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#5 Johan Cryuff (Netherlands) - three-time Ballon d'Or winner
Ajax and Barcelona legend Johan Cryuff remains the most influential player in history. Despite a list of individual accolades as long as your arm, Cryuff is also the greatest player never to win an international trophy.
However, his club career was as dazzling as it was revolutionary. Cryuff powered Ajax to elite status, winning eight Eredivisie titles in his two spells with the club, along with three straight European Cups. His numbers for the Dutch giants were absolutely staggering; he notched up 194 goals and 140 assists in 287 appearances.
Sandwiched between his two stints with Ajax was a successful spell with Barcelona, where Cryuff won a La Liga title as well as the Copa del Rey. He played 176 games for the Blaugrana, scoring 59 goals and providing five assists. Cryuff even won another Eredivisie title with Ajax's rivals Feyenoord towards the end of his career. He won the Ballon d'Or award three times in his decorated career (1971,1973,1975).
Cryuff's Dutch national team is widely accepted as the greatest international side that failed to win a major trophy. He famously led the Oranje to the 1974 FIFA World Cup final, where they were stunned by Franz Beckenbauer's West Germany. Despite the heartbreak, Cryuff was awarded the Golden Ball for the best player in the tournament. Remarkably, the Netherlands never lost a game in which Cryuff scored.
The reason Cryuff is placed above the likes of Beckenbauer and Zidane on this list is because of his contribution towards the creation of 'total football'.
Together with Rinus Michels, Cryuff pioneered the style of football based on passing and possession that dominates the modern era. The greatest club sides of all time, such as Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi's Barcelona, were inspired by Cryuff's philosophy.
Almost every game today is a product of Johan Cryuff's ideas, which were way ahead of his time. Franz Beckenbauer, Cryuff's greatest rival during his playing career, hailed the Dutch star:
“He was certainly the best footballer Europe has produced.”
#4 Pele (Brazil) - three-time FIFA World Cup winner
It would not be a stretch to label Pele the most important player of all time. Time magazine named him on their list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. For an entire generation, the Brazilian legend remains the face of the sport.
Pele is also the greatest player to have graced the FIFA World Cup, and by some distance. He led Brazil to three World Cup triumphs, in 1958, 1962 and 1970. The first win made him the youngest player ever to win football's biggest trophy; he was also named the Best Young Player at the tournament. He ended with the Golden Ball at the 1970 edition. Pele still holds the record for the most assists in FIFA World Cup history, with ten.
Of all the supremely talented players Brazil has produced, Pele remains unmatched. With 77 strikes, he is the Selecao's all-time top scorer, ahead of Neymar and Ronaldo Nazario.
It is Pele's club career, despite all its glorious heights, that sees him placed fourth on our list. The Brazilian legend is the only player in the top ten who did not ply his trade in any of Europe's top leagues at any point in his career.
The striker's scoring record has come under the scanner in recent times. In years gone by, Pele's goal tally stood at 1281 (according to FIFA), but a significant number of those goals came in unofficial games and tour fixtures. His count in official fixtures stands at 757 goals in 812 games. It is still a stunning number for a player who is acknowledged as Santos' all-time record goalscorer.
Pele won two Copa Libertadores titles, six Campeonato Brasilerio Serie A titles and two Intercontinental Cups in his time with Santos, scoring 643 goals. The Brazilian was named the joint-winner of FIFA's Player of the Century award, along with Argentina legend Diego Maradona.
The legendary Johan Cryuff elegantly summed up Pele's unique genius, saying:
"Pele was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic."
#3 Diego Maradona (Argentina)
Football's greatest maverick and entertainer, Diego Maradona, was hated and adored in equal measure, but his brilliance was undeniable. He stole the spotlight as a teenager, making his debut for Argentinos Juniors before turning 16. Five years and 115 goals later, he fulfilled his dream of playing for Boca Juniors, leading them to the league title.
Maradona only spent a solitary season with Boca Juniors before arriving on European shores with Barcelona in 1982. His transfer fee of £5 million was a world record at the time.
The Argentinean's time in Spain was a mixed bag, playing 49 games for the Blaugrana across two seasons. He scored 33 times and provided 18 assists while winning the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. Maradona also became one of the first players to receive a standing ovation from the Santiago Bernabeu. Real Madrid fans applauded the Argentine after he scored and led Barcelona to a win.
Unfortunately, Maradona's spell with Barcelona was tainted by injuries, racist abuse at the hands of opposition fans and bone-breaking tackles. After an infamous brawl at the Bernabeu while playing against Atheltic Bilbao, Maradona's stint with the club was over. The incident remains one of the most chaotic and violent fights witnessed on a football pitch.
Maradona shocked the world by joining unfancied Napoli in Italy. What followed next was nothing short of legendary. He became club captain, and led the club to their first-ever Serie A title in 1986-87. Triumphs in the 1987 Copa Italia and 1989 UEFA Cup followed before another Serie A title arrived in 1989-90.
He was revered like a God across Naples after changing the fortunes of the club. With 115 goals and 58 assists in 257 appearances, Maradona was Napoli's record scorer until Marek Hamsik surpassed him in 2017. The club's home stadium was renamed Stadio Diego Amando Maradona in December 2020, nine days after the legend's demise.
For all his numerous achievements in club football, Maradona's greatest feat was leading Argentina to FIFA World Cup glory in 1986. It is considered the biggest 'carry job' in football history, as Maradona single-handedly dragged his nation all the way to the very end.
He ended with ten goal involvements (five goals and as many assists) in seven appearances. Maradona was awarded the Golden Ball, and scored an outrageous solo effort against England, which would later be named FIFA's Goal of the Century.
French World Cup-winner Marcel Desailly waxed lyrical about Maradona, saying:
“The best player I’ve seen in my life. He did things that didn’t seem humanly possible. When he was on top of his game, and even without training that much, he was always in form, he was simply impossible to control. He decided matches alone, carrying average teams like Napoli and Argentina in 1986, to glorious achievements. A genius.”
