Ask the Maradona in Naples who is the best footballer in the world, and you will get an unambiguous answer. Ask the same question in Brazil, and people of different ages will use different names. It is hard for a modern football fan to believe that there has ever been a player capable of showing the same things on the field as Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

We tried to make an objective top-10 list of the best players. To do this, we took as a basis the titles and records of football players, and also took into account the contribution to the popularization and development of football.

10. Zinedine Zidane

Club career: 1988-2006

Zidane won the world Cup in France in 1998, photo: Sky.com

Zidane at 10 years old received a football license, and at 14 – signed his first contract with the French club "Caen". He played for all the French national youth teams from 17 to 21 years old. At the age of 23, he won his first Intertoto Cup title with Bordeaux. In 1996, at the age of 24, Zinedine left the French championship and moved to Juventus. In 1998, he became a world champion with the French national team and received the Golden ball. Two years later, Zidane won the European championship with the French national team. In 2001, Zinedine moved to real Madrid, where he won six trophies.

During his career, Zidane won six trophies with Juventus and Real Madrid, winning the championship and super Cup in both Italy and Spain. Zidane has won the UEFA Super Cup, the Intercontinental Cup, and the Intertoto Cup twice each.

Zidane won the Golden ball once and was named the FIFA world player of the year three times: in 1998, 2000 and 2003. Zinedine is included in the FIFA 100 list of 2004, and in the symbolic team of the 21st century according to the version of UEFA in 2012. He was named the best French football player of all time by France Football and L'équipe in 2016 and 2018.

9. Ronaldo

Club career: 1993-2011

Ronaldo at the World Cup in Korea and Japan in 2002, photo: sportbible.com

Ronaldo started playing football at the age of six, and at the age of 12 became a regular player of the valkyrie children's Futsal club. In 1993, Ronaldo joined his first professional football club, Cruzeiro of Brazil. After Cruzeiro, Ronaldo played for PSV, Barcelona, Inter, Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Corinthians.

Ronaldo has become two times Spanish champion, winning the Cup Winners ' Cup, the UEFA Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, the Spanish Super Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup. Ronaldo has won the World Cup twice and received the Golden ball twice.

Ronaldo is the youngest player (20 years old) to receive the FIFA Player of the year award, and the first player to receive it twice in a row. Ronaldo holds the record of the Brazilian national team for the most goals at world cups – 15. "Nibbler" is also included in the FIFA 100 list.

8. Gianluigi Buffon

Club career: 1995-present

Buffon played for Juventus for 17 years, photo: telegraph

Buffon has been playing for Amateur Italian teams since the age of six. In 1995, at the age of 17, he signed a contract with the Italian "Parma", for which he played for six years. Buffon spent 17 years of his career with Juventus, and since 2018 he has been playing for PSG.

Buffon won the Italian championship 11 times, the Italian Cup, and super Cup-5 times each. He won the UEFA Cup once with Parma. He won the French super Cup with PSG. Buffon is a world champion and European youth champion.

Buffon has won the Italian goalkeeper of the year 12 times, the best goalkeeper of the Champions League three times, and the best goalkeeper of the World Cup once. In the 2015/16 season, Buffon set a Serie A record for the most time without conceding goals – 974 minutes (11 matches). Buffon is the only goalkeeper who has become the best player in the Champions League.

Buffon took second place in the poll for The 2006 Golden ball, losing only to Fabio Cannavaro. Gianluigi played the most matches for the national team among all European players. Buffon played for the Italian national team for 20 years. It is included in the FIFA 100 list.

7. Maradona

Club career: 1976-1997

Diego Maradona with the FIFA World Cup after winning the 1986 world Cup final, photo: sportsnet.ca

Maradona started playing at the age of nine with The Argentinos juniors youth team. Everyone in the team was three years older than Maradona, but Maradona's level allowed him to play with the seniors. At the age of 16, Maradona joined the main squad. Throughout his career, Maradona has played for Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, and Newell's old boys.

Maradona won the Argentine championship with Boca juniors, the Cup, super Cup, and Spanish League Cup with Barcelona. He has won the Italian League, Cup and Super Cup, as well as the UEFA Cup with Napoli. Maradona is the 1986 world champion. He also won the world championship with the national under-20 team in 1979.

Maradona became the top scorer of the Argentine championship five times, and also became the top scorer of the championship and the Italian Cup.

Maradona is the player of the century according to FIFA, the best Argentine footballer of all time according to the AFA from 1993 and the best player of the world Cup in 1986.

Until 1995, only European football players could get the Golden ball. Therefore, only in 1996, Maradona was awarded the honorary Golden ball for his contribution to the development of football. In 2014, Maradona was recognized as the second winner in 1986 and 1990, along with Igor Belanov and Lothar Mattheus.
See also : Top Richest Footballers in The World

6. Lionel Messi

Club career: 2003-present

Messi celebrates an El Clasico goal at the Santiago Bernabeu, photo: Getty Images

Messi started playing football at the age of five in the Amateur club "Grandoli". In 1995, at the age of eight, he began playing for his first professional club, Newell's old boys. At the age of 13, Lionel signed a contract with Barcelona. For three years, Messi played for the second and third teams of the Catalans, and in 2003, at the age of 16, he played his first match for the main squad.

In 19 years at Barcelona, Messi has won nine Spanish Championships, six Cups and eight Spanish super cups. Four Champions League cups, three UEFA super cups, and three club world cups. With the Argentine national team, Messi won the Olympic games in 2008 and the world Youth championship in 2005.

Messi is a five-time winner of the Golden Boot and a five-time winner of the Golden ball. Lionel was named Argentina's player of the year 11 times and the top scorer of the Champions League five times. Messi is the top scorer in the history of the Argentine national team with 65 goals. He is included in the list of the 50 best football players of the UEFA Champions League over the past 20 years and is part of the symbolic Argentina national team of all time.

5. Cristiano Ronaldo

Club career: 2002-present

Ronaldo has won the Champions League five times, photo: Getty Images

At the age of eight, Ronaldo played for the Amateur team "Andorinha". In 1995, at the age of 10, Cristiano signed a contract with the local club "Nacional". Throughout his career, Ronaldo has also played for Sporting, Manchester United, and Real Madrid, and since 2018, he has been playing for Juventus.

With Manchester United, Cristiano won three English Premier League titles, two League cups, the FA Cup and Super Cup, the Champions League, and the Club World Cup. With real Madrid, Ronaldo has won the Spanish League, Cup and Super Cup twice. He has won the Champions League four times, the UEFA Super Cup twice and the club world Cup three times. With Juventus, Ronaldo won the Italian Super Cup. And with the Portuguese national team, he became European champion in 2016.

Ronaldo is higher than Messi in our ranking thanks to winning the European championship. Messi has only won the Olympic games with the national team.

Ronaldo won the Golden boot four times and The Golden ball five times, and became the top scorer of the Champions League seven times. Cristiano is the top scorer in the history of European competitions with 106 goals, the top scorer in the history of the UEFA Champions League with 104 goals, and the top scorer in the history of the Club World Cup with seven goals.

4. Johan Cruyff

Club career: 1964-1984

Johan Cruyff at the 1974 world Cup, photo: Getty Images

At the age of 10, Cruyff started playing for the youth team of Ajax, and at 17, he moved to the main team. Johan Cruyff has played for Barcelona, Los Angeles Aztecs, Washington Diplomats, Levante and Feyenoord.

With Ajax, Cruyff won eight Dutch League titles, five Dutch Cups, three European Champions Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. He won the Spanish League and Cup with Barcelona. With Feyenoord being the championship and the Dutch Cup.

Johan Cruyff has won the Golden ball three times. In 2010, he was awarded the highest award of FIFA – the FIFA order of merit for his significant contribution to the development of football. He is ranked first in the list of the best European footballers of the XX century by the International Federation of football history and statistics (IFFIIS). It is included in the FIFA 100 list.

3. Franz Beckenbauer

Club career: 1964-1983

Franz Beckenbauer in 1977 played with Pele for the same club – "new York Cosmos", photo: si.com

Beckenbauer has been playing for the Munich 1906 team since he was nine years old. Throughout his career, Beckenbauer played for three more clubs: Bayern, New York Cosmos, and Hamburg.

With Bayern, Beckenbauer won the German League and Cup four times each. Three times in a row – the European Champions Cup, once-the Cup of cups and the Intercontinental Cup. With the new York Cosmos, he won the U.S. championship three times. With" Hamburg " he won the German championship once. With the German national team, Beckenbauer won both the World Cup and the European championship.

Franz Beckenbauer won the Golden ball twice and was named Germany's footballer of the year four times. Beckenbauer was included in the world team of the 20th century in 1998 and in the symbolic teams of three world cups: 1966, 1970 and 1974. It is included in the FIFA 100 list.

2. Marco Van Basten

Club career: 1981-1993

Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten with the European Champions Cup, photo: twitter.com/championsleague

Van Basten started playing football at the age of seven in the Dutch team EDO. At the age of 17, Marco moved to Ajax, where he spent six years, after which he moved to AC Milan.

With Ajax, van Basten won the Dutch League and Cup three times, as well as the Cup Winners ' Cup. With AC Milan, Marco won the Italian League and super Cup four times, as well as the European Champions Cup, European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup twice each. With the Dutch national team, Van Basten became the European champion in 1988.

Van Basten won the Golden ball three times and the Golden boot once. Four times he became the top scorer of the Dutch championship and two times-of the Italian championship. He became the best player and scorer of the European championship in 1988. In 2012, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of fame and is included in the FIFA 100 list.

1. Pele

Club career: 1956-1977

Pele kisses the Jules Rimet prize, photo: The Guardian

Pele started playing football at the age of seven, playing for youth teams. He started his professional career as a player at the age of 15, playing for Santos. Pele only changed clubs once, joining the New York Cosmos at the age of 35.

Pele won the Brazilian championship six times and the Brazilian Cup five times. He won the Paulista League 10 times and the Rio-Sao Paulo tournament four times. He has won the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup twice. He also won the Intercontinental Champions super Cup. With the new York Cosmos, Pele won the North American Soccer League. With the Brazilian national team, he won the World Cup three times.

Pele is the only footballer who has become a three-time world champion. Pele is the sportsman of the century according to the IOC version of 1999, the player of the century according to FIFA, ranked first among the best footballers in the world of the XX century according to THE iffiis poll. Included in the all-time World Cup team from 2002 and included in the FIFA 100 list.

At the age of 73, Pele was awarded the honorary Golden ball for his contribution to the development of football. After reviewing the awards in 2014, Pele became the second winner from 1958 to 1961 and in 1963, 1964, and 1970.