Best Soccer Players of all time

Best Soccer Players of All time By National Team

So many great players have represented their respective nations and led them to Glory. This article reviews the best Soccer Players of all time by National team (not Club Football).

In this case, the performance of players at their respective clubs doesn’t count.

We currently live in a football world where more attention is placed on Club Football. Football fans hardly follow international football closely as much as they follow club football competitions.

This content gives international football the attention it deserves by highlighting the Best Soccer Players of All Time from the national team’s perspective.

Before going further, it is important to know the criteria for selecting the Best Soccer Players of All Time.

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How The Best Soccer Players of All Time By National Team are Rated by Soofootball

While goals are one of the easiest metrics for selecting the best players, it is not the fairest.

Selecting based on Goals scored will only favor attackers and affect midfielders, Defenders, and Goal Keepers badly.

Our Yardsticks for selecting the best international players of all time are;

  1. International Cap: International Caps are a good and fair representation of the impact of a player on the National team. This favors players in any position as it is not Goal-biased.
  2. International Trophies: Team efforts are always better than individual efforts. So, one good way to evaluate the impact of an International footballer is the number of team accolades won.

Based on these two yardsticks; International Cap and Trophies won, find below a list of the soofootball’s Best Soccer Players of All Time by National Team:

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List of 10 Best Soccer Players of All time By National Team

Ronaldo Delima

Ronaldo Delima is also known as the ‘el phenomenon’. He was a beast for the Brazil National team since he debuted in 1994 under coach Carlos Alberto.

El phenomenon scored a total of 64 goals in his international career even though injuries cut short his career.

In summary, Ronaldo won 2 World Cups and Copa Americas apiece with Brazil and won 98 international caps in his illustrious career. This makes him one of the Best Soccer Players of All Time.

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Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is truly one of the most recognized Football Icons. He is known for his Goal scoring instincts at the club level and the Portuguese National team.

Ronaldo has scored over 100 goals in his illustrious international career – a very rare stat for even the most prolific goal scorers.

Though goals are not considered a factor in determining our Greatest International Footballer of all time, the need to emphasize how prolific Ronaldo is important.

Ronaldo has won just the European Championship (2016) in his career with the Portuguese National team, but this is enough to put him on this list, considering that the team is average.

In addition, Ronaldo has amassed over 160 international Caps in his career with the National team.

No wonder Ronaldo is Real Madrid’s highest goal scorer and second best in La Liga history.

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Andres Iniesta

Andres Iniesta’s International career with Spain is summarized in the most important goal of his career at the 2010 World Cup final against the Netherlands.

Iniesta earned his first cap in 2006 under Luis Aragones and earned 131 international caps for Spain.

Apart from the World Cup glory in 2010, Iniesta won the European Championship 2 times.

Undoubtedly, Iniesta is one of the Best Soccer Players of All Time by the National team.

It is important to mention that Iniesta is the most decorated midfielder ever.

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Zinedine Zidane

Zidane is one of the greatest ever Icons in French Football. Some sections of football fans see him as the symbol of the French National Team.

The French National team won the 1998 World Cup in France, and Zidane was an integral part of the team. Zidane also won the Euro Cup with France in the year 2000.

He earned a total of 108 international caps before his retirement in 2006.

Today, Zidane is one of the few football managers who won the Champions league as a player and coach.

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Gerard Pique

Since his introduction to the Spanish National team in 2009, Pique has been an essential member of the Squad. He is arguably one of the Best Soccer Players of All Time.

Pique won the World Cup in 2010 and the 2012 Euro Cup. He has also earned over 102 international caps so far.

Given his achievements and consistency with the National Team, it is no surprise to find Pique on the list of Greatest International Footballer ever.

Pique’s partnership with Sergio Ramos for Spain is one of the best in football history.

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Kaka

Kaka is one of the most revered attacking midfielders in his prime. He was an important member of the Selaco Team in his time.

Since his debut for the Brazil National team in 2002, he earned 92 international caps and won the World Cup in 2002 and the Confederations Cup in 2005 & 2009.

Ronaldinho

His real name is Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, but he is popularly known as Ronaldinho. He was an important part of the Selaco Team that won the 2002 World Cup in Korea.

Ronaldinho earned 97 International Caps during his international career and won the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2005 Confederations Cup, and the 1999 Copa America.

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Pele

Wherever football is mentioned as a sport, Pele is one name that is hard to forget. He is a true Football Icon who is known for scoring relentlessly.

Actually, some sections of football fans consider him to be the Best Soccer Players of All Time.

In addition to his Goalscoring exploits for Brazil, Pele won the World Cup 3 times in 1958, 1962, and 1970.

During his playing time, Pele represented Brazil 93 times and scored 77 goals.

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Diego Maradona

This list cannot be complete without the mention of the Great Diego Maradona.

He is undoubtedly one of the greatest ever footballers of all time, especially for the Argentine National team.

Maradona won 90 caps for Argentina and led them to the World Cup glory in 1986

Gerd Muller

Gerd Muller is one of the Greatest ever German Players of all time. During his career, he scored 68 goals in just 62 appearances for the German National team.

Muller won the World Cup in 1974 and the European Championship in 1972.

No wonder Muller made our best international 11 of all time.

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Lionel Messi

Messi is arguably the Greatest Footballer of All Time. But before now, the common downside of Messi’s career is not being able to win a major trophy with Native Argentina.

However, things are now different as he won the 2021 Copa America in grand style and the Finalissima in 2022.

The Argentine superstar has played over 150 matches for Argentina and has scored 70 goals.

Conclusion

Understandably, many great footballers did not make this list.

Don’t forget that the criteria for choosing are winning at least a trophy with the senior National team AND having a decent number of international appearances.

Overall, this content highlights some of the Best Soccer Players of All Time from the National team perspective.

Do you think there is one player missing n this list? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box.

Further Reading:

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