Top 5 Greatest Soccer Players
Published:When choosing the greatest soccer players of all-time, you have to factor in that soccer is a global sport, with talented players in nearly every country on Earth, making the creation of a top 5 list even more BOLD, but when all is said and done, we can only choose five, so, without further adieu...
1) Pelé
- Most successful league goal scorer in the world, with 541 league goals
- Scored 1281 goals in 1363 games, including unofficial friendlies and tour games (Guinness world record)
- He is hailed as a national hero in Brazil for his accomplishments in soccer and for helping try to improve the social conditions of the poor
- Widely regarded to be the greatest player of all time
- Winner of 3 World Cups with Brazil (1958, 1962, 1970)
2) Lionel Messi
- All-time top scorer in La Liga, and the all-time leading goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League
- First soccer player in history to win four FIFA/Ballons d'Or
- First to win three European Golden Shoe awards
- The only player to top-score in four consecutive Champions League seasons
- With Barcelona, Messi has won seven La Ligas, three Copas del Rey, six Supercopas de España, three UEFA Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups and two FIFA Club World Cups
3) Cristiano Ronaldo
- Holds the record for most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League season (17; 2013-14)
- First Portuguese footballer to win three FIFA/Ballons d'Or
- Became the first footballer to score against every team in a single season in La Liga
- Only player in the history of football to score 50 or more goals in a season on five occasions
- Has won three Premier Leagues, one La Liga, one FA Cup, two Football League Cups, two Copas del Rey, one FA Community Shield, one Supercopas de España, two UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Super Cup and two FIFA Club World Cups
4) Diego Maradona
- Joint FIFA Player of the 20th Century with Pelé
- Won the Golden Ball in the 1986 World Cup
- His second goal against England in the ‘86 WC was chosen in a FIFA poll as the best goal ever scored in a World Cup
- Appeared 16 times as captain of the Argentine national team, a World Cup-record
- Has had great success as a player and as a manager
5) Johan Cruyff
- Three time Ballon d'Or award winner
- Led the Netherlands to the final of the 1974 World Cup and received the Golden Ball as player of the tournament
- At Ajax, he won eight Eredivisie titles and three European Cups
- Cruyff was voted European Player of the Century in an election held by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics
- Chosen to be on the World Team of the 20th Century in 1998
