FIFA 2022 World Cup: Top 6 legendary footballers of all time

Fans go crazy whenever someone talks about these legendary players. And with FIFA 2022 World Cup slated to begin on November 20, fans are remembering the legendary players.

Hyderabad: Football is, undoubtedly, one of the most popular sports played in the world. The game has witnessed countless great players and many have attained legendary status.

Fans go crazy whenever someone talks about these legendary players. And with FIFA 2022 World Cup slated to begin on November 20, fans are remembering the legendary players.

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Here, let’s have a look at the top 5 legendary footballers:

Pele

The Brazilian former footballer is one of the greatest legends to have ever played the game. The legendary footballer is the only player in the history of football to have won the world cup thrice (1958, 1962, and 1970).

Pele, also called The Black Pearl, scored 77 goals from 91 games at the international level to become Brazil’s all-time leading run scorer. After retirement in 1977, he made his debut in Hollywood with the film ‘Escape To Victor’.

Diego Maradona

Born on October 30, 1960, Diego Maradona is considered a divine figure by Argentines. Maradona, who made his debut at the age of 16, has scored 34 goals in 91 appearances. He played his first debut world cup match in 1982, but he failed to perform as he managed to score only two goals playing five matches.

Maradona, who was named the captain of the Argentina team for the 1986 World Cup, asserted dominance throughout the tournament to help his team win the world cup single-handedly. He scored 5 goals in the mega event.

Zinedine Zidane

French footballer Zinedine Zidane started his career with a club named Cannes in 1988. The 50-year-old scored 31 goals for France in 108 games. He received the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1998, 2000, and 2003, and the Ballon d’Or in 1998. He represented different clubs in his career like Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus, and Real Madrid. He scored twice in the 1998 FIFA World Cup in the finals against Brazil to help his team clinch the prestigious FIFA title in France.

The Frenchman was also instrumental in helping France win the Euro 2000. He announced his retirement in 2006 after France failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. Zinedine Zidane also donned the role of special adviser to Real Madrid in 2010 and was promoted to the position of head coach of Real Madrid in 2016.

Ronaldo

Ronaldo carved a niche for himself with his amazing skills and ability to finish games with ease. He started his career at a Brazilian club ‘Cruzeiro Esporte’ before moving to PSV in 1999. He then moved to Barcelona in 1996.

The three times FIFA World Player of the Year award winner scored 62 international goals representing Brazil in 98 matches. He became the youngest player to receive FIFA’s World Player award at the age of 20. He was a member of the Brazilian team that won the 1994 World Cup. He was only 17 when Brazil won the mega event in 1994.

Besides, the Brazilian player was a member of the team that won the world cup in Brazil and emerged as the top scorer in the tournament. For his brilliant show in the world cup, Ronaldo received the Golden Boot award.

Gerd Muller

Gerd Muller scored 68 goals in 62 appearances for Germany. He is also famous for scoring the winning goal against Holland in the 1974 World Cup final. He was the leading goal scorer (68) for Germany until Miroslav Josef Klose (71) replaced Gerd Muller in 2014.

The striker joined Bayern Munich in 1964 and won several championships for the club. The Championships include German Championship, the DFB-Pokal, and the European Champions Cup. Overall, he scored 365 goals for Bayern Munich and scored record 40 goals in a single season in 1971-72. The German striker is in third place (14 goals) when it comes to scoring the most FIFA World Cup goals.

Miroslav Klose

The German striker is the all-time leading scorer for Germany with 71 goals to his name. Miroslav Klose holds the record for scoring the most number of goals in world cups. He scored 16 goals from 24 appearances across four editions.

The former German footballer scored a hat-trick on his World Cup debut in 2002 against Saudi Arabia. He was a member of a German team that won the world cup in 2014 in Brazil and it was his last world cup. Miroslav Klose had a very long career as he represented Germany in four world cups – 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014.