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Greatest football players of all time (2026)

According to GolVote fans, Pelé is number one with a rating of 1605, ahead of Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. The order is decided by head-to-head fan votes and changes live with every vote.

Greatest football players of all time: a live ranking decided by football fans' head-to-head votes. Updated with every vote. Updated: 9 October 2026.

Who is better?

Pelé: Unknown author, Public domain · Diego Maradona: Unknown author, Public domain

1Pelé🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1605
2Diego Maradona🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward1605
3Lionel Messi🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward1600
4Cristiano Ronaldo🇵🇹 Portugal · Forward1597
5Zinedine Zidane🇫🇷 France · Midfielder1590
6Ronaldo Nazário🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1590
7Kylian Mbappé🇫🇷 France · Forward1588
8David Beckham🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Midfielder1587
9Ronaldinho🇧🇷 Brazil · Midfielder1584
10Erling Haaland🇳🇴 Norway · Forward1582
11Lamine Yamal🇪🇸 Spain · Forward1579
12Francesco Totti🇮🇹 Italy · Forward1578
13Zlatan Ibrahimović🇸🇪 Sweden · Forward1575
14Johan Cruyff🇳🇱 Netherlands · Forward1572
15Vinícius Júnior🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1570
16MPMichel Platini🇫🇷 France · Midfielder1566
17Frank Lampard🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Midfielder1566
18Jude Bellingham🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Midfielder1564
19Mohamed Salah🇪🇬 Egypt · Forward1564
20Wayne Rooney🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Midfielder1563
21Kaká🇧🇷 Brazil · Midfielder1563
22Miroslav Klose🇩🇪 Germany · Forward1563
23Andrés Iniesta🇪🇸 Spain · Midfielder1560
24Robin van Persie🇳🇱 Netherlands · Forward1560
25Steven Gerrard🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Midfielder1560
26Neymar🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1558
27Gerard Piqué🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1557
28Arjen Robben🇳🇱 Netherlands · Forward1557
29Didier Drogba🇨🇮 Ivory Coast · Forward1557
30Eusébio🇵🇹 Portugal · Forward1557
31George Weah🇱🇷 Liberia · Forward1557
32Eden Hazard🇧🇪 Belgium · Forward1557
33Ferenc Puskás🇪🇸 Spain · Forward1557
34Franz Beckenbauer🇩🇪 Germany · Defender1554
35Thierry Henry🇫🇷 France · Forward1554
36Roberto Baggio🇮🇹 Italy · Forward1554
37Sergio Agüero🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward1554
38Marco van Basten🇳🇱 Netherlands · Forward1554
39Samuel Eto'o🇨🇲 Cameroon · Forward1554
40Fernando Torres🇪🇸 Spain · Forward1554
41Gerd Müller🇩🇪 Germany · Forward1554
42Harry Kane🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Forward1552
43Andriy Shevchenko🇺🇦 Ukraine · Forward1551
44Andrea Pirlo🇮🇹 Italy · Midfielder1551
45Lev Yashin☭ Soviet Union · Goalkeeper1551
46George Best🇬🇧 Northern Ireland · Forward1551
47Paolo Maldini🇮🇹 Italy · Defender1548
48Xavi Hernández🇪🇸 Spain · Midfielder1548
49Gianluigi Buffon🇮🇹 Italy · Goalkeeper1548
50Bobby Charlton🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Forward1548
51Fabio Cannavaro🇮🇹 Italy · Defender1548
52Raúl🇪🇸 Spain · Forward1548
53Roberto Carlos🇧🇷 Brazil · Defender1548
54Pedri🇪🇸 Spain · Midfielder1546
55Ousmane Dembélé🇫🇷 France · Forward1546
56Carles Puyol🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1545
57Garrincha🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1545
58Luís Figo🇵🇹 Portugal · Forward1545
59Romário🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1545
60Rivaldo🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1545
61Alfredo Di Stéfano🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward1542
62Iker Casillas🇪🇸 Spain · Goalkeeper1542
63Zico🇧🇷 Brazil · Midfielder1542
64Ruud Gullit🇳🇱 Netherlands · Midfielder1539
65Hristo Stoichkov🇧🇬 Bulgaria · Forward1536
66Michael Laudrup🇩🇰 Denmark · Midfielder1536
67Rodri🇪🇸 Spain · Midfielder1534
68Raphinha🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1534
69Gabriel Batistuta🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward1533
70Pavel Nedvěd🏳️ Czechoslovakia · Midfielder1530
71Cafu🇧🇷 Brazil · Defender1530
72Robert Lewandowski🇵🇱 Poland · Forward1528
73Bukayo Saka🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Forward1528
74Cole Palmer🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Midfielder1528
75Kevin De Bruyne🇧🇪 Belgium · Midfielder1528
76Luka Modrić🇭🇷 Croatia · Midfielder1528
77Sócrates🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1527
78Kenny Dalglish🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland · Forward1524
79Juan Román Riquelme🇦🇷 Argentina · Midfielder1524
80Jamal Musiala🇩🇪 Germany · Midfielder1522
81Florian Wirtz🇩🇪 Germany · Midfielder1522
82Lautaro Martínez🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward1522
83Julián Álvarez🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward1522
84Bobby Moore🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1521
85Virgil van Dijk🇳🇱 Netherlands · Defender1516
86Federico Valverde🇺🇾 Uruguay · Midfielder1510
87Khvicha Kvaratskhelia🇬🇪 Georgia · Forward1510
88Achraf Hakimi🇲🇦 Morocco · Defender1510
89Thibaut Courtois🇧🇪 Belgium · Goalkeeper1510
90Vitinha🇵🇹 Portugal · Midfielder1504
91Viktor Gyökeres🇸🇪 Sweden · Forward1504
92Alexander Isak🇸🇪 Sweden · Forward1504
93Bruno Fernandes🇵🇹 Portugal · Midfielder1504
94Michael Olise🇫🇷 France · Forward1498
95Désiré Doué🇫🇷 France · Forward1498
96Declan Rice🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Midfielder1498
97Trent Alexander-Arnold🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1498
98Gianluigi Donnarumma🇮🇹 Italy · Goalkeeper1498
99Martin Ødegaard🇳🇴 Norway · Midfielder1492
100William Saliba🇫🇷 France · Defender1492

All rankings

Photo credits

Pelé: Unknown author, Public domain
Diego Maradona: Unknown author, Public domain
Lionel Messi: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cristiano Ronaldo: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Zinedine Zidane: Hadi Abyar, CC BY 4.0
Ronaldo Nazário: Web Summit, CC BY 2.0
Kylian Mbappé: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
David Beckham: The Democratic Alliance, CC BY-SA 2.0
Ronaldinho: Marcos Corrêa/PR, CC BY 2.0
Erling Haaland: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Lamine Yamal: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Francesco Totti: Photojournalist Roberto Vicario derivative work: Clarus The Dogcow (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
Zlatan Ibrahimović: Colleen Sturtevant, CC BY-SA 4.0
Johan Cruyff: Rob Mieremet / Anefo, CC0
Vinícius Júnior: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Frank Lampard: Mehdi Bolourian, CC BY 4.0
Jude Bellingham: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Mohamed Salah: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Wayne Rooney: Дмитрий Голубович, CC BY-SA 3.0
Kaká: José Cruz/ABr (cropped by tales.ebner), CC BY 3.0 br
Miroslav Klose: Sven Mandel, CC BY-SA 4.0
Andrés Iniesta: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Robin van Persie: Елена Рыбакова, CC BY-SA 3.0
Steven Gerrard: Эдгар Брещанов, CC BY-SA 3.0
Neymar: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Gerard Piqué: Vinod Divakaran, CC BY 2.0
Arjen Robben: Дмитрий Садовников, CC BY-SA 3.0
Eusébio: Panini, Public domain
George Weah: File:George Weah in 2019 (cropped).jpg: U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia derivative work: Boros.i, Public domain
Eden Hazard: Amir Hosseini, CC BY 4.0
Ferenc Puskás: Unknown, Public domain
Franz Beckenbauer: Panini Group, Public domain
Thierry Henry: Web Summit, CC BY 2.0
Roberto Baggio: AbolfaZl0990, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sergio Agüero: Кирилл Венедиктов, CC BY-SA 3.0
Marco van Basten: Paul Blank - Postproduktie.nl, CC BY 2.5
Samuel Eto'o: BACHELOR45, CC BY-SA 4.0
Fernando Torres: cristina cifuentes, CC BY 2.0
Gerd Müller: Unknown author, Public domain
Harry Kane: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Andriy Shevchenko: Міністерство молоді та спорту України, CC BY 4.0
Andrea Pirlo: Clément Bucco-Lechat, CC BY-SA 3.0
Lev Yashin: Unknown author, Public domain
George Best: Hans Peters for Anefo, CC0
Paolo Maldini: Foad Ashtari, CC BY 4.0
Xavi Hernández: Mehdi Zare, CC BY 4.0
Gianluigi Buffon: Original: Doha Stadium Plus Qatar from Doha, Qatar Derivative work: Alza08 Author:, CC BY 2.0
Bobby Charlton: Panini, Public domain
Fabio Cannavaro: Original: Mech867 / Derivative work: Danyele, CC BY 4.0
Raúl: Doha Stadium Plus Qatar, CC BY 2.0
Roberto Carlos: Web Summit, CC BY 2.0
Pedri: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ousmane Dembélé: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Carles Puyol: Darz Mol, CC BY-SA 2.5 es
Garrincha: El Gráfico, n° 2233, Public domain
Luís Figo: Biser Todorov, CC BY 4.0
Romário: Agência Senado from Brasilia, Brazil, CC BY 2.0
Rivaldo: w:User:Nursultan12, CC BY-SA 4.0
Alfredo Di Stéfano: Unknown author, Public domain
Iker Casillas: Зайцев Антон, CC BY-SA 3.0
Zico: Doha Stadium Plus, CC BY 2.0
Ruud Gullit: Barcex, CC BY-SA 4.0
Hristo Stoichkov: Biso, CC BY 3.0
Michael Laudrup: Paul Blank, CC BY 2.5
Rodri: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Raphinha: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Gabriel Batistuta: Unknown, Public domain
Pavel Nedvěd: Pavel Lebeda, CC BY-SA 2.0
Cafu: Lula Oficial, CC BY-SA 4.0
Robert Lewandowski: Светлана Бекетова, CC BY-SA 3.0
Bukayo Saka: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cole Palmer: The White House, Public domain
Kevin De Bruyne: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Luka Modrić: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sócrates: Foto U. Dettmar/ABr., CC BY 3.0 br
Kenny Dalglish: Saw from Singapore, CC BY-SA 2.0
Juan Román Riquelme: Todo Noticias, CC BY 3.0
Jamal Musiala: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Florian Wirtz: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Lautaro Martínez: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Julián Álvarez: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Bobby Moore: Unknown author, Public domain
Virgil van Dijk: Ailura, CC BY-SA 3.0 at
Federico Valverde: Real Madrid, CC BY 3.0
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia: გიორგი კეკელიძის პირადი არქივი, CC BY 4.0
Achraf Hakimi: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Thibaut Courtois: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Vitinha: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Viktor Gyökeres: Mikael Hervestad, CC BY-SA 4.0
Alexander Isak: Mikael Hervestad, CC BY-SA 4.0
Bruno Fernandes: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Michael Olise: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Désiré Doué: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Declan Rice: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Trent Alexander-Arnold: Антон Зайцев, CC BY-SA 3.0
Gianluigi Donnarumma: Original: MichaelEmilio / Derivative work: Danyele, CC BY 4.0
Martin Ødegaard: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
William Saliba: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0

Biographical data: Wikidata (CC0). Photos: Wikimedia Commons under the licenses shown.