30. Ruud Gullit
Seldom do you see someone with such physical strength as well as technical ability. Ruud was extremely powerful and a goalscorer.
Sven-Goran Eriksson
A footballer of impossible elegance, Gullit’s actual position was hard to define. At Feyenoord, he began as a sweeper before moving into a midfield playmaking role. At Milan, he played on the right of a front three and in the hole. Even before he became European champion for club and country, he won the Ballon d’Or in 1987.
Career highlight: Netting the crucial first goal in the Euro 88 final, then the 1989 European Cup final. Sexy football.
29. Luka Modric
Once an actual goat herder in his youth, Modric’s supreme passing skills were pivotal to herding Cristiano Ronaldo and Co to Champions League glory at Real Madrid. He’s now bagged the trophy six times, a joint record for the post European Cup era.
Career highlight: Breaking the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly on the Ballon d’Or, after guiding Croatia to a first World Cup final in 2018.
28. Roberto Baggio
A No.10 who scored and created with equal glee. One of the biggest stars of not one but two World Cups, the Divine Ponytail bagged a solo goal for the ages against Czechoslovakia in 1990, then spearheaded Italy’s run to the final in 1994. Admittedly, that didn’t end well.
Career highlight: Winning the 1993 Ballon d’Or, during his days with Juventus.
27. Thierry Henry
Untouchable for the half-decade he spent at his peak, Henry guided Arsenal through the most glittering period of their modern history, scoring incredible goal after incredible goal. Our choice as the greatest-ever Premier League player in 2021, Henry also won the World Cup and the Euros with France. Va va voom indeed.
Career highlight: His 30-goal 2003/04 for Arsenal, making the Gunners the Invincibles.
26. Lev Yashin
Yashin saved more than 150 penalties during his career, keeping 270 clean sheets and at the 1966 World Cup, he helped the USSR to fourth place, their best-ever performance. When a Ballon d’Or all-time dream team was selected in 2020, it was Yashin who was chosen between the sticks, ahead of Manuel Neuer, Gigi Buffon and a host of other legends. With the year’s best goalkeeper now awarded the Yashin Trophy, he remains the gold standard for all aspiring shot-stoppers.
Career highlight: Becoming the only goalkeeper to have ever won the Ballon d'Or, back in 1963.
25. Franco Baresi
The Milan team that won the European Cup in 1989 and 1990 had arguably the finest defence there has ever been - Baresi was its leader and, as libero, its central asset. Having helped the club out of Serie B in 1983, he won six Serie A six times.
Career highlight: In the 1989 Milan derby, Baresi played on with a broken arm, in a 3-0 victory.
24. Manuel Neuer
The modern, ball-playing goalkeeper who convinced Pep Guardiola to abandon building with midfielders and leave it all to the gloves-man and his backline. His shot-stopping isn’t bad either, helping Bayern Munich win 10 Bundesliga titles and two Champions Leagues. His skiing isn’t quite so good.
Career highlight: An extraordinary sweeper-keeper performance against Algeria, en route to lifting the 2014 World Cup with Germany.
23. Xavi
Often seemingly joined at the hip to Iniesta, Xavi was the heartbeat of arguably the greatest club team of all time, and a Spain side that lifted three successive trophies. This century, only three players have made the Ballon d’Or top three on at least three occasions - he’s one of them.
Career highlight: Signing off as a Barcelona player with his fourth Champions League triumph in 2015.
22. Ronaldinho
His buck-tooth smile made him one of the most recognisable faces in football. Ronaldinho was a rare case of a man who could make the unpredictable seem commonplace on the field. He was twice voted FIFA World Player of the Year, and was indeed the best player on the planet in the mid-2000s.
If greatness was measured in joy, Ronaldinho would leave the others by some distance during his five seasons at Barcelona, which delivered two league titles and a Champions League crown. He would later emulate his best days at Atletico Mineiro in their victorious Copa Libertadores campaign.
Career highlight: Winning the 2002 World Cup as part a formidable trio with Ronaldo and Rivaldo dubbed by Brazilian commentator Galvao Bueno as ‘the three Rs’.
21. Bobby Charlton
Charlton’s aura was palpable. The ‘Busby Babe’ was thrown 40 yards clear of the wreckage in the 1958 Munich air crash, then learned the devastating news that many of his team-mates had perished. The trauma he suffered meant it took him several years to recover his confidence.
The tears he shed when United won the European Cup at Wembley in 1968 were of joy, but also of sadness for the memory of those friends and team-mates who would surely have won the trophy a decade or so before, were it not for the tragedy of Munich.
Charlton was also a key member of the 1966 England World Cup squad. His thunderous finish during a tense group stage defeat of Mexico was described by manager Alf Ramsey as “a wonderful sight for all Englishmen”, and his two crisp finishes in the semi-final against Portugal put England into the World Cup final. Although he and Franz Beckenbauer effectively cancelled each other out in the final, Charlton richly deserved the glory which came his way in ’66.
Bobby, who suffered such loss as a young man, will forever be remembered – perhaps more than anything – for those two defining matches at Wembley Stadium which created English football history.
Career highlight: His pivotal role in the 1968 European Cup final - heading United in front, then scoring again in extra time.
