• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Fans in disbelief as top 25 players of the 21st century revealed

Home> Football> Football News

Updated 21:13 23 Jul 2024 GMT+1Published 20:59 23 Jul 2024 GMT+1

Fans in disbelief as top 25 players of the 21st century revealed

Fans are fuming about one thing.

Alex Brotherton

Alex Brotherton

The top 25 men's football stars of the 21st century have been named and ranked, but fans are in disbelief about one thing.

With some of the best footballers of all time playing during the 21st century, football fans today are incredibly lucky.

Even when you look past Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, a whole host of incredible talents have strutted their stuff over the past 24 years.

But where do they all rank in the top 25? ESPN asked their readers to vote, and after collating together thousands of votes, have come up with the top 25 stars of the 21st century.

Advert

Lionel Messi came top with Cristiano Ronaldo second; there will be arguments about which of the two should have been first, but there's no denying that the duo have been the two best players of the 21st century, if not all-time.

Former Arsenal and Barcelona attacker Thierry Henry came in third, followed by his France teammate Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid star Luka Modric.

Kylian Mbappe is sixth in the list, followed by Barcelona midfield duo Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.

Brazilians Ronaldo Nazario and Ronaldinho are ninth and tenth respectively, followed by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kevin De Bruyne and Toni Kroos.

Mbappe was recently unveiled as a Real Madrid player in front of 80,000 fans (Getty)
Mbappe was recently unveiled as a Real Madrid player in front of 80,000 fans (Getty)

The first defenders on the list are Sergio Ramos (14) and (15) Carles Puyol, with both having won the World Cup with Spain in 2010.

French marksmen Karim Benzema is 16th, former Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets 17th and current Barca striker Robert Lewandowski 18th.

2007 Ballon d'Or winner Kaka is 19th, just ahead of Neymar.

The stars who just missed out on the top 20 are Andrea Pirlo, Wayne Rooney, Patrick Vieira, Luis Suarez and Gianluigi Buffon.

Neymar is 20th in the ranking. (Getty)
Neymar is 20th in the ranking. (Getty)

There was plenty of reaction to the ranking, but plenty of fans weren't happy with Neymar's position in 20th.

"Neymar is way too low on this list," one fan commented on X, while another said: "Neymar at 20? Crazy disrespectful for the third best player this generation."

Other fans commented "Nobody can do what Neymar does as he does. Nobody is as skilful as him. This is disrespectful!", and "You guys are embarrassing, Ibrahimovic can't lace Neymar's boots."

The full ranking is as follows:

1: Lionel Messi

2: Cristiano Ronaldo

3: Thierry Henry

4: Zinedine Zidane

5: Luka Modric

6: Kylian Mbappe

7: Andres Iniesta

8: Xavi Hernandez

9: Ronaldo Nazario

10: Ronaldinho

11: Zlatan Ibrahimovic

12: Kevin De Bruyne

13: Toni Kroos

14: Sergio Ramos

15: Carles Puyol

16: Karim Benzema

17: Sergio Busquets

18: Robert Lewandowski

19: Kaka

20: Neymar

21: Andrea Pirlo

22: Wayne Rooney

23: Patrick Vieira

24: Luis Suarez

25: Gianluigi Buffon

Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: Football, Ronaldo, Neymar, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo

Alex Brotherton
Alex Brotherton

Alex Brotherton is a journalist at SPORTbible. He has previously worked with publications including the Manchester Evening News, GOAL and BBC Sport. He is a football fanatic, but also dabbles in tennis and American football. He can often be found watching dreadful non-league football.

X

@alex_brotherton

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

13 mins ago
10 hours ago
11 hours ago
12 hours ago
  • Getty
    13 mins ago

    Liverpool Agree £60m Transfer as David Ornstein Drops Bombshell

    He will be joining the reds.

    Football
  • Marc Atkins/Getty Images
    10 hours ago

    Rodri Loses His Head in Heated Post-Match Interview After Man City's Shock Draw

    The Manchester City captain was not happy with the referee after the draw with Spurs.

    Football
  • Sky Sports
    11 hours ago

    Jamie Carragher Makes Offer to Casemiro After 'Football Has Left Him' Claim

    The Sky Sports pundit has addressed the viral clip of him criticising Casemiro's time at Manchester United.

    Football
  • The United Strand
    12 hours ago

    Man Utd Fan Not Cutting His Hair Until Five Wins in a Row Reacts to Fulham Game

    The viral Manchester United fan has spoken out as the club are just two wins away from reaching his target.

    Football
  • Neymar reveals what he told rival fans seconds before scoring super-rare 'Olimpico' goal
  • Top 10 highest-paid female footballers compared to top 10 men shows massive difference in pay
  • Ronaldo Nazario snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo when naming top five favourite players including Premier League star
  • Cole Palmer Names The Three Players He Rates Higher Than Cristiano Ronaldo