The greatest football XI of all time
The best of the best
Determining the greatest XI of all-time is a perennial debate. Rules, tactics, playing styles, clothing, balls, pitches, and sensitivities — many things have changed as football has evolved over the decades. These factors make it hard, if not impossible, to pin-point a greatest XI of all-time. Moreover, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, interpretation and preferences.
Nevertheless, there is merit in determining the game’s finest exponents.
In line with this publication’s ethos of providing robust analysis in an original way, I’ve put together here the XI that I feel can be considered at the greatest of all-time. To acknowledge other players who came tantalisingly close to being in the starting XI, a full 23-man squad is named.
The Starting XI🐐
Keeper & Defenders
Football has given us many exceptional goalkeepers who are so close in quality that it’s impossible to call. I’ve gone with Lev Yashin. The fact that FIFA Golden Glove was originally called the Lev Yashin award, tips the balance in his favour, by a razor-thin margin.
In central defence, Franz Beckenbauer and Bobby Moore are default inclusions. Left-back is Paolo Maldini, picked marginally ahead of his predecessor in more ways than one, Giacinto Facchetti. For right-back, I’ve gone for Cafu ahead of compatriots Djalma Santos and Carlos Alberto.
Midfielders & Forwards
In central midfield it’s is hard to look past the 1991 FIFA World Player of the Year, and West Germany’s World Cup winning captain Lothar Matthaus.
The attacking quintet comprises record breakers of the modern era, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The plucky genius of Diego Maradona makes his selection a matter of course. I’ve opted for Johan Cruyff here ahead of the likes of Muller, Puskas etc. for two reasons. The first is technical ability. The second and more important — his unparalleled contribution to advancing football thought (as part of totaalvoetbal with Ajax coach Rinus Michels). The greatest player of all-time, Pele, completes the selection.
The squad 🚌
Subs Bench
I have Gordon Banks in goal with Franco Baresi in defence. The prolific talents of Gerd Muller, Ferenc Puskas, and Alfredo di Stefano also find a place alongside Bobby Charlton.
Squad
Dino Zoff, inseparable really from Yashin and Banks, is the first inclusion, along with the technically elegant playmaker Zinedine Zidane.
The remaining 4 squad players are almost impossible to select as there are numerous candidates. Conventionally speaking:
- O Fenomeno Ronaldo, George Best, Garrincha and Eusebio
should round this off. While I’m fine with this, I’d like to plump for some relatively under-recognized all-time greats.
The first two (re)defined the full-back role: Inter and Italy icon Giacinto Facchetti and four-time World Cup veteran and two-time winner Djalma Santos. Giuseppe Meazza, considered Italy’s greatest footballer, is the next selection. Winning two World-Cups, being 4th and 2nd top-scorer in Serie A and for Italy despite playing in the 1920s — 1940s, and having a stadium named in your honour surely warrants a place in the all-time greatest squad. Finally, I would include Marco van Basten, who despite a truncated career demonstrated an elegance that remains unsurpassed even today.
How they could line-up
A visualization of how they could line-up on the pitch is provided below. For the attacking quintet, the positions may be interchangeable. I’ve nominally kept Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi on the wings, because that’s how they started, before blossoming into true and false #9s. The rest were a mix of creative/attacking midfielders, strikers or second-strikers so it’s reasonably fluid. For the bench and squad, I’ve gone for balance with at least one GK and DF being named in each, alongside a mix of attacking talents.
Subs Bench: Banks, Baresi, Muller, Puskas, diStefano, Charlton
Squad: Zoff, Zidane, Facchetti, Santos, Meazza, van Basten
It’s difficult to pick an all-time greatest XI. The squad presented above does not include the talents of Xavi, the versatility of Rijkaard, the completeness of Ruud Gullit, the technical ability of Platini or the dribbling genius of Ronaldinho. There are dozens of other players who are not included. Football has seen some exceptional talent come through. Everyone had their own talent, abilities and appeal. There are so many considerations that it’s impossible to make a universal decision. There will always be a debate. I’ve presented my viewpoint here on how the greatest footballers of all-time could feature in a squad.
If you liked this post, you’ll enjoy my book📙Football Masters, available on Amazon, which features a revised version of this and other popular articles.
