Ranking the 10 best World Cup players of all time, from Messi to Maradona and everyone in between
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup in full swing, we are seeing some of the best players on the planet duke it out for the most coveted trophy in soccer.
Plenty of all-timers are trying to stake their claim at immortality during this tournament, but few, if any, will ever catch the legends that came before them.
With that in mind, let's take a look at 10 of the greatest World Cup players in soccer history.
A note before we move forward: this list takes only their World Cup performances into account.
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Players like Johan Cruyff and Cristiano Ronaldo are legendary players, but lack some of the World Cup accomplishments that these 10 possess, be they missing titles or a dearth of longevity.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's begin!
Che Cannavaro! Che capitano!
We start this list off with a bang, as Italy's Fabio Cannavaro is arguably the greatest center back in World Cup history.
His 2006 run to the title is the stuff of legend, anchoring an Italy defense that gave up only two goals during the entire tournament, one of which was an own-goal and the other being a penalty.
Cannavaro was the captain of that '06 squad that knocked France out in the finals, and for the cherry on top, he won the Ballon d'Or that year, an extremely rare feat that only two other true defenders have accomplished.
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That's SIR Bobby Charlton to you!
English fans constantly bring up the 1966 World Cup, mostly because it was their last and only win, but also because of how magical that team was, and the heart and soul of it was Charlton.
His leadership and goal-scoring abilities were the driving force behind England's win on their home soil, and the country has revered him ever since.
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That '66 team is easily England's best team of all time, and Charlton was the talisman of that group, so he deserves his lasting place among this list of legends.
No one is more representative of the golden generation of Spain than Andres Iniesta.
The longtime Barcelona midfielder was the engine that made those legendary Spanish teams go, and his extra-time goal to win the World Cup against the Netherlands in 2010 is one of the most iconic strikes in the history of the sport.
That goal alone would have him in consideration as one of the all-time greats, but he's a complete player who had one of the most celebrated careers ever.
His composure, intelligence and passing prowess made him one of the best midfielders of all time, and the fact that he was one of the best players on one of the greatest teams in the modern era of world soccer makes him a no-brainer to be included on this list.
The youngest inclusion on this list by a decent margin, Kylian Mbappé's career so far stacks up against some of the best the sport has to offer, and the crazy part is, he's only 27 years old.
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How's this for a World Cup résumé? He won the tournament at 19, scored a hat trick in the 2022 final, and he's on pace to absolutely shatter the all-time goal-scoring streak recently set by Lionel Messi.
If France were to win it all again in this World Cup or the next one with Mbappé playing a crucial role, then I could easily see him rocketing close to the top of this list by the time his storied career is over.
I'm as big of a Cristiano Ronaldo fanboy as the next guy, but this is all about World Cup performances, and Brazil's Ronaldo Nazario (better known by his first name) is the pick here and it isn't even close.
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During his peak, Ronaldo was one of the most feared strikers on the planet, and he saved his best performances for the biggest stage.
Ronaldo was a part of three World Cup teams with Brazil, and was arguably the best player in the world for two of those.
He scored 15 goals in World Cup play and won the Golden Boot in 2002, with his performance leading the charge for Brazil to win their fifth and most recent world title.
If this was a haircut ranking, however, Ronaldo wouldn't even sniff the list (look it up).
Before Kylian Mbappé was setting the world ablaze, French playmaker Zinedine Zidane was leading the charge for Les Bleus with his elegance and poise from the attacking midfielder position.
Zidane was an absolute delight to watch; a soccer player's favorite soccer player.
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His 1998 World Cup performance is the stuff of legend, as he led France to the title on their home soil, doing so by being the conductor for the team's entire attack.
He nearly repeated the feat in 2006, as he captained France all the way to the finals, before his unfortunate momentary lapse in judgment and subsequent headbutt of Italian player Marco Materazzi led to Zidane being sent off.
France would ultimately lose on penalty kicks, and if Zidane had just kept his head, he might have perhaps been the greatest World Cup player of all time.
Up until roughly 10 minutes ago when Lionel Messi set the new World Cup goal-scoring record, the previous record holder was none other than Germany's Miroslav Klose.
Klose was practically a walking goal with the ball on his foot, notching 16 World Cup goals in just 24 games, a prolific pace that is almost mind-bending to think about.
But he wasn't just scoring empty goals, either. Klose experienced plenty of team success on the world stage, helping Germany reach four consecutive World Cup semifinals, culminating in winning the 2014 title with Die Mannschaft.
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If you were building a fantasy World Cup team and needed a striker in his prime for one game, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone better than Klose.
There is perhaps no better "carry job" in World Cup history than Diego Maradona's 1986 campaign on the world stage with Argentina.
That's not a slight to the Argentine national team that year, it's just a testament to how dominant Maradona was during their tournament run.
En route to winning the whole thing, Maradona knocked out world powers such as Uruguay, West Germany and England, the latter of the three producing two of his most iconic goals.
His first goal against England was deemed "The Hand of God" for his disputed hand-assisted header (there was no VAR back in '86 to review it), but his second goal left no doubt, as he dribbled through the entirety of the Three Lions' defense, dipped around the keeper and slotted it into the back of the net.
It was dubbed "The Goal of the Century," and many famous soccer players call it the greatest goal they've ever seen.
Just edging out his fellow countryman and former coach, Lionel Messi nabs the silver medal spot on this list.
I mentioned the fact that Messi has the goal-scoring record for the World Cup, but he also has a title in 2022 as well as two FIFA Golden Balls, the only player to ever win the award twice.
He even saved his best performance on the world stage for the biggest game, scoring two goals in the 2022 final against France.
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There isn't much else to say about Messi. He is the modern-day GOAT, and if he wins it all again this year, I could maybe see him sliding into the top spot.
There is just one man, right now, who rightly holds the crown as the greatest World Cup player of all time.
It would be nearly impossible for anyone, even the esteemed Lionel Messi, to match Pelé's résumé on the world stage.
You want dominance? Pelé remains the only player in soccer history to win three World Cups. He has 12 total goals in only 14 World Cup matches. In addition to that, he was named the greatest player in soccer history by FIFA not once, but twice.
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Fellow countryman Ronaldo, a legend in his own right, even credited Pelé for inspiring him to play soccer. England's Sir Bobby Charlton once said that it seemed like the sport of soccer "was invented for this magical player."
When members of this list are in awe of you, you have rightly earned the top spot.