mine.

1. Maradona
2. Pelé
3. Messi
4. Cruyff
5. Cristiano
6. Van Basten
7. Beckenbauer
8. Di Stefano
9. Puskas
10. Ronaldo9
11. Best
12. Eusebio
13. Meazza
14. M. Laudrup
15. Zidane
16. Ronaldinho
17. Romario
18. Garrincha
19. Platini
20. Baggio

 

[Invictus]

If you’re going to involve Keepers, Buffon over Big Pete really ?

Yes, really...don't see why that's surprising/controversial either — Buffon is without exception the most consistently great goalkeeper of all time, and can lay claim to being one of the greatest young goalkeepers ever, one of the greatest middle-aged goalkeepers ever, as well as one of the greatest old goalkeepers ever — a combination that almost no one else can match.

Made his Serie A debut at 17 vs. Milan of all teams and kept a clean sheet...and decisive in Juventus reaching the Champions League final at age 39 — no other goalkeeper offers a comparable scale wrt. career at the very top over 2 decades, and few had as many prominent peaks: UEFA Cup with Parma under Ancelotti when he was already the best goalkeeper in Serie A, 2003 where he was arguably Juventus' best player after Nedvěd and was rightly adjudged UEFA Club Footballer of the Year, 2006 where he was fundamental to Italy's success with Cannavaro and Pirlo, then his looooong stretch of dominance with post-Calciopoli Juventus, as well as EURO 2012 where he was critical in matches like Italy vs. England as he reached the final. There were other noteworthy goalkeepers in the period: Van der Sar, Čech, Casillas, César, etc. — but Buffon was a constant from start to finish.

You could argue that he has conclusively eclipsed Yashin as the greatest goalkeeper football has ever seen (though the latter was more enigmatic and revolutionary as someone who incorporated a lot of Grosics' sweeper-keeper concepts in his own iconic rushing style so he'll always be a transcendental figure). Plus, he's close to the prototype (like Baresi for centerbacks or Van Basten for strikers): rarely made any errors, perfect positioning, had cat-like reflexes, exceptional reading of the game, immaculate concentration — when he got older/stiffer and lost his agility, he was still really good because his fundamentals were consistently top drawer...didn't even have to dive around or flail his arms that much because he was invariably in the right spot at the right time.

The best, bar none — if I had to create a team with zero restrictions, I'd select Gigi for his pure goalkeeping prowess — unless a high-line possession scheme was in order (where peak Neuer was the gold standard). Schmeichel, Maier, Zoff, Kahn were all brilliant in their own right, but they can compete for the spots after Buffon and Yashin.

 

[paraguayo]

1-Pele
2-Maradona
3-Messi
4-Beckenbauer
5-Cruyff
6-C.Ronaldo
7-L.Ronaldo
8-Di Stefano
9-Puskas
10-Van Basten
11-Romario
12-Zidane
13-Ronaldinho
14-Platini
15-Baresi
16-Muller
17-Didi
18-Garrincha
19-Maldini
20-Eusebio

 

[jackal&hyde]

It's obviously very flawed making such a list. But IF you should make a list and you would want it to be as correct, as you THINK it should be, based on all you have seen, heard and read, then it would not feel right leaving out the likes of di Stefano and Puskas because almost everybody who've seen them ranks them in a top20 minimum. If you were to give a qualified guess to the best of your knowledge and preferences, how would that turn out?

Anyway.. Here is mine.

1. Maradona
2. Pelé
3. Messi
4. Cruyff
5. Cristiano
6. Van Basten
7. Beckenbauer
8. Di Stefano
9. Puskas
10. Ronaldo9
11. Best
12. Eusebio
13. Meazza
14. M. Laudrup
15. Zidane
16. Ronaldinho
17. Romario
18. Garrincha
19. Platini
20. Baggio

It's a fun exercise don't get me wrong, i just would not know how to compare for example Pele with Ronaldo given how much i know and seen of one and how little on the other plus how much football has changed. Would Pele be as good now as he was back then? Who knows... Anyway, this is my list on the players i've seen a lot:

1) C. Ronaldo
2) Messi
3) Ronaldo de Lima
4) Zidane
5) Xavi
6) Iniesta
7) Giggs
8) Keane
9) Scholes
10) Maldini
11) Ferdinand
12) Beckham
13) Alves
14) Suarez
15) Aguero
16) Pirlo
17) Gerard
18) Rooney
19) Figo
20) Del Piero

The places are not set in stone, more as they came to mind; there are a few others i could add as well. I'l just mention the keepers: Schmeichel, Buffon, Kahn and DDG (he had the best season i've ever seen from a GK a few years ago)

 

[Bestietom]

1. Maradona
2. Pele
3. Messi
4. Beckenbauer
5. Cruyff
6. Di Stefano
7. Platini
8. C.Ronaldo
9. Puskas
10. Sir Bobby Charlton
11. Ronaldo
12. Zico
13. Eusebio
14. Müller
15. Best
16. Baresi
17. Matthäus
18. Ronaldinho
19. Xavi
20. Garrincha

Duncan Edwards

 

[JDubz]

Messi, Ronaldo, Cameron Jerome.

 

[blue blue]

No Ruud Gullit or Bobby Moore?

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

1. Lionel Messi
2. Pele
3. Diego Maradona
4. Cristiano Ronaldo
5. Johan Cruyff
6. Alfredo Di Stefano
7. Franz Beckenbauer
8. Paolo Maldini
9. Gianluigi Buffon
10. Ferenc Puskas
11. Ronaldo
12. Michel Platini
13. Eusebio
14. Franco Baresi
15. Xavi
16. Zinedine Zidane
17. Garrincha
18. Gerd Muller
19. Lothar Matthaus
20. Bobby Charlton

 

[Tostao_80]

1. Leo
2. Diego
3. Pele
4. Cruyff
5. Cristiano
6. Di Stefano
7. Beckenbauer
8. Eusebio
9. Zidane
10. Puskas
11. Platini
12. Ronaldo Lima
13. Dinho
14. G Muller
15. Best
16. Garrincha
17. Baresi
18. Zico
19. Xavi
20. Van Basten

 

[Giuliano Maiorana]

1. Ronaldo r94
2. George Best
3. Cristiano Ronaldo
4. Pele
5. Lionel Messi
6. Duncan Edwards
7. John Charles
8. Dixie Dean
9. Ferenc Puskas
10. Bobby Charlton
11. Di Stefano
12. Paulo Maldini
13. Johan Cruyff
14. Ronaldinho
15 Gerd Muller
16. Rio Ferdinand
17. Paul Scholes
18. Denis Law
19. Ryan Giggs
20. Tommy Taylor

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

These lists are almost always favorable to attacking/creative players.

Duncan Edwards

Crazy that he's almost universally regarded as one of our greatest ever players despite dying a few months after his 21st birthday.

Makes you wonder, just how good would he have been if he'd lived to see his peak.

Didn't Bobby Charlton once say Edwards made him look shit?

 

[GDaly95]

I honestly thought that the football world on the whole decided that Pele was no longer a part of this conversation.

Don't know why I felt like that, given him consistently being on these lists.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

I honestly thought that the football world on the whole decided that Pele was no longer a part of this conversation.

Don't know why I felt like that, given him consistently being on these lists.

It's impossible to compare him to Messi and Ronaldo because the game has changed too much. It was a completely different time.

 

[The Cat]

1. Pelé
2. Maradona
3. Cruyff
4. Messi
5. Cristiano
6. Beckenbauer
7. Di Stefano
8. Ronaldo
9. Zico
10. Platini
11. Best
12. Garrincha
13. Van Basten
14. Charlton
15. Puskas
16. Muller
17. Matthaus
18. Baresi
19. Romario
20. Eusebio

That's solid.

 

[VivaObertan]

I think if people are including Figo, Ryan Giggs should get a look-in here.

 

[Trezeguet17]

1. Messi
2. Di Stefano
3. Pele
4. Maradona
5. Cruyff
6. C. Ronaldo
7. Puskas
8. Beckenbauer
9. Xavi
10. Maldini
11. Buffon
12. Ronaldo
13. Garrincha
14. G. Müller
15. Matthäus
16. Zico
17. Platini
18. Zidane
19. Charlton
20. Lahm

 

[TRUERED89]

I think if people are including Figo, Ryan Giggs should get a look-in here.

Maybe Scholes too, might be pushing it though considering the candidates on the list.. But the way he used to take the p!ss out of teams had me in hysterics at times..

 

[Gio]

I honestly thought that the football world on the whole decided that Pele was no longer a part of this conversation.

Don't know why I felt like that, given him consistently being on these lists.

There's been quite a lot circulating on social media in recent months discrediting his achievements. And that's gained a lot of traction, particularly amongst the under-30s and especially among some of those who were teenagers during Messi and Cristiano's peaks. I don't give it a lot of weight though as it's mostly the sort of arguments that have been debunked on here time and time again. Basically boiling down to (1) an inflated goal tally (yes but still scored almost 800 official goals), (2) playing in Brazil for his career (standard as good as anywhere at the time and he tore apart any great European side he faced) and (3) his World Cup record isn't as impeccable as it is cracked up to be (obviously injured in '62, kicked out in '66, but was majestic at both ends of his career at 17 and 29 in the '58 and '70 showcasing a range of forward play uncommon amongst most of the greats).

 

[andy dufresne]

It is almost impossible to pick out a top 20 Players of all time isn't it

The safest thing to say is that the likes of Pele , Maradona , Messi , Ronaldo , Zidane would be in the vast majority of people's top 10

As for the other "obvious" ones , I guess we're talking Cruyff , Platini , Beckenbauer , George Best and my favourite United player of all time , Bryan Robson !

 

[La Pulga]

1. Messi
2. Maradona
3. Pele
4. Cruyff
5. Di Stefano
6. Ronaldo
7. C. Ronaldo
8. Zico
9. Beckenbauer
10. Platini
11. Best
12. Ronaldinho
13. Zidane
14. Iniesta
15. Maldini
16. Eusebio
17. Garrincha
18. Puskas
19. Pirlo
20. Buffon

 

[Raj70]

There's been quite a lot circulating on social media in recent months discrediting his achievements. And that's gained a lot of traction, particularly amongst the under-30s and especially among some of those who were teenagers during Messi and Cristiano's peaks. I don't give it a lot of weight though as it's mostly the sort of arguments that have been debunked on here time and time again. Basically boiling down to (1) an inflated goal tally (yes but still scored almost 800 official goals), (2) playing in Brazil for his career (standard as good as anywhere at the time and he tore apart any great European side he faced) and (3) his World Cup record isn't as impeccable as it is cracked up to be (obviously injured in '62, kicked out in '66, but was majestic at both ends of his career at 17 and 29 in the '58 and '70 showcasing a range of forward play uncommon amongst most of the greats).

Yes, even my 17 son says he is overrated, I had to put him straight on the matter that at the time Pele played it was the norm for players to play in their home domestic league. And the so called 'friendlies' that get dismissed were against some of the top European sides and the majority were competitive fixtures in all but name, which Pele recorded over a goal a game. People really need to do their research but I guess social media influences many people far too much.

 

[harms]

1. Pelé
2. Maradona
3. Messi
4. Cristiano
5. Cruyff
6. Di Stefano
7. Beckenbauer
8. Puskás
9. Platini
10. L. Ronaldo
11. Zico
12. Baresi
13. van Basten
14. Best
15. Xavi
16. Zidane
17. Charlton
18. Garrincha
19. Müller
20. Eusebio

The relative "tiers" are marked by an underline. Inside the tiers the order is fluid.

Fecking hell, this is impossible. Those, who can easily make the list on another day:

GK: Buffon, Yashin
Defenders: Maldini, Figueroa
Midfielders: Rijkaard, Iniesta, L. Suarez
Attackers: Gullit, Romario, Baggio, Rummenigge, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo

 

[FrankDrebin]

My top 20 favourite players of all time.

1. Zidane
2. Ronaldinho
3. Cantona
4. Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima
5. Figo
6. Messi
7. Baggio
8. Iniesta
9. Pires
10. Giggs
11. Maldini
12. Rivaldo
13. Keane
14. Bergkhamp
15. Zola
16. Vieira
17. Yorke
18. Nedved
19. Boban
20. Okocha

 

[Steele]

1. Pele
2. Maradona
3. Messi
4. C.Ronaldo
5. Cruyff
6. Beckenbaeur
7. DiStefano
*
L.Ronaldo
Platini
Puskas
Xavi
Zidane
Iniesta
Best
Zico
G.Muller
Eusebio
Baresi
VanBasten
Charlton

Messi wins a title with Argentina and moves to No.1