Top 10 football players of all time

The most popular sport in the world, football, has had some true heroes who have transcended the game itself and cemented their legacy in the minds of football fans forever. Is picking the best football players of all time even possible?

#10 Michel Platini

Platini inspired a new generation of French footballers and is one of the all-time greats of the beautiful game. As he better known as zidane's idol. Inspiration for every frenchman. He scored many goals for his nation. You can say him pride of French.

#9 Johan Cruyff

A true visionary and pioneer of the game, Cruyff was also part of probably the greatest ever football team to never win the World Cup, when the incredibly entertaining Netherlands side finished runners-up to West Germany in 1974.

#8 Ronaldo Nazario

When a player plays for Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan and still has no haters, you know that he is something special. Ronaldo Nazario, also popularly known as 'O Fenomeno' is probably the greatest striker ever to play the game. Brazilian magician in football as he called. 

#7 Alfredo Di Stefano

Many people still consider Di Stefano to be the best Argentine player ever, even better than Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. A complete player who could play in plenty of positions with equal ease.

#6 Garrincha

Garrincha is one of the greatest dribblers ever! Garrincha first made his World Cup debut for Brazil in 1958 and immediately went on to establish himself as one of the best players in the world, scoring and assisting plenty of goals for his team-mates like Vava and Pele. The legendary genius even grabbed two assists in the final and was named man-of-the-match for his stunning performance.

#5 Zinedine Zidane

Scoring a brace of headed goals in the final, Zidane gave France their much-awaited maiden World Cup triumph against favorites Brazil, thus making him an overnight hero and icon. He followed it up with a stunning performance in Euro 2000, where France won again, and he was crowned the player of the tournament.

#4 Cristiano Ronaldo

A fierce determination to be the best, Ronaldo, with his grit and determination along with his supreme talent, has become one of the most recognizable names in world football today. He's pride of Portuguese. 

#3 Lionel Messi 

Nothing to say more about his talents. No matter what he does from now on, Messi will always be considered to be one of the greatest of all time. The only player to win the Ballon d'Or seven times, the Argentine international, left Barcelona last summer in a shocking free transfer to join PSG.

#2 Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona's entire persona as a player and person was probably captured in that fateful match against England at the 1986 World Cup. A cunning genius, the Argentine maestro, left the English defense in knots to score the greatest goals of all time.

#1 Pele

Brazilian legend Pele is widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time. No player has won more World Cups than him, and that alone should be enough to justify the Brazilian's inclusion at the top of this list.