Here are the 10 Best Soccer Players of All Time in my opinion, starting with #10.

10: Franz Beckenbauer

Arguably one of the best center-defenders in the world, he led West Germany to the World Cup title. A few out of his many awards are the only defender to win the Ballon D’or, and post-career he won the World Cup again with West Germany.

9: Andres Iniesta

Iniesta was one of the greatest midfielders of all time, starring with Messi and Xavi on the famous Guardiola team, and winning 35 total trophies at his time at the Spanish side. Winning the World Cup with Spain solidified his legacy as one of the most influential players to play the game.

8: Alfredo Di Stefano

The famed Real Madrid player is the only person to win the Super Ballon D’or, an award given out once in 1989 by French Football. He also won two regular Ballon D’or. He played for three national teams, Argentina (his birth country), Columbia, and Spain, but won only one notable trophy, the 1947 Copa America.

7: Johan Cruyff

Known as the father of modern soccer, the three-time Ballon D’or winner played for Ajax and Barcelona, developing Total Football with Ajax manager Rinus Michels; he later developed Barcelona into a world giant.

6: Ronaldo Navario

It is considered that if he was not held back by injuries, he would have become the greatest of all time, for even at just 20 years old buyers Barcelona broke the world record transfer fee to get Ronaldo on their first team, and won the Ballon D’or at age 21, the youngest recipient to this day.

5: Zinedine Zidane

He led the French national team to the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2000 Euro championship and won them both. The 1998 Ballon D’or went to him as well as the FIFA World Player of the Year three times in the span of five years, and featured in Real Madrid’s Galactico squad.

4: Cristiano Ronaldo

The everlasting rivalry between Messi and Ronaldo is a legend at this point, and they both have the qualifications to say they are some of the best players in soccer’s history. Ronaldo, specifically, has won more than a trophy case’s worth of awards, the most notable being a five-time winner of the Ballon D’or, 5 Champions League titles, and many, many, many more.

3: Pelé

Boasting a whopping three World Cup titles, FIFA and Olympic Athlete of the Century (he never actually played in the Olympics), and a Ballon D’or, Pelé could well be the best player at the international level. Although he only played in clubs in the Americas, he had a storied career at Santos with 569 goals at the South American club.

2: Maradona

The first person to break the transfer fee record twice, “the Golden Boy” made two of the most memorable goals in history in one game. The clubs he played for were varied, but all became successful. At giants Barcelona, he became the first to be openly applauded by Barꞔa’s nemesis, Real Madrid. At Napoli, he brought a failing club to two Serie A titles.

1: Messi

Eight Ballon D’or, FIFA World Cup, four Champions League wins, Copa America, ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey, seven Spanish Supercups, three UEFA Super Cups, and two Ligue 1 titles. This is only a few of his awards, and these alone show his dominance in soccer. His dribbling is legendary and his passes are perfect. Who else should be up here but him?