40. Luis Suarez
No, not him. This Luis Suarez never bit anyone, although he did play for Barcelona. Nicknamed ‘the Architect’, he was a midfielder of rare vision and remains the only Spaniard to have won the Ballon d’Or. Then he joined Inter for a world record fee in 1961 and won back-to-back European Cups.
Career highlight: The summer of 1964, when Suarez followed the European Cup by winning the Euros with Spain.
39. Romario
The king of the toe poke, the Brazilian had dazzling close control and nerveless finishing abilities - when he was through on goal, the keeper was basically doomed. Prolific for Vasco da Gama, PSV and Flamengo, he was the first player to net 100 goals for three different clubs.
Career highlight: Player of the tournament at the 1994 World Cup, as Romario led Brazil to glory.
38. Mattias Sindelar
Nicknamed the Mozart of Football, Sindelar was one of the world’s greatest stars in the 1930s, leading the magnificent Austrian national Wunderteam. The forward made his political views known too, wildly celebrating a goal against Germany in 1938, right after Austria had been annexed. He died mysteriously a year later.
Career highlight: Sindelar captained Austria as they reached the 1934 World Cup semi-finals, where they were controversially beaten by the hosts Italy.
37. Valentino Mazzola
The 1949 Superga air crash wiped out the legendary Grande Torino side, of which Mazzola was the finest. In seven years, he helped them win five championships and set a record for the most goals scored in a Serie A season, which still stands today.
Career highlight: Using his prodigious heading ability, he netted 29 goals from central midfield in 1946-47, eight more than the league’s next highest scorer.
36. Stanley Matthews
‘The Wizard of the Dribble’ is arguably the most entertaining player England has ever produced. At Blackpool, he won the inaugural Ballon d’Or in 1956 - at Stoke, he played in the top flight at 50, still a record.
Career highlight: So incredible was his display in the 1953 FA Cup final, that it became known as The Matthews Final - even though team-mate Stan Mortensen scored a hat-trick.
35. Bobby Moore
A footballing centre-half long before the concept was fashionable, to this day he remains the yardstick against which all England defenders are measured. After serenely bringing football home in 1966, he finished second in the 1970 Ballon d’Or after THAT tackle on Pele.
Career highlight: Collecting the World Cup from Her Majesty the Queen (having wiped his hands first on the velvet tablecloth, naturally).
34. Raymond Kopa
Born as Raymond Kopaszewski, the son of Polish immigrants became a French hero at Reims, but lost the European Cup final to Real Madrid. If you can’t beat them, join them - the playmaker headed to the Bernabeu and won the trophy three times, one of them against Reims.
Career highlight: The first Frenchman to win the European Cup, Little Napoleon then won the Ballon d’Or in 1958.
33. Sergio Busquets
Initially seeming a rather high inclusion, Busquets is probably the most complete defensive midfielder of all time and the standard to which the bar was raised.
Sergio Busquets became a by-word for Pep Guardiola's vision of the game in the late noughties, combining a combative nature in transition with the will to break lines vertically and be his team's first playmaker building from the back. All contemporaries have been judged against him; everyone who's followed has been influenced by him.
Career highlight: A World Cup trophy alongside Xabi Alonso in Vicente Del Bosque's 2010 Spain midfield. The world title was sandwiched between Champions League wins in 2009 and 2011.
32. Socrates
Perhaps the ultimate bohemian icon in football history, a deep thinker in all areas of life and a formidable midfielder of one of the greatest sides Brazil has ever produced. He made the no-look backheel pass his own signature - surely the finest footballer ever to play for Garforth Town.
Career highlight: Dazzling the world with his performances at the 1982 World Cup.
31. Giuseppe Meazza
When young Giuseppe was seven years old, he was sent to the 'open-air school’ in Milan – complete with football pitches, swimming pools and a zoo – in order to strengthen his weak lungs. The treatment worked spectacularly well. His mazy dribbling and clinical finishing were evident at youth level, so much so that La Gazetta were confident enough to write after his debut for Inter in 1910: "A star is born."
By the time he retired in 1947, he'd won two World Cups and a pair of league titles, while a popular song claimed that the graceful Meazza "scored to the rhythm of the foxtrot". Yet as with many Italian legends, he was a magnet for controversy.
Short, stocky and good-looking, Meazza was often compared in Italy with screen heart-throb Rudolf Valentino, and his hectic social life was an endless source of fascination for the Italian media. Meazza, who advertised both toothpaste and brilliantine, became stupendously rich both from the game and off-field endorsements. His name will forever be linked with the 1930s, when the Italian national team dominated world football. In 1980 the San Siro was post-humously named in his honour.
Career highlight: Starring in the Italy team that won back-to-back World Cups in 1934 and 1938.
