In soccer, midfielders come in all shapes and sizes.
Some excel in passing, able to drive the ball the length of the field or slide in killer through-balls into spaces unseen by the opposition.
Others are instead better at tackling, stopping their opposing number dead in their tracks to help keep in-tact that all important clean sheet.
Some even work in the shadows, appearing from the outside to be doing very little, but to the trained eye, masterfully dictating the tempo of a match like a human metronome.
Here, Sports Illustrated ranks the 25 best to ever do it, regardless of their chosen niche.
25. Juan Román Riquelme
Juan Riquelme was perhaps the last of his kind.
He was a bit slow, and wasn't really blessed with any standout physical attributes, but what he lacked in build, he more than made up for in ability.
A supreme technician, the Argentine, who is best remembered in Europe for his time at Spanish club Villarreal, could unlock any defense with his dazzling feet and eagle-like eye for a pass.
Though his style wouldn't cut it in the modern day, it was a thing of beauty at the time.
24. Frank Lampard
Midfielders aren't generally expected to score a lot of goals, but it's always a bonus when they do.
Frank Lampard was a master of that art.
In just over 1,000 games for club and country, the Englishman scored a mightily impressive 303 goals, most of which were Chelsea, with whom he spent the majority of his domestic career.
He retired in 2017 as the Blues' record goalscorer and the Premier League's highest-scoring midfielder of all-time.
23. Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were often pitted against each other during their time together in the Premier League.
However, while Lampard was the more talented attacker of the two, Gerrard was the better all-rounder and possessed leadership qualities that his English compatriot lacked.
Lampard was always surrounded by world class players during his time at Chelsea, but at Liverpool, Gerrard would often find himself lining up alongside the likes of El Hadji Diouf and Djimi Traoré.
Nevertheless, he'd still drag Liverpool through the mud with his explosive, box-to-box displays, seemingly doing the job of an entire team on his own at times.
22. Luis Suárez
No, not the Luis Suárez who is currently tearing up Major League Soccer alongside Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, but the Spanish midfielder who won the Ballon d'Or in 1960.
Like his namesake, Suárez also played for FC Barcelona, where he won two LaLiga titles in 1959 and 1960 before moving to Inter Milan. In Italy, he won a further three league titles, as well as two European Cups.
The Spaniard, who was nicknamed "The Architect" by Alfredo Di Stefano because of his playmaking skills, was also a part of the Spain squad that won the European Championships in 1964.
21. N'Golo Kante
During his heyday, they used to say that “70% of the earth is covered by water, and the rest is by N'Golo Kante."
That is, of course, false. It was more like 50/50.
The Frenchman ran around the pitch like he had a pack of batteries in his shorts (thanks, Claudio Ranieri), putting out fires left, right, and center, and generally just getting on every opposition players' nerves by never giving them any time to breathe.
More than just a Duracell bunny in cleats, however, Kante was also a fine dribbler, solid passer, and, on occasion, goalscorer.
The only player ever to win back-to-back Premier League titles with two different teams, he's also a European Champion and World Cup winner.
20. Patrick Vieira
Few sights struck as much fear into the hearts of Premier League midfielders in the noughties than the sight of a 6'4" Patrick Vieira standing across from them.
A towering presence in the middle of the park both physically and metaphorically, there was little anyone could do to stop the Arsenal midfielder once he was on one of his trademark gazelle-like runs.
The Frenchman was also nigh impossible to dribble past and loved a tackle, even if some of them veered on the nasty side.
As close to being a "complete" midfielder as they come, Vieira won three Premier League titles with the Gunners before moving to Italy in 2006, where he would go on to win four Serie A titles with Inter Milan. He also won the World Cup in 1998.
19. Clarence Seedorf
Clarence Seedorf remains the only player in soccer history to have won the Champions League with three different clubs, having won European soccer's most prestigious club prize with all of Ajax, Real Madrid, and AC Milan.
Those achievements alone, however, don't do the Dutch midfielder justice.
One of the greatest box-to-box midfielders of all-time, Seedorf could do it all, from pinging long-range passes, to making last-ditch tackles, to firing the ball into the net with his tree trunk thighs. (Seriously, you should have seen the size of them.)
18. Toni Kroos
Toni Kroos shocked the soccer world at the end of the 2023/24 season when he announced his surprise retirement from the sport at the age of 34.
While 34 is generally not considered that early for a soccer player to call it quits, it was for Kroos, because at the time he was still one of the world's top midfielders and was showing no signs of slowing down.
The Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Germany legend – who was nicknamed Garçom ("waiter" in Portuguese) because of his ability to serve up chances on plates for attackers – won it all, including five seven Champions Leagues and the World Cup.
17. Johan Neeskens
Johan Cruyff was the master technician that fired Ajax, FC Barcelona, and their "Total Football" to glory in the 1970s.
Johan Neeskens, meanwhile, was the ying to his yang.
A tireless runner who excelled in regaining possession and passing, the Dutch midfielder provided the balance and energy needed for their system to thrive. He was also good for a goal or two.
In seven years alongside Cruyff at the two clubs, Neeskens won three European Cups, two Eredivisie titles, and a Copa Del Rey.
The pair were also part of the Netherlands squad that finished as runners-up at the 1974 World Cup, a tournament in which Neeskens scored five goals.
16. Kevin De Bruyne
Though his career is now coming to its tail end, Kevin De Bruyne has been one of world soccer's best midfielders now for almost a decade.
Since moving to Manchester City in 2015, the Belgian playmaker has, with the help of his trademark whipped ball into the box and his rocket right foot, steered the Sky Blues to every major honor in world soccer, including six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, and a Champions League.
A creative marvel, he's also the English top flight's second highest-ever assister with 114.
15. Kaka
Kaka's prime was relatively short, but as his best, he was truly frightening.
Tall, strong, quick, and skillful, the Brazilian had real power and grace in possession, particularly when on the run, meaning he was able to glide through opposition defenses like a knife through butter.
His performances for AC Milan in 2006/07, most notably in the Champions League, where he finished top scorer as the Rosseneri won the trophy, saw him win the Ballon d'Or.
14. Sergio Busquets
Albert Einstein once said that the "definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.”
With soccer, Sergio Busquets does just that.
Unlike the atypical defensive midfielder, the Spaniard doesn't cover tons of ground, make hard-hitting tackles, or seemingly run anywhere at pace, but instead moves only himself, and the ball, when he needs to. Each touch is calculated and each pass is released just at the right time and with the perfect weight.
Busqets' brilliance has often gone unnoticed, but was integral to the all-conquering Spain and Barcelona teams of the 2010s.
13. Sócrates
The aptly named Sócrates was not just a soccer superstar, but also a philosopher of the game.
The embodiment of Brazil's famed "joga bonito", or "play beautiful", mantra, the Brasileirão legend captivated fans with his elegant and collected style of play, as well his powerful and accurate right foot.
“I see football as art,” the former midfielder, who was also a medical doctor, once said. “Today most people see football as a competition, a confrontation, a war between two polar opposites, but to start with, it is a great form of art.”
12. Michael Laudrup
Few players in history have dared cross the El Clasico divide and play for both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Michael Laudrup was one of them.
Even rarer is that, because of his superb performances for the two Spanish giants, he remains adored by both sets of fans.
A master creator who exuded class, "The Prince of Denmark" first won four LaLiga titles and a European Cup with Barca, before he left for Madrid following a falling out with manager Johan Cruyff. In his first season in the Spanish capital, he then inspired a previously struggling Madrid to domestic glory.
11. Luka Modrić
Luka Modric broke the Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo Ballon d'Or duopoly in 2018 following a stellar year for club and country, which saw him win a third consecutive Champions League title with Real Madrid and reach an unlikely World Cup final with Croatia.
The midfielder, known for his luxurious footwork and devastating passing, was instrumental for his teams in achieving those respective achievements, but really, the award was the culmination of what had been a decade of domestic and international excellence.
Now in his twilight years, no player in history has ever won more trophies with Madrid than Modric, who has scooped 27 in 12 years.
10. Andrea Pirlo
Few players in history have ever looked so relaxed playing soccer as Andrea Pirlo.
Seemingly unable to feel pressure and never rushed, the deep-lying Italian playmaker always appeared to have time on his hands, which, more often than not, he used to pick out a teammate with one of his trademark looping passes that he'd drop on a dime.
One of just select few to ever have played for all of AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus, Pirlo won almost everything there is to win for both club and country, including six Serie A titles, two Champions Leagues, and the World Cup.
9. Frank Rijkaard
Fresh off the back of winning a load of titles in his home country with Ajax, Frank Rijkaard was brought to AC Milan in 1988 as part of coach Arrigo Sacchi's "Total Football" revolution.
The move proved to be an astute one for both player and club, with Rijkard going on to help Milan win two Serie A titles, two European Cups, and a Coppa Italia across the next five seasons.
A tenacious and yet composed holding midfielder with just the right amount of flair, the Dutchman won Serie A's Player of the Year award in 1992 and finished third at Ballon d'Or on two separate occasions, though in all honesty, he deserved much more individual recognition.
"Dunga, Desailly, Keane and Vieira all performed that role brilliantly, but Frank is the best holding player ever," Rijkaard's Netherlands teammate Ronald Koeman previously said of him.
8. Roberto Baggio
Throughout his career, Roberto Baggio played as a striker, second striker, center forward, and winger. It was as an attacking midfielder, however, that he most thrived.
Blessed with incredible dribbling skills, insane soccer intelligence, and one of the best first touches the game has ever seen (just ask Edwin van der Sar), the "Divine Ponytail" both scored and created goals for fun, finding the net 227 times and teeing up his teammates 152 times during a career spent entirely in his home country.
Described by Pep Guardiola, a man who starred alongside the likes of Luis Figo, Romario, and Rivaldo, as the best player he's ever played with, Baggio won the Ballon d'Or in 1993.
His achievements are made even more impressive by the fact that he spent most of his career playing with a dodgy knee.
7. Zico
Zico is highest-scoring midfielder of all-time, having the found the net a mammoth 507 times during a career spent mostly with his boyhood club, Flamengo.
A light-footed playmaker with a bag of tricks bigger than Santa's sack, the Brazilian, who was sometimes referred to has the "White Pelé", also perfected the art of the direct free-kick.
He scored 101 of them, which is more than any other player in soccer history by a considerable margin.
6. Xavi Hernández
One third of what many consider to be soccer's greatest-ever midfield trio alongside Sergio Busquets and Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández was a soccer puppet master.
Thanks to his decisive passing and smart movement, he could switch the tempo of any game at will speeding it up to create scoring opportunities when opposition teams least expected it, and slowing it down to regain the momentum when losing control.
Pulling his invisible strings, Xavi guided FC Barcelona and Spain to unprecedented glory, conquering Europe and the world with both.
"If football was a science, Xavi would have discovered the formula. With a ball at his feet, no one else has ever communicated so intelligently with every player on the pitch," former Real Madrid coach Jorge Valdano once said of the Spaniard, who hung up his boots in 2019.
5. Michel Platini
Kids these days will perhaps recognize Michel Platini as the former disgraced president of UEFA who was banned from soccer for eight years for ethics breaches.
For older fans, however, the Frenchman is celebrated as one of the greatest players of his era.
A cerebral midfield playmaker, Platini excelled in the space behind the strikers, where he created chances with precision and scored prolifically himself netting 354 goals over the course of his career.
His crowning moment as a player (aside perhaps from his three Ballon d'Or wins) was at the 1984 European Championships, where he scored nine goals to fire France to glory.
4. Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Matthäus being nicknamed after a German World War II tank ("Der Panzer") should tell you all you need to know about his all-action style of play, but we'll do it anyway.
A combative but technically gifted midfielder, the Bundesliga legend was a truly dominant force in the center of the park who could switch between being a defensive enforcer and attacking threat at any moment.
Those wide range of skills were best on display during Germany's 4-1 win over Yugoslavia in their opening game of the 1990 World Cup, when Matthäus scored twice from holding midfield to lay the foundations of what would go on to be a winning campaign.
Also a European champion and Ballon d'Or winner, Diego Maradona once described Matthäus as the toughest opponent he ever faced, which is some compliment.
3. Ruud Gullit
Before he became the Ultimate Team card that every FIFA player one day dreams of packing, Ruud Gullit was one of the world's s most revered soccer players.
A jack of all trades, the dreadlocked dynamo could play anywhere from sweeper to center forward, but it was in midfield where he was a master.
Gullit was powerful, elegant, almost impossible to dispossess, and, as demonstrated by his 235 career goals, had habit of finding the net, especially in big games.
The star player in an AC Milan team that dominated Italian and European soccer in the late 1980s and early '90s, Gullit won the Ballon d'Or in 1987.
2. Andrés Iniesta
Lionel Messi gets most of the plaudits for making FC Barcelona the best and most dominant soccer team on the planet in the 2000's and 2010s.
Right behind the Argentine in terms of impact on the pitch, however, was Andrés Iniesta.
The diminutive Spaniard was the driving force in Barca's midfield, able to turn defense into attack in the blink of an eye thanks to his genius playmaking instincts and unrivalled ball-carrying ability.
He also came in clutch on the big occasion for Barca on multiple occasions, as well as for Spain, most notably scoring his country's only goal in 1-0 win over the Netherlands in the final of 2010 World Cup.
1. Zinedine Zidane
Nobody has ever, or likely will ever, do it like Zinedine Zidane.
The Frenchman was dynamic yet languid, powerful yet graceful. He played soccer with a trademark Gallic nonchalance, but was somehow always one step ahead of the opposition.
As former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes once put it, to see Zidane was "poetry in motion."
A World Cup, European Championship, Champions League, and Ballon d'Or winner, "Zizou" is simply the greatest of all-time.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ranking the 25 Best Soccer Midfielders of All Time.
