Who have been the top 10 most impactful players at the World Cup over the years
Pele (Brazil)
In many people’s eyes, Pelé (left) was the greatest player ever, but while that debate can rage on, there is no doubt he has been the most impactful in World Cup history.
He is the only player to win three men’s World Cups, helping Brazil to the titles in 1958, 1962 and 1970. He also scored 12 World Cup goals, which lists him among the top scorers in tournament history. To have lifted the trophy 12 years apart is also a great achievement and shows his longevity, though his title in 1958 did come as a 17-year-old.
He passed away in 2022 at the age of 82.
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Diego Maradona (Argentina)
Another contender for the greatest player ever, Maradona certainly left his mark on the World Cup, for good and bad. His 1986 title triumph with Argentina sums up his career perfectly. He was sublime, a master, and led his team to the trophy with scintillating performances, goals and assists. But there was also the infamous Hand of God goal against England in the quarter-finals that was a clear cheat. In the same game, he scored one of the great goals in World Cup history.
He took Argentina to the final again in 1990, where they lost to West Germany and at the 1994 tournament was banned for drug use. He was, in every sense, a flawed genius.
Zinedine Zidane (France)
Zidane (right) was central to France’s 1998 final win on home soil and managed two headed goals in the final against Brazil. But arguably his best performance came in 2006 in a final that ended in bitter disappointment for him when he was sent off for an infamous headbutt on Marco Materazzi and France lost on penalties to Italy. His performance against Brazil in the quarter-finals is regarded as among the best in World Cup history and he won the Golden Ball that year despite his final meltdown. A simply sublime midfielder who you felt could do anything with the ball.
Garrincha (Brazil)
Young Pelé might have dominated many of the headlines during Brazil’s 1958 and 1962 World Cup wins, but there was an equally influential player at both those tournaments in winger Garrincha. He had incredible dribbling skills, perhaps the best of all time, and would bamboozle defences, scoring goals and laying on assists for others.
Pelé was actually injured for part of the 1962 tournament and Garrincha took over as Brazil’s main man.
Amazingly, Brazil never lost a match while fielding both Garrincha and Pelé. Garrincha died in 1983 aged just 49, having succumbed to alcoholism.
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Messi’s (below) World Cup story is not complete as he hopes to take Argentina to back-to-back titles in 2026 after being central to their success in Qatar four years ago. He won the Golden Ball at that tournament, as he did in 2014 when he took Argentina to the final, but they lost again to the Germans.
He owns the record for the most World Cup appearances with 26 and will play at his sixth finals in 2026, having debuted 20 years ago in Germany.
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Johan Cruyff (Nethelands)
Cruyff played in only one World Cup, in 1974, and did not manage to lift the trophy, but the mark he left on the tournament and global football as a whole enhanced his legend status and made him one of the most influential players of all time. The Dutch legend created an astonishing 36 chances in the tournament, the most ever by any player, and his style of play within the Netherlands’ ‘Total Football’ changed the way many people saw the game. West Germany came from behind to beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the final, with Müller netting the winning goal. He died after a battle with cancer aged 68 in 2016.
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Paolo Rossi (Italy)
Rossi completely owned the 1982 World Cup as his six goals helped Italy to the title in the tournament played in Spain. He became one of a select group of players to win the Golden Boot (top scorer), Golden Ball (best player) and World Cup trophy, and later that year claimed the Ballon d’Or as well.
It was a truly dominant display, but he had also scored three goals at the 1978 tournament to take his career tally at World Cups to nine.
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Gerd Muller (West Germany)
Müller was one of the most efficient World Cup scorers ever, with 14 goals in just 13 appearances, which sets him apart from many strikers. He scored 10 goals at the 1970 finals, before helping Germany lift the title four years later.
Fellow German Miroslav Klose is the all-time leading scorer in the World Cup with 18 goals from 24 appearances, but Müller had a better conversion rate and on his day was deadly. There have been few others more clinical in front of goal.
He died aged 71 in 2021, having scored 68 goals in 62 caps for West Germany.
Ronaldo (Brazil)
Somewhat controversially, we have chosen the ‘original Ronaldo’ from Brazil – R9 – rather than his Portuguese namesake Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal. The Brazilian played a huge part in leading his side to the 2002 title in Japan and South Korea, where he scored eight goals and was undoubtedly the leading forward in the world at the time. Four years earlier he helped Brazil to the 1998 final, and played despite not being fit as they lost 3-0 to France. He is second on the all-time World Cup scorers chart with 15 goals and won the Golden Ball in 1998.
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Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)
Beckenbauer (left) won the World Cup as both a player and a coach, one of only three men, alongside Mário Zagallo (Brazil) and Didier Deschamps (France), to do so. His first tournament as a player ended in disappointment when West Germany lost the 1966 final to England, though he was named young player of the tournament that year.
The Germans were undone by the great Brazilian side in 1970, but Beckenbauer finally captained his side to the title in 1974. He later coached West Germany to the title in 1990.
He is regarded as among the greatest defenders ever to play the game and passed away aged 78 in 2024.
[Check out this video of AI choosing the best players over the years]
Words: Nick Said
Photography: Juan Ignacio Roncoroni/BackPagePix/Getty Images
Text courtesy of Soccer Club magazine.
