Between 8th December 2024 and 1st January 2025, OneFootball celebrated a quarter-century of football with a ranking of the 25 best players from the past 25 years.
Thirty-eight members of OneFootball’s global editorial team ranked their top 25 players of the 21st century so far. Players ranked at #1 earned 25 points, second place earned 24 points, and so on. In the event of a tie, the player with the highest individual ranking was placed higher on the list.
Here are some stats on the votes from the OneFootball editorial team.
The players ranked first
The players on the podium (top three)
📸 MAHMUD HAMS – AFP or licensors
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Lionel Messi (38 times)
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Cristiano Ronaldo (33 times)
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Ronaldo (17 times)
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Zinédine Zidane (12 times)
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Ronaldinho and Xavi (3 times each)
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Luka Modrić, Andrés Iniesta (2 times each)
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Neymar, Thierry Henry, Sergio Busquets, Manuel Neuer (1 time each)
The players who were only voted for once (and their ranking)
📸 Danny Gohlke – Bongarts
Nationalities represented in the top 25
📸 PEDRO UGARTE
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Spain (5 times)
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Brazil (4 times)
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France, Italy (3 times each)
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Germany (2 times)
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Argentina, Portugal, Croatia, Sweden, Egypt, England, Belgium, Uruguay (1 time each)
These players were in the top 25 of all 38 voters
📸 Philipp Schmidli – 2015 Getty Images
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Lionel Messi
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Cristiano Ronaldo
Ranked from 26th to 50th place
📸 David Ramos – 2024 Getty Images
26. Kylian Mbappé (142 points)
27. Philipp Lahm (131 points)
28. Rivaldo (127 points)
29. Steven Gerrard (117 points)
30. Ángel di María (111 points)
31. Samuel Eto’o (100 points)
32. Robert Lewandowski (97 points)
33. Frank Lampard (94 points)
34. Francesco Totti (94 points)
35. Marcelo (87 points)
36. Xabi Alonso (84 points)
37. Thomas Müller (81 points)
38. Didier Drogba (78 points)
39. Erling Haaland (76 points)
40. Carles Puyol (71 points)
41. Antoine Griezmann (68 points)
42. Andriy Shevchenko (58 points)
43. Raúl (55 points)
44. Luis Figo (52 points)
45. Arjen Robben (52 points)
46. Sergio Agüero (49 points)
47. David Silva (46 points)
48. N’Golo Kanté (42 points)
49. David Villa (38 points)
50. Virgil van Dijk (34 points)
The top 25 in full
📸 Marcelo Endelli – 2024 Getty Images