FourFourTwo ranked their 100 best football players of all time( 2022 version)

[anant]

Unless they put SAF as the greatest manager ever by a distance, it'll be tough to justify the list.
Schmeichel, Ronaldo and Rooney apart I think there are no SAF players who won the treble/'08 double and pretty much consistently won titles year over year.
Think it is a bit too biased to the older generation of players, and players in late '90's or '00s are either too highly rated or rated a bit too low

 

[Red the Bear]

Zidane is too high obviously (dont get me wrong he was and is one of my favorite football persons) .

Best too might be a bit high as he didn't really have the longevity, if anything I'll bump sir Bobby up a few places.

Also Iniesta at 21 is something and having neuer as the highest ranking goalkeeper feels wrong.

 

[Lay]

So the all time team would be

Neuer

Carlos Alberto
Beckenbauer
Baresi
Maldini

Iniesta
Charlton
Maradona

Messi
C.Ronaldo
Pele

 

[Red the Bear]

Anything other than Pele in the top 1 is crazy. Pele is unquestionably the best in history. Top 2 and 3 are Cristiano and Messi. The order doesn't matter. It's debatable. I just think it's wrong to put someone between the two. 4, 5 and 6 are Cruijff, Di Stefano and Maradona. The order doesn't matter. It's debatable. This list has several aberrations. A real joke.

Maradona is better

 

[harms]

I'd say that overall it's a decent list even though there are obviously a few positions that I disagree with. The thoughts below were usually based on the comparison between the players with similar roles to avoid confusion.

Overrated:

Zidane ahead of Di Stéfano, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Puskás and Luis Ronaldo is laughable. I'm also of the opinion that he's not the best ever French player, Platini is, but that is at least debatable.

Carlos Alberto at 25 when Cafu is at 76, Alves is at 73, Lahm at 85 and Zanetti is at 96 seems like an odd inclusion. It's not even a given that he was the best right back out of the 5, let alone being 50+ places ahead of them.

Paolo Rossi at 42 ahead of Henry, Law, Greaves & Kocsis is a bit of a joke. A very good player but clearly a level below the very best — and I'd put him below the likes of Benzema, Lewandowski and Suarez who didn't even make the list. That Ballon d'Or confuses the hell out of people. Even at his peak he was probably the 4th-5th best player for his club behind Platini, Scirea & Boniek.

Johan Neeskens at 65 with Rijkaard at 77 (the most complete midfielder of all-time alongside Matthäus), Modrić at 79 and without even the mention of Keane or Redondo is an oddity.

Jairzinho (53) is a tad too high compared to the likes of Rummenigge (61), Stoichkov (89) & Kempes (99)

Underrated:

Rijkaard, Modrić, Figo

Notable omissions:

Figueroa (best ever South American defender), Nesta, Thuram, Krol, Breinter, Bozsik (weird, considering the inclusion of Hidegkuti, for example), Keane, Redondo, Rivaldo, Dzajic, Czibor

+ a bunch of strikers like Shevchenko, Benzema, Lewandowski, Suarez

More debatable corrections:

Best probably deserves to be up there on pure ability but, again, when you compare him with similar or almost similar-talented players in Ronaldo, Puskás, Di Stéfano etc., you have to give a nod to their longevity.

Pelé, Messi & Maradona is a settled top-3 for me personally but it's not like inclusion of Cristiano is criminal — it's just something that I personally disagree with.

Also probably should be changed: Xavi > Iniesta (even though I love the latter more), Baresi > Maldini

 

[harms]

You’re all mad

Zidane was a sensational player

He was. All of 100 players in the list were to be fair. But a few of them were undoubtedly better than Zidane even if Zidane was one of the most aesthetically pleasing and charismatic players to ever grace the pitch.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

43. ⁠Nandor Hidegkuti
56. ⁠Juan Alberto Schiaffino

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/ranked-the-100-best-football-players-of-all-time/10

Hidegkuti over Schiaffino? Impossible to take this seriously.

 

[TheReligion]

He was. All of 100 players in the list were to be fair. But a few of them were undoubtedly better than Zidane even if Zidane was one of the most aesthetically pleasing and charismatic players to ever grace the pitch.

Oh agreed but some saying he should not be top 20 are wrong in my opinion

 

[Aidan Azar]

Were Bergkamp and Cantona really better than Aguero, Benzema, Lewandowski, Zlatan etc? Both before my time.

 

[harms]

Were Bergkamp and Cantona really better than Aguero, Benzema, Lewandowski, Zlatan etc? Both before my time.

Depends on what you want from players, the ones you've mentioned were all more prolific goalscorers while both Bergkamp & Cantona were a bit more creative (Benzema perhaps matches them in that although). But neither one was the best player in the world at any point (while Benzema and Lewandowski arguably were).

Whoever did that list also put a lot of value in charisma and sentimental **** status, hence the slight overrating of bigger-than-life figures like Socrates, Zidane, Cantona etc.

 

[Remember the geese]

Unpopular opinion: zidane was a great, elegant player, who belongs to a top 100 list. But top 5 is ridiculous

This is what came here to say. Also, where's Haaland?

 

[RedRonaldo]

My ranking:

Top 4: Pele, Messi, Ronaldo, Maradona

Top 5-10: Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Di Stefano, Platini, L.Ronaldo, Best

Top 11-20: Puskas, Eusebio, Zico, Charlton, Garrincha, Muller, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Romario, Baggio



In terms of career: Pele, Ronaldo, Messi, Di Stefano

In terms of pure talent/peak performance: Maradona, L.Ronaldo, Messi, Best

In terms of football legacy: Maradona (86 WC), Pele (WC domination + ’1000, goals), Cruyff (total football), Beckenbauer (Kaiser), Ronaldo (CL domination + all time top goalscorer)

In terms of stats/records: Ronaldo, Messi, Pele

 

[MrMarcello]

Is Neuer generally seen as the greatest keeper of all-time?

I don't recall ever hearing such acclaim. I have for Banks, Buffon, Schmeichel, Yashin, and Zoff.

 

[Sandikan]

Well, this doesn't help the Scholes/Gerrard/Lampard debate

It's actually nice for once not to see Gerrard shoehorned in just to satisfy the Liverpool readers.

 

[Big Andy]

Rooney should be higher than he is.

 

[MUFC OK]

I think Benzema and Lewandowski should definitely be in there.

Top 30 I think they have done a decent job. After that it becomes increasingly harder to rank/state who should be in there.

 

[MUFC OK]

Is Neuer generally seen as the greatest keeper of all-time?

I don't recall ever hearing such acclaim. I have for Banks, Buffon, Schmeichel, Yashin, and Zoff.

Hard to pick but history may regard him as such. Don't forget he's almost solely attributed to inventing the sweeper keeper role. Such players tend to be ranked above their peers when all is said and done.

 

[General_Elegancia]

I think Benzema and Lewandowski should definitely be in there.

Top 30 I think they have done a decent job. After that it becomes increasingly harder to rank/state who should be in there.

Lewa and Benz deserve to be on the list 100 percent, both are rated as the best striker in the world/ the best player in the world in 2019/2020 and 2021/2022 respectively. Also, their longevity is no question, both have been rated highly for almost 10 years.

 

[Invictus]

That list is pretty good all things considered; can't please everyone, all the time!

Certain players are ranked way too high (or conversely, way too low) and there are some eyebrow-raising omissions (like Falcão, Brehme, Monti...in addition to the ones @harms has mentioned), but for the most part they've done a decent job with their subjective analyses.

That being said, the Top 8 should always be the same, because they were simply a cut above the rest and presided over their eras...

• Top 7 (broad tier of greatest-of-all-time candidates): Di Stéfano, Pelé, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Maradona, Cristiano, Messi
• Number 8 (honorable mention for the greatest-of-all-time tier): Puskás

You can make an outside case for Top 9—15 players like Platini or Baresi (who boasted the combination of incredible talent + club and international success + consistency of performance + personal achievement + noteworthy leadership + remarkable longevity), but they (and every other fringe candidate with a comparable profile) should almost compulsorily follow those 8 “gods of football”.

 

[paraguayo]

In the same way Europeans underrate Pelé, they overrate the hell out of Socrates for whatever reason. Maybe because he was mysterious, a doctor etc? Him being top30 above many Brazilians is weird, nobody would put Socrates above Rivaldo here. Rivaldo not even in top100? MVP of 2 consecutive world cups for brazil

You guys get the pre-90s Brazilians all wrong

 

[Red the Bear]

In the same way Europeans underrate Pelé, they overrate the hell out of Socrates for whatever reason. Maybe because he was mysterious, a doctor etc? Him being top30 above many Brazilians is weird, nobody would put Socrates above Rivaldo here. Rivaldo not even in top100? MVP of 2 consecutive world cups for brazil

You guys get the pre-90s Brazilians all wrong

He was cool and easy to like, also a great player.

 

[General_Elegancia]

Socrates was a very charismatic man both on and off the pitch. Many of his stories are amazing, especially in his Brazilian days.

 

[Dirty Schwein]

Roy Keane should be in there. But yeah I guess it's not terrible.

 

[led_scholes]

Xavi at 24 is ridiculous. It gets even more ridiculous that he is 2 positions higher than Ronaldinho. Same as Zidane and Iniesta. Too high.

Anyway, Bergkamp, Rooney and Busquets shouldn't be in the top 100. Giggs should be in the list instead of Rooney for sure.

 

[Red the Bear]

Socrates is a very charismatic man both on and off the pitch. Many of his stories are amazing, especially in his Brazilian days.

Was, he ain't around anymore

 

[Herman Toothrot]

Eric Cantona is my favourite player of all time, but I'm not sure he was better than Wayne Rooney. How do you measure this nonsense though?

 

[General_Elegancia]

Was, he ain't around anymore

His legacy is immortal.

But I’ve already edited my post( he died over 10 years).

 

[wangyu]

Based on what I have seen, overall hype, age when starting out at the highest level and career longevity and stats during the respective careers my top 8 is

1 Pele
2 Messi
3 Maradona
4 Cruyff
5 Ronaldo Nazario
6 Zico
7 Cristiano Ronaldo
8 Ronaldinho

The difference between Messi and Pele for me is that the latter was already the best player in the world aged 18 (WC 1958 started as a sub ended up scoring 5 and being the match winner from quarters to final) and he never looked back. This has never happened since. Rooney had it in him at EURO 2004 where he was as young as Pele was in 58 and really carried England until he got injured. Messi can overturn Pele this winter though imo.
Ronaldinho makes it at 8 because his years at his prime were the most spectacular I have ever seen, he might have lacked the true longevity and stats but he was mister entertainment and he backed it up by being vital for Barca and Brazil in a way I haven't seen since for a number of years.

I only picked attacking minded players as that is why I love football in the first place, each of those players could turn on the style at any time, had enormous goal scoring exploits and won the biggest trophies in the world

 

[Red the Bear]

His legacy is immortal.

But I’ve already edited my post( he died over 10 years).

He left us too soon, a shame that his generation of Brazilians never experienced any international glory.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Unpopular opinion: zidane was a great, elegant player, who belongs to a top 100 list. But top 5 is ridiculous

Was my first thought. Zidane that much higher than Iniesta/Xavi is wrong. But his highlights are so good that people are a bit clouded when remembering him (as opposed to Xavi who has 0 notable highlights for the average fan).

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Rooney and Cantona being on here but Lewandowski not is an absurd omission as well, Lewa should be ahead of both of them.

But honestly after around 30 it really becomes a bit more preferential and opinionated. Like I don't have an issue with Neuer being seen as the best keeper of all time, his career achievements are absurd and he's consistently been considered the best or in the conversation for years. If anything people are too uncomfortable with putting modern players higher than "older greats" because it doesn't seem right.

 

[Fortitude]

I'd say that overall it's a decent list even though there are obviously a few positions that I disagree with. The thoughts below were usually based on the comparison between the players with similar roles to avoid confusion.

Overrated:

Zidane ahead of Di Stéfano, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Puskás and Luis Ronaldo is laughable. I'm also of the opinion that he's not the best ever French player, Platini is, but that is at least debatable.

Carlos Alberto at 25 when Cafu is at 76, Alves is at 73, Lahm at 85 and Zanetti is at 96 seems like an odd inclusion. It's not even a given that he was the best right back out of the 5, let alone being 50+ places ahead of them.

Paolo Rossi at 42 ahead of Henry, Law, Greaves & Kocsis is a bit of a joke. A very good player but clearly a level below the very best — and I'd put him below the likes of Benzema, Lewandowski and Suarez who didn't even make the list. That Ballon d'Or confuses the hell out of people. Even at his peak he was probably the 4th-5th best player for his club behind Platini, Scirea & Boniek.

Johan Neeskens at 65 with Rijkaard at 77 (the most complete midfielder of all-time alongside Matthäus), Modrić at 79 and without even the mention of Keane or Redondo is an oddity.

Jairzinho (53) is a tad too high compared to the likes of Rummenigge (61), Stoichkov (89) & Kempes (99)

Underrated:

Rijkaard, Modrić, Figo

Notable omissions:

Figueroa (best ever South American defender), Nesta, Thuram, Krol, Breinter, Bozsik (weird, considering the inclusion of Hidegkuti, for example), Keane, Redondo, Rivaldo, Dzajic, Czibor

+ a bunch of strikers like Shevchenko, Benzema, Lewandowski, Suarez

More debatable corrections:

Best probably deserves to be up there on pure ability but, again, when you compare him with similar or almost similar-talented players in Ronaldo, Puskás, Di Stéfano etc., you have to give a nod to their longevity.

Pelé, Messi & Maradona is a settled top-3 for me personally but it's not like inclusion of Cristiano is criminal — it's just something that I personally disagree with.

Also probably should be changed: Xavi > Iniesta (even though I love the latter more), Baresi > Maldini

Over Pelé? It’s a crime!

 

[TheReligion]

Is Neuer generally seen as the greatest keeper of all-time?

I don't recall ever hearing such acclaim. I have for Banks, Buffon, Schmeichel, Yashin, and Zoff.

Hard to pick but history may regard him as such. Don't forget he's almost solely attributed to inventing the sweeper keeper role. Such players tend to be ranked above their peers when all is said and done.

 

[giorno]

Pelé not in the top 2? List is invalid/they should be in jail

 

[CassiusClaymore]

I really like the look of the top 10 in all honesty.

First thing that stood out that I didn't agree with was Neuer being so high but then this...

Hard to pick but history may regard him as such. Don't forget he's almost solely attributed to inventing the sweeper keeper role. Such players tend to be ranked above their peers when all is said and done.

is a fair point.

 

[P-Ro]

Had no idea Suarez was that old. Remarkable player.

 

[CassiusClaymore]

Pelé not in the top 2? List is invalid/they should be in jail

 

[FeedTheGoat]

Top 100 is so vast and difficult, but that top 10 is pretty good in my opinion. I'd probable have Pele and Cristiano swap places. Zidane is the one that is way too high for me, I'd have him swap places with Platini actually and then move Cruyff a rank up

The last 40 places is so up for interpretation it's almost meaningless. Kaka was fantastic and one of my favourite players of all time but did he really do enough to warrant a place on lists like these? I'm super biased but I'd certainly have KdB over him but I'm not sure Kev should be on a top 100 list either

 

[Dave Smith]

Jimmy Greaves a little low in my opinion. For me he is the best CF England produced.

 

[Irwin99]

Were Bergkamp and Cantona really better than Aguero, Benzema, Lewandowski, Zlatan etc? Both before my time.

Those two stood out for me too actually and I grew up watching them.

Cantona absolutely transformed United but there were a few question marks about him in Europe and in the French national team (his goal scoring internationally is not bad to be fair, think it's nearly one in two).

Bergkamp was a truly great player but... better or more influential than Patrick Vieira? Vieira and Keane were the top dogs in the league in terms of midfielders for years and years, season after season, and far more influential imo.