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Published 15:40 3 Jan 2023 GMT
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Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates with teammate Emiliano Martinez, at Lusail Stadium, Qatar. (Photo by Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images)[/caption]
10. Ronaldo Nazario (Brazil) 9. Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) 8. Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) 7. George Best (Northern Ireland) 6. Johan Cruyff (The Netherlands)[caption id="attachment_279874" align="alignnone" width="800"]
F.C. Barcelona in 1977. Johan Cruyff. (Photo by Gianni Ferrari/Cover/Getty Images)[/caption]
5. Zinedine Zidane 4. Pele 3. Cristiano Ronaldo 2. Diego Maradona 1. Lionel MessiPresciently, the exhaustive list ends with this, on their No.1 pick - 'Yet Messi is not finished. A World Cup next month presents another shot at glory with Argentina. His legs slower but his mind still sharp.' So it proved in Qatar as Messi rolled back the years. There are no Republic of Ireland footballers listed in the publication's Top 100, which will rankle some. Other notables in the Top 50 include Bobby Charlton (16), Marco van Basten (22), Ronaldinho (26), Gianluigi Buffon (45) and Thierry Henry (49). Lower down the list, we find Denis Law (66), Dennis Bergkamp (68), Eric Cantona (74), Luka Modric (79), Wayne Rooney (84) and former world footballer of the year, Kaka sneaking in at No.98. You can check out that full list here. Related articles:
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