One of the great football topics is back for the 2025/26 season and there will be a wide array of differing opinions on the results. Deciding who is the greatest footballer of all time is never easy, particularly as fans biasedly claim their club legend is the best.
It tends to be a common theme that a lot of people consider Cristiano Ronaldo , Lionel Messi , Diego Maradona and Pele to be the most prominent names in the hat for being the best player to have ever played the game, but always in different orders.
Unsurprisingly, all four of those names make it onto our list, but who else joins them in a ranking of the 40 greatest footballers of all-time?
Ranking factors
Factors taken into consideration when ranking these players are as follows:
Importance to the team - This can be classed as goals, assists or clean sheets. Yet the more they've scored - or defended - the higher they are on the list. You can't be a legendary striker without scoring hundreds of goals.
Club and international trophies - If a player has played a crucial part in their team winning trophies, they have been ranked higher on this list. The top of professional football is all about winning trophies — and these players epitomised that.
Individual Awards - However, some players stay at teams that don't compete for major trophies every year, so using individual awards to rank the 25 best is also important. The Ballon d'Or is one of the most prestigious awards in the sport.
40 Kenny Dalglish
Born: 4 March 1951.
For Liverpool fans, Kenny Dalglish is the club's greatest ever footballer. He scored the winning goal in the 1978 European Cup final. going on to win that competition three more times, while also delivering six league titles to Anfield, not to mention a whole host of other honours. Celtic fans also hold him in similar esteem after he won four league titles, four Scottish Cups, and a Scottish League Cup with the Bhoys, too.
'King Kenny' also managed 102 appearances for Scotland, their most ever, and is the joint-leading goal scorer (on 30, with Denis Law). His influence on British football cannot be understated, as he went on to win the Premier League as Blackburn Rovers manager, having already coached Liverpool to three First Division titles. He truly dominated football throughout the 1970s and 80s.
1969 - 1977
328
173
1977 - 1990
515
172
1971 - 1986
103
39 Michael Laudrup
Born: 15 June 1964.
Michael Laudrup was well and truly one of the most graceful midfielders to ever play the sport. 'I've been trying to be like him since I was a kid," Andres Iniesta once said of his childhood idol . That should tell you all you need to know about the Danish maestro.
Laudrup won La Liga titles with both Barcelona and Real Madrid, and also won Serie A in Italy with Juventus and Eredivisie with Ajax. Despite playing with some of the greatest footballers of all time, both Romario and Raul have described the Dane as the best player they ever played with . Michel Platini once said, “Michael had everything except for one thing: he wasn’t selfish enough.” Perhaps he would rank a little higher on this list if he was, but his unselfishness certainly didn't hold him back much.
1981
1982 - 1983
1983 - 1985
258
106
1985–1989
151
1989 - 1994
226
1994 - 1996
1996 - 1997
1997 - 1998
1982 - 1998
104
38 Luis Suarez
Born: 2 May 1935. Died: 9 July 2023.
Luis Suarez (not to be mistaken with the Uruguayan striker of the same name) was a wonderfully talented Spanish midfielder. Had he been born four or five decades later, he would have slotted seamlessly alongside the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets. Instead, he simply led the way for them as a pioneer of the game.
Indeed, Suarez won La Liga twice with Barcelona, which helped him seal the 1960 Ballon d'Or. He would then deliver three Serie A titles for Inter Milan, while also winning two European Cups in the same decade. He played more like an attacking midfielder (bit like Iniesta) in his youth, but then became a deep-lying playmaker (more akin to Xavi) as he aged.
1953 - 1954
1956 - 1955
1955 - 1961
176
1961 - 1970
329
1970 - 1973
1957 - 1972
37 Bobby Moore
Born: 12 April 1941. Died: 24 February 1993.
Bobby Moore is one of the true iconic footballing captains of the sport, famously leading England to their only ever World Cup triumph in 1966. The legendary defender was best known at club level for his time with West Ham, leading them to FA Cup glory in 1964, while also winning the Charity Shield and European Cup Winners' Cup with the Hammers.
Pele spent his career making a mockery of centre-backs across the globe, more on that later, but Moore was one of just two men who truly gave the Brazilian a tough time . The late striker recalled: "You see, whoever I played against, I had the best defender marking me, but the best were Bobby Moore and Franz Beckenbauer."
1958 - 1974
614
1974 - 1977
150
1976 (loan)
1978
1978
1981
Carolina Lightnin'
1983
1962 - 1973
108
36 Giuseppe Meazza
Born: 23 August 1910. Died: 21 August 1979
Modern football fans will best know Giuseppe Meazza as the alternate title to the San Siro, after it was renamed in his honour back in March 1980. Spending the best years of his career with Inter, and returning there at the end of his career, winning three Serie A titles and later managing them, it's no wonder he's so loved in those parts. He also briefly played for AC Milan.
His greatest success came at the international level, though, as he led Italy to win two consecutive World Cups – in 1934, and then as captain in 1938. Despite playing so many years ago, only one man has more than his 33 goals for Italy (Luigi Riva, 42). Nicknamed Il genio (The Genius) by the Italian press, Meazza was a true joy to watch and will forever be one of the greatest strikers in football history.
1927 - 1940 + 1946 - 1946
409
248
1940 - 1942
1942 - 1943
1944
1945 - 1946
1930 - 1939
35 Sir Stanley Matthews
Born: 1 February 1915. Died: 23 February 2000.
Sir Stanley Matthews is one of the best English players ever. He was knighted in 1965 for his achievements in football while he was still at Stoke City. He remains the only footballer to be knighted during his playing career. Although he came from Stoke, his best achievement came at Blackpool, where he won the FA Cup in 1953.
Three years later, he won the inaugural Ballon d'Or, beating the likes of Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas to first place. He also remains in the English record books for making an appearance in a top-flight match at the age of 50.
34 Gareth Bale
Born: 16 July 1989.
Gareth Bale being on this list might surprise some, particularly when someone like Eden Hazard isn't. However, he was consistently world-class and epitomised the idea of 'hard work'. He made a name for himself at Tottenham Hotspur. The Welshman won just one trophy there - the 2008 Carling Cup - but he carried the team on his back. Bale famously broke onto the scene with a hat-trick away to European champions Inter Milan in 2010. He eventually moved to Real Madrid for a world-record fee where he won everything he could. Bale's overhead kick to win the 2018 Champions League against Liverpool remains one of the greatest goals in the competition's history.
2006 - 2007
2007 - 2013
202
2013 - 2020
258
106
2020 - 2021
2022 - 2023
2006 - 2022
111
33 Manuel Neuer
Born: 27 March 1986.
Manuel Neuer is renowned for being one of the first 'modern' goalkeepers, who was extremely skillful with the ball at his feet and has adopted the role of sweeper keeper for many years. In fact, in 2020, he was awarded the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) goalkeeper of the decade award for his performances between 2011 and 2020.
He has won an abundance of team trophies as well. Most notably, he won the World Cup with Germany in 2014. Domestically, he has won the Bundesliga 12 times and the Champions League twice, with the most recent of these triumphs coming in the 2019/20 campaign.
Schalke 04 II
2004 - 2006
2005 - 2011
152
2011 - Current
598
2009 - Current
125
32 Carlos Alberto
Born: 17 July 1944. Died 25 October 2016.
Carlos Alberto is most well-known for captaining the Brazil team in the 1970 World Cup final . The Selecao beat Italy 4-1 in the final, with Alberto scoring the last goal, which is considered one of the best goals in football history. After a period of swift passes between the men in yellow, Pele laid the ball off to the right-back who smashed the ball into the bottom corner in front of over 107,000 people at Estadio Azteca.
Alberto was recognised for his achievements for club and country in 1998 when he was selected for the World Team of the 20th century. Domestically, he won 16 trophies for Fluminense, Santos and New York Cosmos before eventually retiring in 1982.
31 Kaka
Born: 22 April 1982.
Kaka won the Ballon d'Or in 2007 after winning the Champions League with AC Milan. The team and individual achievements solidified his status as one of the greatest players of all time. He also won the World Cup in 2002 in his first year representing his country, highlighting his legendary status at an early stage. For AC Milan, he excelled over six years from 2003-2009, scoring 75 goals in 270 matches. His spell at Real Madrid in the years was not as impressive, but he still managed to score 29 goals in 120 matches. The Brazilian will always be remembered as one of the sport's best entertainers — and one of the best Brazilians .
2000 - 2003
2003 - 2009
270
2009 - 2013
120
2013 - 2014
2014 - 2017
2002 - 2016
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