The 100 best players of all time - Suggestions

Interesting to see - you've clearly taken a lot in with all your research and reading!

I think I counted 140 names I also have in my latest idea of a top 200, but that is just my idea of 'best' players and made without much thought about longevity for example.

I can bold the ones I also had in if that would be of any use or interesting. Blue for top 100, and red for second 100. One of them (the only one that comes to mind at first glance I think) - Bernard Vukas - I would have thought was best fitted into a different category (forwards/strikers, or even offensive midfielders rather than offensive laterals - I'm not exactly an expert on him though, but know he played often at inside forward including for the Europe XI vs England in 1953 as shown on the videos below wearing number 10):

 

Bolded as indicated. Others to follow (some of these other goalkeepers would definitely be in mind among top goalkeepers for me too btw).

 

Again, a lot of the other names would be close. And if I'm wanting to get a gauge on best form of course some of the older ones could be at a disadvantage but I know Nasazzi is a legend for example just like some of the attacking players from his era.

 

I certainly wouldn't rule out the idea that I might prefer to include Sastre rather than Tardelli for example if I had more to go on (although I have seen some clips in his case). At various points the likes of Van Hanegem and Gerrard for example were probably sitting in my potential top 200.

 

Sorry, can't continue just now with the error messages stopping me. I'll pick up again sometime.

 

Actually I'd say Tostao would probably be among the forwards too (moreso than some, for example Hidegkuti I think who could perhaps be considered an offensive midfielder when playing his deep-lying centre forward role). But yeah, I thought Vukas was harder to know about and find good info about.

 

A very comprehensive list. There were quite a few all-time lists around the turn of the century, but not many have appeared since so this is welcome. When tackling this kind of exercise, it soon becomes apparent that 100 footballers are not actually very many. Especially as one has to consider a distribution across countries, eras, and positions on the field.

My Top 100 is offered below, by country in historical order:

Brazil (12)
Friedenreich
Leônidas
Zizinho
Didi
Nilton Santos
Garrincha
Pelé
Carlos Alberto
Zico
Falcão
Romário
Ronaldo

Argentina (9)
Monti
Sastre
Moreno
Pedernera
Di Stéfano
Sivori
Passarella
Maradona
Messi

Germany (9)
Fritz Walter
Beckenbauer
Müller
Breitner
Rummenigge
Matthäus
Kahn
Lahm
Neuer

Italy (9)
Meazza
Valentino Mazzola
Facchetti
Rivera
Zoff
Scirea
Baresi
Maldini
Buffon

England (8)
GO Smith
Needham
Matthews
Lawton
Edwards
Charlton
Moore
Banks

Hungary (6)
Orth
Sárosi
Puskás
Kubala
Bozsic
Kocsis

Netherlands (6)
Cruyff
Krol
Neeskens
Gullit
Rijkaard
Van Basten

Uruguay (6)
Scarone
Nasazzi
JL Andrade
Obdúlio Varela
Walter Gómez
Schiaffino

France (5)
Kopa
Platini
Zidane
Thuram
Henry

Scotland (4)
Kinnaird
Nick Ross
Morton
Gallacher

Spain (4)
Zamora
Suárez
Xavi
Iniesta

Portugal (3)
Eusébio
Figo
Cristiano Ronaldo

Austria (2)
Sindelar
Ocwirk

Denmark (2)
Michael Laudrup
Schmeichel

Paraguay (2)
Erico
Chilavert

Sweden (2)
Nordahl
Liedholm

Bulgaria (1) - Stoichkov

Czechoslovakia (1) - Masopust

Ireland (1) - Keane

Northern Ireland (1) - Best

USSR (1) - Yashin

Wales (1) - Meredith

Yugoslavia (1) – Djajic

Chile (1) – Figüeroa

Ecuador (1) – Spencer

Mexico (1) - Hugo Sánchez

Peru (1) - Chúmpitaz

Total: 100

27 countries are represented. 67 players are from Europe (including colonies) and 33 from Latin America.

Distribution by era - taken when players were at their peak:

1870-99: 4
1900-19: 2
1920s: 7
1930s: 7
1940s: 8
1950s: 15
1960s: 14
1970s: 11
1980s: 12
1990s: 10
2000-15: 10

Total: 100

Distribution by position (with Di Pecruydona’s % distribution in brackets)

Goalkeepers: 9 (7.5)
Defenders: 17 (13.5)
Defensive/Central Midfielders: 16 (12.5)
Attacking Midfielders: 25 (15.5)
Wingers: 7 (12)
Forwards/Strikers: 26 (39)

Total: 100 (100)

You have included proportionally more forwards/strikers and wingers than I have, and fewer players in other positions.

Fourteen players made my Top 100 but not your Top 200. Five of these are pre-1914: Kinnaird, Nick Ross,
G.O. Smith, Needham and Meredith. Given that international football and domestic cup competition date from 1872, and leagues from 1888, the players of this time seem to have received relatively little attention from historians. Two Scots from the 1920s, Morton and Gallacher, are also in my list but not in your larger one. The others in historical order are Lawton, Walter Gómez, Edwards, Chúmpitaz, Chilavert, Roy Keane and Neuer. The main difference is older players from the British Isles.

Largely reflecting the early history, I have fifteen players from the five nations of the British Isles, which does not quite compare with the 34 out of a hundred that Brian Glanville included when commissioned by The Times newspaper in 1997! (Glanville’s Top 100 can be posted later if anyone is interested.) As several posters have noted before, players of the past need to be judged by the impact they had on their own time, rather than how they might hypothetically have adapted today.

 

Very good list and overall it's fair to the importance and success of various footballing nations. However, I feel that Hungary should have at most five players in the list, they had of course a great period from the early 30s to the mid-70s but have been largely irrelevant for the past forty years, so I would likely remove Orth. But my major disagreement is with Scotland having six players on the list, this is a national team that has never seen the light past the group stage of a World Cup, which Morocco, Ghana, USA, Costa Rica, Turkey, Ecuador, Australia, Algeria and North Korea have accomplished to put it in perspective. At best one Scottish player should be on the list and Keane for Ireland is not quite top 100. Of those extra five spots, I would give France one more in Tigana, Spain one more in Gento, Peru one more in Cubillas, Argentina one more in Redondo, and Weah for Africa.

For some of the countries, I would swap as follows: Francescoli for Gomez (Uruguay), Charles for Meredith (Wales), Bochini for Monti (Argentina), Casillas for Zamora (Spain), Finney for Edwards (England), and Netzer for Lahm (Germany) and Baggio for Mazzola (Italy).

 

Really interesting to see this mate - it is I guess we could say a 'historians' top 100 and helpfully in chronological order. I suppose talking of the end of the century polls/lists etc, putting your approach with mine would give an equivalent to the World Soccer readers list plus World Soccer writers list (more footage-based, prime form biased on one hand and more research-based, legend oriented with a full spread over eras on the other hand).

After a quick count that'd still result in about half of the same players in our top 100's though, and many more of yours in my next 100 (possibly vice versa too). We are possibly closest with the Netherlands which makes sense given when their golden period was (I just have Bergkamp, and also Rensenbrink squeezing in, as extras) while I suppose the modern full-backs Thuram and Lahm are the most obvious ones that you have that aren't really in the mix for consideration for my 100 (but although my list would be relatively modern despite me seeming nostalgic on the boards in general, it might be a bit lacking in defenders in general arguably).

I think comme previously posted Glanville's 100 on a thread called 'Is Platini Top Ten Ever?' or something to that effect. I certainly noticed the trend you mention (IIRC not going back quite so far as you have in some cases, but with a batch of 1920's to 1930's players from Britain) as well as Zico not being there for example (also some other fairly modern legends including from Britain - to be fair you also don't go beyond the WC winning era for England ofc) and I think Piola and Neeskens being top 25 for example was it?

 

Continuing as before. Zizinho for example is such a revered legend that if I choose 200 he has to be there, but I don't really have a proper gauge as to whether I'd genuinely put him inside a top 100 with my approach. Again, I'm sure the other names would mostly be pretty close.

 

Which leaves these that I have in my latest idea for estimated 'best' 100 and second 100 (again in blue and red respectively - and in grouping and then alphabetical order):


Jan Ceulemans
Paul Gascoigne
Glenn Hoddle
Rui Costa

John Barnes
David Beckham
Brian Laudrup
Robert Pires
John Robertson

Eric Cantona
Preben Elkjaer
Neymar (sort of pending confirmation!)
Dejan Savicevic
Davor Suker


Rinat Dasaev
Neville Southall

Aldair
Manuel Amoros
Laurent Blanc
Fabio Cannavaro
Alan Hansen
Fernando Hierro
Jorginho
Bixente Lizarazu
Pietro Vierchowod
Branko Zebec

Osvaldo Ardiles
Zito

Giancarlo Antognoni
Ricardo Bochini
Alain Giresse
Thomas Hassler
Enzo Scifo
Wesley Sneijder
Dragan Stojkovic
Safet Susic

Jimmy Johnstone
Pierre Littbarski
Allan Simonsen

Jose Altafini
Georgi Asparuhov
Bebeto
Emilio Butragueno
Claudio Caniggia
Careca
Alessandro Del Piero
Henrik Larsson
Tommy Lawton
Jari Litmanen
Wlodzmierz Lubanski
Roger Milla
Michael Owen
Roger Piantoni
Johnny Rep
Dominique Rocheteau
Alan Shearer
Faas Wilkes
Gianfranco Zola

 

If Neymar's form and promise regressed I guess it would be Falcao I'd stick in my top 100. I said on another thread I'd see him as comparable to Xavi, and Iniesta to Rui Costa and while (influenced and/or just through my own thoughts) I do now place the little modern playmaking Spaniards in the top 100, with Xavi possibly top of those 4 if I try to order my list, I think of them all as borderline top 100 player material probably - I could easily drop out John Barnes or his namesake Robertson from my 100 but the I Believe in Miracles movie and some things I saw in written text from Forest trainers or players like Johnny Giles have if anything reinforced my feeling about Robertson and I don't see Barnes as a definite lower category player to him still.

Hungarians Albert and Bozsik could perhaps easily switch too, and maybe my preference for creative attacking players (although I do think a lot of the great players play this role and have special capabilities to open games up) tips the balance there wheras if anything historians are more likely to pick out Bozsik.

 

Oh sorry, one mistake - Gyorgy Sarosi wasn't in the original list was he (but in peter's) - I have him in my second 100 and I realise I highlighted Ian Rush but I don't have him listed in it now (at one time did and so highlighted him by mistake).

Also on the positional groupings, quite a few would be debateable or variable I know (including for new mentions by me) but I wonder whether if anything the Mazzolas could be swapped - Valentino as offensive midfielder and Sandro as forward.