By Akshay
December 01, 2023
Emerging from Barcelona’s academy La Masia, Lionel Messi quickly became one of the best players in football, winning his first Ballon d’Or in 2009 at the age of 22. He went on to win seven of them. He won the coveted treble twice with Barcelona and finally ended his wait for a major international trophy with the Copa America 2021 and then added the FIFA World Cup 2022 trophy to his haul, which also includes an Olympic gold medal from Beijing 2008.
Three-time World Cup-winner Pele announced his arrival on the global stage with six goals in the 1958 World Cup. Renowned among modern day fans as the first superstar of football, the “Black Pearl” went on to score over 700 goals for club and country, also winning multiple titles with Brazilian club Santos.
Widely rated by multiple fans and experts as one of the greatest attacking players in football, Diego Maradona inspired a generation of footballers with his ball control and trickery. He won the 1986 FIFA World Cup with Argentina, scoring two goals each in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the tournament. He also drove Napoli to the only two league titles they won in their history.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest goal-scorer in football history and won league titles in three different countries - England, Spain and Italy, over the course of his career. He also won five Champions League titles, four of which came during his iconic spell at Real Madrid.
Johan Cruyff won three consecutive European Cup titles (currently Champions League) with Ajax, also winning the Ballon d’Or three times. With the Netherlands, he reached the FIFA World Cup finals two times in a row in 1974 and 1978.
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