List of Famous Footballers
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Juventus and captains the Portugal national team. Often considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or awards and four European Golden Shoes, both of which are records for a European player. He has won 31 major trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA European Championship, and one UEFA Nations League title. Ronaldo holds the records for the most goals (134) and assists (41) in the history of the UEFA Champions League. He is one of the few recorded players to have made over 1,000 professional career appearances and has scored over 750 senior career goals for club and country. He is also the second male to score 100 international goals, and the first European man to achieve the feat.
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both the Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often considered as the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record six Ballon d'Or awards and a record six European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won a club-record 33 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and six Copas del Rey. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (455), a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (8), and most assists in La Liga (185), a La Liga and European league season (21) and the Copa América (12). He has scored over 700 senior career goals for club and country.
Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club A.C. Milan. Ibrahimović is widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time. He is one of the most decorated active footballers in the world, having won 31 trophies in his career. He has scored over 560 career goals, and has scored in each of the last four decades.
David Ginola
David Ginola-Ceze is a French former international football player who has also worked as an actor, model and football pundit.
Sean Connery
Sir Sean Connery was a Scottish actor. He became known as the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Originating the role in Dr. No, Connery played Bond in six of Eon Productions' entries and made his final appearance in the Jack Schwartzman-produced Never Say Never Again.
Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Liverpool and the Egypt national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his finishing, dribbling, and speed.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær
Ole Gunnar Solskjær KSO is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Manchester United.
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award. Maradona's vision, passing, ball control, and dribbling skills were combined with his small stature, which gave him a low centre of gravity allowing him to manoeuvre better than most other players. His presence and leadership on the field had a great effect on his team's general performance, while he would often be singled out by the opposition. In addition to his creative abilities, he possessed an eye for goal and was known to be a free kick specialist. A precocious talent, Maradona was given the nickname "El Pibe de Oro", a name that stuck with him throughout his career. He also had a troubled off-field life and was banned in both 1991 and 1994 for abusing drugs.
Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and is the captain of the Poland national team. He is renowned for his positioning, technique and finishing, and is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, and one of the best strikers in Bundesliga history. He has scored over 500 senior career goals for club and country.
Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte is an Italian professional football manager and former player. He is the head coach at Serie A club Inter Milan.
Erling Haaland
Erling Braut Haaland is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Norway national team. A prolific goalscorer, he is recognised for his pace, athleticism, strength and precise off-the-ball movement, and he has been considered as one of the best young footballers in the world.
Kylian Mbappé
Kylian Mbappé Lottin is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Widely considered as one of the best players in the world, he is known for his dribbling, explosive speed, and clinical finishing.
Dani Alves
Daniel Alves da Silva is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as either a right-back or a central midfielder for São Paulo and the Brazil national team, captaining both. He is considered as one of the greatest right backs of all time and the most decorated player in the history of football with 41 trophies, with also being the second most decorated defender of all time in European competitions with nine European medals, leaving him equal with Paolo Maldini on the all-time list.
Xavi Hernández
Xavier Hernández Creus, known as Xavi, is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Xavi is renowned for his passing, ball retention and positioning.
Michael Carrick
Michael Carrick is an English professional football coach and former player who is currently working as a first-team coach at Manchester United. He is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time and is best known for his 12-year playing career with Manchester United, whom he also captained. Carrick was a central midfielder, but he was used as an emergency centre-back under Alex Ferguson, David Moyes and Louis van Gaal. His playing style was grounded in his passing ability.
Neymar
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, known as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world.
Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Yazid Zidane, popularly known as Zizou, is a French former professional football player who played as an attacking midfielder. He is the current manager of La Liga club Real Madrid and is one of the most successful managers in the world. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Zidane was an elite playmaker renowned for his elegance, vision, passing, ball control, and technique. He received many individual accolades as a player, including being named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000 and 2003, and winning the 1998 Ballon d'Or.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst
Giovanni Christiaan van Bronckhorst OON, also known by his nickname Gio, is a Dutch retired footballer and currently the manager of Guangzhou R&F. Formerly a midfielder, he moved to left back later in his career.
Harry Kane
Harry Edward Kane is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the England national team. Regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, Kane is known for his prolific goalscoring record and ability to link play.
Karim Benzema
Karim Mostafa Benzema is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish club Real Madrid and the France national team. Known for his aerial ability, workrate, playmaking and finishing, Benzema is considered to be one of the best strikers in the world.