The 100 best football players in World Cup history

07.02.2024

The English publication The Guardian, with the help of experts, including SE, conducted a large-scale survey and identified the hundred best players of the world championships.

The top 100 included three representatives of Soviet football - Lev Yashin (No. 30), Igor Belanov (No. 82) and Rinat Dasaev (No. 94). The Brazilian Pele is recognized as the brightest football player in the history of world championships.

The list is compiled based on the opinions of 40 experts from three categories: leading authors of The Guardian, foreign journalists from around the world (including the editor-in-chief of the Internet portal "Sport Express" Arthur Petrosyan) and legends of the world championships, including Lothar Matthäus, Zico , Sunday Olise and John Barnes.

Each expert had to name the top 40 best players. First place brought 40 points, second - 39, and 40th, respectively, one. Then the total number of points for each of the three groups was displayed and multiplied by the coefficient assigned to each group. The opinion of the World Cup legends was the most significant.

Football player			Matches/goals
	Brazil	1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
2. Diego MARADONA	Argentina	1982, 1986, 1990, 1994
3. Franz BECKENBAUER		1966, 1970, 1974
4. RONALDO	Brazil	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
5. Zinedine ZIDANE		1998, 2002, 2006
6. Johan Cruyff	Holland
7. Lothar MATTHEUS	FRG/Germany	1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998
8. Gerd MÜLLER
9. GARRINCHA	Brazil	1958, 1962, 1966
10. Michel Platini		1978, 1982, 1986
11. EUSEBIO	Portugal
12. Paolo MALDINI		1990, 1994, 1998, 2002
13. JAIRZINHO	Brazil	1966, 1970, 1974
14. Bobby CHARLTON		1962, 1966, 1970
		2002, 2006, 2010
16. ROMARIO	Brazil
17. Just FONTAINE
18. Paolo ROSSI		1978, 1982, 1986
19. Dino ZOFF		1970, 1974, 1978, 1982
20. Bobby MOORE		1962, 1966, 1970
21. Ferenc PUSKASH
	Brazil	1978, 1982, 1986
23. RONALDINHO	Brazil
24. Roberto BAGGIO		1990, 1994, 1998
	Brazil	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
26. Fabio CANNAVARO		1998, 2002, 2006, 2010
27. RIVALDO	Brazil
28. Mario ZAGALLO	Brazil
29. Johan NESKENS	Holland
30. Lev YASHIN		1958, 1962, 1966
31. Mario KEMPES	Argentina	1974, 1978, 1982
32. Roberto RIVELINO	Brazil	1970, 1974, 1978
33. CRISTIANO RONALDO	Portugal
34. CARLOS ALBERTO	Brazil
35. ROBERTO CARLOS	Brazil	1998, 2002, 2006
36. Roger MILLA		1982, 1990, 1994
37. Paul BREITNER
38. Lilian Thuram		1998, 2002, 2006
39. Karl-Heinz RUMMENIGGE		1978, 1982, 1986
40. Giuseppe MEAZZA
41. Gordon BANKS
42. Oliver KAHN	Germany	1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
43. Zbigniew BONEK		1978, 1982, 1986
44. Gianluigi BUFFON		1998, 2002, 2006, 2010
45. Daniel PASSARELLA	Argentina	1978, 1982, 1986
46. Franco BARESI		1982, 1990, 1994
47. Gary LINEKER
48. Jalma SANTOS	Brazil	1954, 1958, 1962, 1966
49. Nilton SANTOS	Brazil	1950, 1954, 1958, 1962
50. Uwe SEEHLER		1958, 1962, 1966, 1970
51. Lionel MESSI	Argentina
52. TOASTAO	Brazil
53. Andreas BREME	FRG/Germany	1986, 1990, 1994
54. Jeff HURST
55. Sepp MAYER		1970, 1974, 1978
56. Hristo STOICHKOV	Bulgaria
	Brazil
58. Sandor KOCIS
59. Luis FIGOO	Portugal
60. Marcel DESAILLY
61. Gheorghe HAGI		1990, 1994, 1998
62. Giuseppe BERGOMI		1982, 1986, 1990, 1998
63. Fritz WALTER
64. Carles PUYOL		2002, 2006, 2010
65. Andres INIESTA
66. Paul GASCOINE
67. Grzegorz LATO		1974, 1978, 1982
68. Obdulio VARELA
69. Juan SCHIAFFINO
70. Alcides GIJA
71. Helmut RAS	Germany
72. Frank DE BOER	Holland
73. Rud KROL	Holland
74. Elias FIGUEROA		1966, 1974, 1982
75. LEONIDAS	Brazil
76. Gheorghe POPESCU		1990, 1994, 1998
77. Teofilo CUBILLAS		1970, 1978, 1982
78. JJ OKOCHA		1994, 1998, 2002
	Brazil	1954, 1958, 1962
80. Gianni RIVERA		1962, 1966, 1970, 1974
81. Sergio BATISTA	Argentina
82. Igor BELANOV
83. Salvatore SCILLACHI
84. Wesley SNYDER	Holland
85. BELLINI	Brazil	1958, 1962, 1966
86. Alessandro DEL PIERO		1998, 2002, 2006
87. Louis MONTI	Argentina/Italy
88. Thomas N'KONO		1982, 1990, 1994
89. Claudio GENTILE
90. BEBETO	Brazil	1990, 1994, 1998
91. Héctor CHUMPITAS
92. Dragan STOJKOVIC	Yugoslavia
93. Matthias ZINDELAR
94. Rinat DASAEV		1982, 1986, 1990
95. Philip LAM	Germany
96. Jurgen KLINSMANN	Germany	1990, 1994, 1998
97. Antonio CABRINI		1978, 1982, 1986
98. LEONARDO	Brazil
99. Giacinto FACCHETTI		1966, 1970, 1974
100. Thomas BROLIN

PELE

Diego MARADONA

Franz BECKENBAUER

RONALDO

Zinedine ZIDANE

Johan Cruyff

Lothar MATTHEUS

Gerd MÜLLER

GARRINCHA

Michel Platini

Lev YASHIN

Igor BELANOV