Top 30 Greatest Football Players Of All Time (2024)

HIGHLIGHTS

One of the great football topics is back for 2024 and there will be a wide array of differing opinions on the results. Deciding who is the greatest footballer of all time is never easy, particularly as fans biasedly claim their club legend is the best.

It tends to be a common theme that a lot of people consider Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona and Pele to be the most prominent names in the hat for being the best player to have ever played the game, but always in different orders.

Unsurprisingly, all four of those names make it onto our list, but in what order, only time will tell. So, in the interest of not keeping anyone waiting to find out who the GOAT is, here at FootyHighlights, we have ranked the 30 greatest footballers of all time, taking into account the ranking factors below.

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Ranking factors

Factors taken into consideration when ranking these players are as follows:

• Importance to the team – This can be classed as goals, assists or clean sheets. Yet the more they’ve scored – or defended – the higher they are on the list. You can’t be a legendary striker without scoring hundreds of goals.
• Club and international trophies – If a player has played a crucial part in their team winning trophies, they have been ranked higher on this list. The top of professional football is all about winning trophies — and these players epitomised that.
• Individual Awards – However, some players stay at teams that don’t compete for major trophies every year, so using individual awards to rank the 25 best is also important. The Ballon d’Or is one of the most prestigious awards in the sport.