The Greatest Football XI of All Time

Lionel Messi
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The evergreen debate around football’s greatest players of all time is always fiercely contested.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Pele and Diego Maradona. Johan Cruyff and George Best. Every rung in the rankings discussion is hotly contested and defensive players never get a look in.

Let’s give them their due. We need defenders and goalkeepers too. Based on FourFourTwo’s ranking of the 100 best football players of all time, we’ve built a dream 11 that would wipe the floor with any opposition…

Manuel Neuer (Image credit: Alamy)Two Champions League wins, 12 Bundesliga titles and a World Cup make a strong enough case for Neuer but the Germany goalkeeper, ranked at no.24 in our list, also spearheaded the age of the ball-playing sweeper keeper. His role at Bayern Munich ushered in a new tactical epoch, not to mention the fact that he’s a terrific stopper too.

RB: Carlos Alberto

Brazil’s Carlos Alberto tackles Italy’s Sandro Mazzola (Image credit: Getty Images)The scorer of one of the World Cup’s most famous goals was also the captain of Brazil’s legendary 1970 team. Carlos Alberto (no. 42) was revered for that one moment that defined his career but was a formidable full-back and followed two decades on the pitch with a 20-year career in management.

LB: Paolo Maldini

Paolo Maldini Yes, we know. We’re putting one of the finest centre-backs of all time at left-back. But Maldini (no. 20) was a phenomenal, classy, tough full-back too. The ultimate one-club man won the Scudetto seven times and has no fewer than five winner’s medals from the European Cup and Champions League.

CB: Bobby Moore

Bobby Moore at West Ham United (Image credit: Alamy)The only man to lift the World Cup trophy as England captain, Moore (no. 35) was a defender both ahead of his time and indicative of it. Renowned for his clean tackling as well as being as hard as nails, Moore will forever be a national icon.

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CB: Franco Baresi

Franco Baresi (Image credit: Alamy)There’s no better reason to push Maldini to left-back than to accommodate Baresi (no. 35), his legendary AC Milan teammate and perhaps the most complete defender the game has ever produced. Another one-club man, Baresi is a World Cup winner and came within a whisker of winning the Ballon d’Or.

CM: Lothar Matthaus

Lothar Matthaus looks on prior to a fixture with Germany (Image credit: Getty Images)German midfielder Matthaus (no. 18) was a near-perfect example of the position. Fierce and fancy in equal measure, Matthaus won six league titles in Germany and one with Inter Milan in Italy. In his adopted home nation, he led West Germany to World Cup glory in 1990 and bagged the Ballon d’Or for good measure.

CM: Andres Iniesta

Andres Iniesta with the World Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)Widely regarded as the best midfielder of the modern era, Iniesta (no. 15) was the on-field architect of Barcelona and Spain teams that collected trophies like they were going out of fashion. Underestimated early in his career, the World Cup-winning goalscorer is now universally respected all over the globe.

RW: Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his first goal for Barcelona against Athletic Club in the 2015 Copa del Rey final (Image credit: Getty Images)Ranked as the greatest player of all time in FourFourTwo’s list, Messi defies comparison. A record eight-time Ballon d’Or winner as well as a World Cup winner as captain, Messi’s club return includes a ridiculous 12 league titles in two countries and four Champions League wins. That his style is more important than his success is a mark of his otherworldly aura.

CAM: Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona in action for Napoli (Image credit: Alamy)World Cup winner Maradona (no. 3) was an ironclad top-two pick before Messi came along and is still considered by many to be the greatest natural footballer of all time. Despite being affected by off-pitch demons throughout his career in Europe, Maradona achieved godlike status in Buenos Aires and Naples.

LW: Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring Real Madrid’s third goal against Juventus in the 2017 Champions League final (Image credit: Getty Images)Ronaldo (no. 4) is a goalscoring phenomenon who has won the Ballon d’Or five times seemingly by just deciding to make himself the best footballer in the world. Celebrated for his determined work ethic and incredible impact on the success of Manchester United and Real Madrid, the winger-turned-forward led Portugal to European Championship glory and boasts 800 career club goals.

ST: Pele

Pele holds the Jules Rimet trophy (Image credit: Alamy)Despite playing almost his entire career in Brazil with Santos, Pele (no. 2) became a worldwide household name by leading his country to three World Cup wins out of four between 1958 and 1970. Before Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo came along, Pele was regarded by many as football’s greatest ever. He ended his playing days in the North American Soccer League and holds a catalogue of individual records to this day.