The authoritative sports publication Goal has published a ranking of the 25 best footballers in history.
The leader of the ranking is Lionel Messi. The legendary Argentine is an eight-time winner of the \"Ballon d\'Or\", which is an absolute record. Additionally, in 2022, he triumphed at the World Cup with the Argentina national team.
Second place went to another star footballer — Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese has 5 \"Ballon d\'Or\" titles to his name. In 2021, the Globe Soccer Awards named the forward the best footballer of the 21st century. Ronaldo also became the European champion with the Portugal national team at Euro 2016.
Completing the top three is former Barcelona and Spain star Xavi. In fourth place is another former \"blaugrana\" player, Andres Iniesta, who recently retired. The legendary Zinedine Zidane made it into the top 5.
Top-15 ranking from Goal
1. Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
3. Xavi (Spain)
4. Andres Iniesta (Spain)
5. Zinedine Zidane (France)
6. Ronaldinho (Brazil)
7. Luka Modric (Croatia)
8. Sergio Busquets (Spain)
9. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
10. Sergio Ramos (Spain)
11. Thierry Henry (France)
12. Luis Suarez (Uruguay)
13. Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
14. Manuel Neuer (Germany)
15. Andrea Pirlo (Italy)
