Franz Beckenbauer $4
Der Kaiser. Invented the modern libero role. World Cup winner as player (1974) and manager (1990). Two-time Ballon d'Or as a defender — unhe…
Legend Tier
Premium picks just below the GOAT tier
Paolo Maldini $4
AC Milan one-club legend, 25 years. Five Champions Leagues, seven Serie A titles. Played at five World Cups. Won everything except a World C…
Franco Baresi $4
AC Milan's other legend. 20 seasons at Milan, six Serie A titles, three Champions Leagues. The original defensive libero. 1994 World Cup fin…
George Weah $4
Only African to win the Ballon d'Or (1995). AC Milan icon. After retirement, became President of Liberia. From slum to ballon d'Or to presid…
Zinedine Zidane $4
1998 World Cup winner, 2000 Euros winner. Three-time FIFA World Player of the Year. The volley in the 2002 Champions League final is the mos…
Michel Platini $4
Three consecutive Ballon d'Ors (1983-85). 1984 Euros winner and top scorer with 9 goals in 5 games. Free kick maestro and elegant playmaker.…
Johan Cruyff $4
Inventor of Total Football. Three Ballon d'Ors. 1974 World Cup finalist. As a coach, built the Barcelona Dream Team. The most influential fo…
Ronaldinho (MF) $4
2002 World Cup winner. Two FIFA World Players of the Year. Barcelona's joy in human form. Brought samba to Camp Nou and made even Real Madri…
Maradona (MF) $4
1986 World Cup winner. The Hand of God and the Goal of the Century in the same match. Carried Napoli to two Serie A titles single-handedly.…
Gheorghe Hagi $4
The Maradona of the Carpathians. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Galatasaray. Led Romania to the 1994 World Cup quarterfinals. Wand of a left foot, …
Ronaldinho $4
2002 World Cup winner. 2005 Ballon d'Or. Barcelona's joy in motion. Made even Real Madrid fans give him a standing ovation at the Bernabeu.…
Thierry Henry $4
Arsenal's all-time top scorer (228 goals). 1998 World Cup winner. Two-time Premier League Golden Boot champion as part of the Invincibles.…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic $4
League titles in five different countries — Holland, Italy, Spain, France, England + Sweden cup. The kung fu kick goal vs England in 2012 fr…
Romario $4
1994 World Cup winner and Golden Ball. 1,000+ career goals (his count). Pure poacher, lazy in everything except finishing.…
George Best $4
1968 Ballon d'Or. Manchester United legend, fifth Beatle of football. Tragic decline through alcoholism — but at his peak nobody dribbled li…
Marco van Basten $4
Three Ballon d'Ors. Euro 1988 winner — his volley in the final is in every list of greatest goals. Retired at 28 due to ankle injuries.…
Ruud Gullit $4
1987 Ballon d'Or. AC Milan and Netherlands legend. Euro 1988 winner. Dreadlocked, multi-positional, captain by aura alone.…
Eric Cantona $4
Manchester United's catalyst. Four Premier League titles. Famous for the kung-fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan — and for never apologizing.…
Roberto Baggio $4
Il Divin Codino. 1993 Ballon d'Or. Missed the 1994 World Cup final penalty — still Italy's most-loved player. Free kick artist.…
Raul $4
Real Madrid's all-time top scorer until Ronaldo. Six La Liga titles, three Champions Leagues. Quiet, lethal, captain forever.…
Rivaldo (FW) $4
1999 Ballon d'Or. 2002 World Cup winner. Bicycle kicks from acute angles. Carried Brazil through qualifying with Romario aging.…
Andriy Shevchenko $4
2004 Ballon d'Or. AC Milan's all-time top scorer. Champions League winner 2003. Ukraine's eternal captain and national hero.…
Hristo Stoichkov $4
1994 Ballon d'Or. World Cup top scorer 1994 (6 goals — Bulgaria's incredible semifinal run). Barcelona Dream Team striker. Fiery, brilliant,…
Jay-Jay Okocha $4
So good they named him twice. PSG, Bolton, Fenerbahce. Nigeria's African Cup of Nations winner. Showboating elevated to an art form.…
Hugo Sanchez $4
Mexico's all-time best. Five consecutive La Liga top scorer awards with Real Madrid (1985-90). Famous overhead kicks and somersault celebrat…
David Beckham $4
Manchester United and Real Madrid icon. Six Premier League titles, La Liga 2007. Greatest crosser and free-kick taker of his era. Global bra…
Gabriel Batistuta $4
Fiorentina's iconic Argentine striker. Argentina's all-time top scorer until Messi. Pure power finishing.…
Lothar Matthäus $4
Germany's 1990 World Cup-winning captain. 150 international caps (record for years). Bayern Munich and Inter Milan icon.…
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge $4
Bayern Munich's 80s talisman. Two Ballon d'Ors (1980, 1981). Bayern executive chairman after retirement.…
Roger Milla $4
Cameroon's 1990 World Cup phenomenon. Oldest goalscorer in World Cup history at 42 (1994). Famous corner-flag dance celebration.…
Lev Yashin $3
The Black Spider. Only goalkeeper ever to win the Ballon d'Or (1963). 270+ shutouts for Dynamo Moscow and the USSR. Defined modern goalkeepi…
Gordon Banks $3
1966 World Cup winner with England. His save from Pele's header in 1970 is widely called the greatest of all time. Calm, agile, and impossib…
Sepp Maier $3
Bayern Munich icon of the 70s. Three European Cups, one World Cup (1974), one Euros (1972). Famously eccentric with oversized gloves and rap…
Dino Zoff $3
Oldest captain to lift the World Cup (1982, age 40). Italian sweeper-keeper before sweeper-keepers existed. 332 minutes unbeaten in internat…
Peter Schmeichel $3
1992 Euros winner with Denmark, treble winner with Manchester United 1999. Star jump for shots and lethal long throws. Loudest keeper of his…
Oliver Kahn $3
Der Titan. 2002 World Cup Golden Ball (and Golden Glove) despite Germany losing the final. Bayern Munich's iron wall for over a decade.…
Jose Luis Chilavert $3
Goal-scoring goalkeeper legend. 67 career goals (a record) — penalties, free kicks, even open play. Three Copa América appearances. 1998 Wor…
Bobby Moore $3
England's only World Cup-winning captain (1966). Pele called him the greatest defender he ever played against. West Ham icon. Calm, never di…
Daniel Passarella $3
Argentina's 1978 World Cup-winning captain. Goal-scoring center back before that was a thing — 175 career goals from defense. Tough as nails…
Gaetano Scirea $3
Juventus and Italy's libero genius. 1982 World Cup winner. Never received a red card across 552 career games. Pure class, on and off the pit…
Rivaldo $3
2002 World Cup winner. 1999 Ballon d'Or. Bicycle kicks, free kicks, left-footed magic. Part of the unbeatable Brazil 2002 attacking trio.…
Cha Bum-kun $3
Tcha Bum. Bundesliga icon — 308 games, 98 goals. UEFA Cup winner with Eintracht Frankfurt (1980) and Bayer Leverkusen (1988). Korea's first …
Carlos Valderrama $3
El Pibe. Three-time Colombian player of the year. South America's iconic blonde-afro number 10. 111 caps, the most casual playmaker ever.…
Rabah Madjer $3
Algeria's 1990 Africa Cup of Nations winner. Porto's 1987 European Cup hero — scored the famous backheel equalizer vs Bayern Munich.…
Teofilo Cubillas $3
Peru's greatest. Scored 10 goals across two World Cups (1970, 1978) — only Pele and Klose have more for South Americans. 1972 Ballon d'Or no…
Ali Daei $3
Held the international goal-scoring record (109) for 20 years before Ronaldo overtook him. Bundesliga, Persepolis. Iran's eternal national h…
Robert Prosinecki $3
Croatia's 1998 World Cup bronze winner — alongside Suker and Boban. Red Star Belgrade European Cup winner 1991. The cigarette-smoking maestr…
Wayne Rooney $3
Manchester United's all-time top scorer (until Cristiano). Five Premier Leagues, Champions League 2008. England's all-time top scorer (until…
Juan Sebastián Verón $3
Argentina's playmaking number 10. Lazio Serie A winner, Manchester United and Chelsea. Argentina's captain in 2010 World Cup era.…
Javier Mascherano $3
Barcelona's Argentine destroyer (DM converted to CB). Four Champions Leagues. Liverpool, then Argentina vice-captain.…
Juan Román Riquelme $3
Boca Juniors and Villarreal playmaker. La Décima genius. Argentina's last classic enganche (number 10).…
Jürgen Klinsmann $3
Germany's 1990 World Cup winner. Famous diving celebration, played for Bayern, Tottenham, Inter, Sampdoria. World-class finisher.…
Fernando Hierro $3
Real Madrid captain through the Galácticos era. Five La Liga titles, three Champions Leagues. Spain's defensive captain.…
Emilio Butragueño $3
El Buitre. Real Madrid's 80s Quinta del Buitre leader. Six La Liga titles. Spain's all-time top scorer for years.…
Robert Pires $3
Arsenal Invincible. 2002 PFA Player of the Year. France 1998 World Cup winner, 2000 Euros winner.…
Abedi Pele $3
Ghana's most famous 90s footballer. Marseille's 1993 Champions League winner. Three African Footballer of the Year awards.…
Cesc Fàbregas $3
Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea midfielder. Two Premier League titles, La Liga winner. Spain's Euro and World Cup-winning playmaker.…
Davor Šuker $3
Croatia's 1998 World Cup Golden Boot winner (6 goals). Real Madrid La Liga winner. Croatia's first global superstar.…
Diego Simeone $3
Lazio's Scudetto winner, Atletico Madrid's longest-serving + most successful manager. La Liga and Copa America winner as player.…
Ronald Koeman $3
Barcelona's 1992 European Cup-winning defender. Most goals scored by a defender at Barca. Netherlands' Euro 88 winner.…
Pablo Aimar $2
River Plate, Valencia, Benfica magic No.10. Messi's childhood hero. Two La Liga titles with Valencia.…
Bixente Lizarazu $2
Bayern Munich and France left back. 1998 World Cup winner, 2000 Euros winner, 2001 Champions League. Basque pride.…
Lauren Etame Mayer $2
Arsenal's Cameroonian right back. Invincibles squad 2003-04. Cameroon's African Cup of Nations winner.…
Hong Myung-bo $2
Korea's 2002 World Cup semifinalist captain. First Asian to play 4 World Cups. Korea's defensive legend.…
Roberto Donadoni $2
AC Milan's 80s-90s winger. Five Serie A titles. Berlusconi-era Milan grandi squadre member.…
Demetrio Albertini $2
AC Milan and Italy 90s midfielder. Five Serie A titles, three Champions League finals. Pirlo before Pirlo.…
Fandi Ahmad $1
Singapore's greatest footballer. First Asian to score in the European Cup (Ajax, 1983). FAS Hall of Fame. Now coaching the next generation.…