Pele named his 12 best footballers in history | OneFootball

Highlights

Despite all the magical moments that Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo, Johan Cruyff and many other legendary names have produced on the pitch over the years, there will always be many fans across the world who firmly believe that Pele is - and will forever be - football's true king.

The Brazilian icon, who even earned the nickname O Rei (The King), sadly passed away in December 2022 at the age of 82. The only player in history to have won three World Cups, three days of mourning were declared by the Brazilian government after his death was announced.

Fast-forward just over one year later and, unfortunately, we've now lost another genuine legend of the game: the great Franz Beckenbauer, who briefly played alongside Pele in America with New York Cosmos. Journalist Miguel Delaney highlighted on X (formerly Twitter) that football's first batch of "immortals" - Pele, Maradona, Ferenc Puskas, Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stefano, Beckenbauer, and George Best - have all now all passed away.

Pele thought he was football's greatest player

The Brazilian considered himself the best in history

On numerous occasions, Pele expressed his belief that he was the greatest player in football history. For example, in 2015 he was quoted telling Spanish outlet Marca: "Please forgive my lack of modesty, but I've never seen a player as good as Pele was in 1970."

Many would concur with the late Brazil star’s opinion, although just as many would argue that fellow World Cup winners Maradona and Messi are even more deserving of the title of football’s GOAT (Greatest of All Time) considering all they achieved in Europe.

Pele named his greatest footballers in history

Beckenbauer among the legends in Pele's Top 10 list

Aside from himself, though, who did Pele believe were the greatest footballers in history? Well, in 2020 the legendary forward conducted an interview with MadridistaReal.com, and he was asked to name his top 10 best players ever.

“Another difficult question,” Pele said, before giving the question some thought. “There will be more than 10 in my time alone. I’ll leave some to answer your question (laughs). Diego [Maradona], Alfredo [Di Stéfano], [Giovanni] Trapattoni, Garrincha, [Johan] Cruyff, [Franz] Beckenbauer, [Carlos] Alberto… [Zinedine] Zidane… Ronaldo [Nazario]… [Andres] Iniesta.”

Some interesting names there, especially Trapattoni - although the Italian did once nullify Pele during an international friendly at the San Siro in 1963, which may have stuck in his mind.

Pele named two of his former Brazil teammates, Garrincha and Carlos Alberto, and the man who he found himself constantly compared to in later life: Maradona. In terms of the modern era, Pele found room for both Zinedine Zidane and Andres Iniesta - two of the greatest midfielders of their generation who produced iconic moments in the biggest matches.

On Alfredo Di Stefano, Pele added: "Alfredo could well have been the most complete player of the time. He was fantastic. It is a shame that there are not enough videos of his performances, it would undoubtedly be more popular. Undoubtedly, it is one of the standards in what is considered the best."

And on Ronaldo, Pele commented: "'The Phenomenon,' his nickname says it all. Ronaldo could well be the best '9' of all time. He was amazing. The size, the speed, the skill, everything fluid. I haven't seen that combination since then."

Pele added Ronaldo and Messi to his list

Brazilian's Top 10 became a Top 12

However, Pele extended his list of 10 names to 12, adding: “Today we are lucky. Cristiano [Ronaldo] is great. Messi is incredible.” He couldn’t exactly leave out those two, could he?

Pele reserved a comment for Kylian Mbappe

Predicted the French forward had a bright future in the game

And he also tipped Kylian Mbappe for big things, adding: “The future seems bright for Mbappe.” Mbappe, 25, moved level with Pele for number of goals scored at FIFA World Cup tournaments during the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

It’s taken the France superstar just two World Cups to net 12 goals, and it feels inevitable that he’ll go on to become the competition’s all-time leading scorer. Only Messi and Just Fontaine (13), Gerd Muller (14), Ronaldo Nazario (15) and Miroslav Klose (16) have scored more at the time of writing.

But in order to cement his name alongside the likes of Pele, Messi and Maradona on the pantheon of all-time greats, Mbappe will need to enjoy more success at club level. Speculation is rife that the Frenchman will finally leave Paris Saint-Germain for Real Madrid in the summer of 2024.