Ranking the greatest soccer players since 2000 (Nos. 11-15)

The newest version of theScore’s Eras mission, which celebrates greatness in each main sport during the last 25 years, ranks and discusses the 25 greatest male soccer gamers since 2000.

Keep in mind: Respective accomplishments and accolades compiled earlier than the yr 2000 weren’t thought of for this mission. For instance, Zinedine Zidane’s titanic displaying within the 1998 World Cup is not a part of his resume because it pertains to this train, however his performances – and the notorious conclusion – within the 2006 match are taken into consideration.

Monday: Introductory essay and gamers 21-25Tuesday: Gamers 16-20

15. Ronaldo 🇧🇷

Period groups: Inter Milan 2000-02; Actual Madrid 2002-07; AC Milan 2007-08; Corinthians 2009-11; Brazil 2000-11

Signature efficiency: Ronaldo’s two-goal show within the 2002 World Cup ultimate is among the many most memorable performances in match historical past. It is also probably the most inconceivable, a comeback story for the ages. 4 years prior, when he was probably the most unstoppable ahead on the planet, an ambiguous medical episode on the day of the 1998 ultimate – later described as a seizure – rendered him helpless towards France.

What adopted have been two devastating knee accidents with Inter Milan. The latter, a grotesque rupture of his patellar tendon in April 2000 that docs dubbed the worst they’d ever seen, sidelined him for over a yr and threatened his participation within the 2002 occasion. Not solely did he return, he dominated. Ronaldo gained the Golden Boot with eight objectives in Korea and Japan – his 15 World Cup tallies rank second all time – placing an exclamation level on his resurgence with a brace to take down Oliver Kahn and Germany.

Why he is right here: One other all-time nice whose peak got here within the twentieth century. Previous to the aforementioned accidents Ronaldo was, in a phrase, unstoppable. “Il Fenomeno” – the phenomenon – couldn’t be a extra apt nickname.

A generational athlete, his pace, particularly over the primary few steps, was staggering. No person might catch him. Most gamers, regardless of how fast, should decelerate once they have the ball, giving defenders the possibility to get well. Ronaldo did not. He mixed that with uncooked power, elite dribbling expertise, and precision ending. He was the proper package deal, and nearly definitely your favourite participant’s favourite participant.

The Ronaldo of the twenty first century, the interval we’re evaluating, wasn’t practically the identical explosive, once-in-a-lifetime drive of nature. However he nonetheless produced after becoming a member of Actual Madrid in 2002, the identical season he gained his second Ballon d’Or, 5 years after his first. He scored 82 La Liga objectives throughout his 4 full seasons within the Spanish capital. What number of extra might it have been had his knees not imploded? It is one of many sport’s nice “what-ifs?”

“With out hesitation, Ronaldo is the perfect participant I ever performed with,” Zidane, certainly one of his fellow Galacticos at Actual Madrid, proclaimed. – Gianluca Nesci

14. Mohamed Salah 🇪🇬

Period groups: Al Mokawloon 2010-12; FC Basel 2012-14; Chelsea 2014-15; Fiorentina 2015; AS Roma 2015-17; Liverpool 2017-present; Egypt 2011-present

Signature efficiency: Anfield exploded when Salah sliced his means by way of a cluster of Manchester Metropolis defenders to attain probably the most memorable objectives in Liverpool’s current rivalry with Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering aspect. Salah sidestepped Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, and Phil Foden earlier than turning Aymeric Laporte inside out with a delicate drop of the shoulder that opened up simply sufficient house for him to lash a shot into the underside nook. “Solely the perfect gamers on this planet rating objectives like this,” Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp stated on the time. “Folks will speak about this aim for an extended, very long time.”

Although Liverpool’s 2-1 lead did not final – Kevin De Bruyne scored minutes later to safe a 2-2 draw for Metropolis in October 2021 – Salah’s aim set the tone for a wildly entertaining title race that Metropolis edged by a single level due to a valiant comeback effort on the ultimate day of the season. Solely Ian Rush (15) has scored extra objectives for Liverpool in matches towards Metropolis. However Salah’s 11 tallies really feel a lot heavier on this conflict of new-age titans.

Why he is right here: Salah is a three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner who’s recorded not less than 27 aim contributions in every of his seven earlier seasons within the English prime flight. Solely Thierry Henry has completed as prime scorer extra instances than Salah.

However that solely tells a part of the Egyptian’s story. He is arguably certainly one of Liverpool’s best gamers, enthralling the plenty along with his mazy dribbling and quick-trigger tempo. No participant’s ever opened a Premier League season as strongly as Salah, who has a document 9 objectives in opening-day clashes since becoming a member of Liverpool from Roma in 2017. At the same time as his profession winds down, Salah continues to publish spectacular numbers. He is the primary participant in Europe’s prime 5 leagues to succeed in double digits in objectives and assists in all competitions this season and nonetheless performs with the identical zip and pizzazz that powered his astonishing rise.

He ranks larger than Ronaldo as a result of all of his prime years have come contained in the twenty first century. Salah has stood up and gone toe to toe with Metropolis, the Premier League’s best group, and gained each competitors an English membership can win, together with the Premier League, Champions League, the FA Cup, League Cup, Membership World Cup, and UEFA Tremendous Cup.

The one blemish on his document – and the one factor conserving him from being larger on this checklist – is the absence of worldwide success. Salah led Egypt to the 2017 and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations finals however suffered heartbreaking losses to Senegal every time. He wasn’t even in a position to take a penalty within the shootout defeat three years in the past. Egypt additionally misplaced all three matches on the 2018 World Cup with Salah nursing a shoulder harm in Russia. However that claims extra about Egypt than Salah. – Anthony Lopopolo

13. Kylian Mbappe 🇫🇷

Period groups: AS Monaco 2015-17; PSG 2017-24; Actual Madrid 2024-present; France 2017-present

Signature efficiency: Mbappe could not even rejoice probably the most outstanding particular person feats in World Cup historical past. His hat-trick towards Argentina made him solely the second participant after Pele to attain 3 times in a ultimate, however France finally blew their probability to win back-to-back World Cups, shedding the shootout that adopted a outstanding 3-3 draw that Mbappe by some means made attainable.

Argentina would’ve gained the 2022 World Cup ultimate comfortably if Mbappe hadn’t intervened. France didn’t document a single shot on track till he struck twice in a 97-second spell with solely 10 minutes to go in Qatar. Identical to that, Argentina’s 2-0 lead evaporated, and when Lionel Messi made it 3-2 in further time, Mbappe responded within the 118th minute along with his second penalty of the sport. He even dispatched the primary of France’s spot-kicks within the shootout. “Not having the ability to be champion after that was loopy,” Messi later admitted.

Why he is right here: Take into consideration the whole lot Mbappe has achieved earlier than turning 26. He gained Ligue 1 with Monaco as a teen, turned the youngest participant since Pele to attain in a World Cup ultimate, tied the Brazilian icon for sixth in World Cup scoring with 12 objectives throughout solely two tournaments, and climbed to the highest of Paris Saint-Germain’s scoring chart. He has few rivals in his peer group. Mbappe’s already achieved in seven years what most gamers might solely dream of undertaking over a complete profession.

There are caveats. That almost all of his home success has are available France’s prime flight is worthy of skepticism. He is but to win the Champions League, and he’ll should do exactly that at Actual Madrid to right his document. However these are asterisks greater than clear knocks towards a participant who’s scored at an unbelievable clip from a large place. Check out the gamers he surpassed on PSG’s all-time scoring checklist: Ronaldinho, Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Edinson Cavani, who every dominated the sport at one level or one other. Mbappe as soon as scored 5 objectives in a single recreation and went on to win 14 trophies with PSG. That does not disappear as a result of he performed in France. It simply weighs rather less.

The explanation Mbappe ranks on this checklist whereas his closest rival Erling Haaland watches on merely comes all the way down to the breadth of the Frenchman’s early-career success. Whereas Haaland’s topped 100 Premier League objectives and gained a continental treble, he hasn’t even performed in a World Cup but. Mbappe’s already gone down as the perfect participant within the historical past of a significant European membership – and that is not up for dialogue, in keeping with World Cup winner Thierry Henry.

“The influence he had all around the world, what he has been doing, for me, sure, he’ll go down as the perfect participant in PSG’s historical past,” Henry stated earlier this yr. – Lopopolo

12. Ronaldinho 🇧🇷

Period groups: Gremio 2000-01; PSG 2001-03; Barcelona 2003-08; AC Milan 2008-2011; Flamengo 2011-12; Atletico Mineiro 2012-14; Queretaro 2014-15; Fluminense 2015; Brazil 2000-13

Signature efficiency: Iker Casillas’ response spoke volumes after Ronaldinho’s second aim. The legendary Actual Madrid goalkeeper shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, “How are we presupposed to cease this man?” However the response from the Madrid devoted on the Santiago Bernabeu was much more telling in a recreation their group would lose 3-0. As an alternative of booing Ronaldinho or their group off the sphere, Madrid followers gave him a standing ovation after his epic show.

9 days earlier than he gained the Ballon d’Or in November 2005, Ronaldinho’s crowning achievement on the pitch began with a shoulder dip that despatched his marker to Mars earlier than he tucked his shot contained in the close to publish. His first aim was good, however his second was a murals. In one other rampaging run towards the Madrid penalty field, Ronaldinho went left this time, making one other Madrid defender look foolish on his method to firing his shot into the far aspect of Casillas’ web.

Why he is right here: There’s an entire technology of followers who rank Ronaldinho as the perfect ever. They usually solely wanted a small pattern measurement to reach at that conclusion. That is how good the Brazilian was after he joined Barcelona. He had an incomparable mixture of expertise, flare, and creativity that made him probably the most not possible gamers to defend, in addition to probably the most pleasing and aesthetically pleasing gamers to look at.

By 2005, there was hardly any debate about who the highest participant on this planet was. Ronaldinho elevated his recreation to new heights, however by no means misplaced his childlike enjoyment of the sport on his method to profitable the one Ballon d’Or of his profession. Regardless of the person accolades and worldwide recognition, there was a void in his resume. Ronaldinho had already gained the World Cup with Brazil, however success on the membership stage paled as compared. That modified when Ronaldinho led Barcelona to Champions League glory in 2006.

It was a becoming finish to a dominant season that is nonetheless remembered fondly. Not lengthy after, Ronaldinho’s profession went into decline. Though he was round to play a job in mentoring a younger Messi, accidents began to take a toll on Ronaldinho earlier than he left Barca in 2008. He finally ended his glittering profession in Brazil years later as one of many sport’s hottest cultural icons. – Gordon Brunt

11. Luis Suarez 🇺🇾

Period groups: Nacional 2005-06, 2022-23; Groningen 2006-07; Ajax 2007-11; Liverpool 2011-14; Barcelona 2014-20; Atletico Madrid 2020-22; Gremio 2023-24; Inter Miami 2024-present; Uruguay 2007-24

Signature efficiency: Suarez had a specific knack for tormenting Norwich Metropolis throughout his time in England. He did precisely that Dec. 4, 2013, scoring 4 objectives in a single recreation, starting from glorious to outrageous, in his ultimate season at Liverpool.

The variability was most spectacular: a looping, long-range shot on the bounce; an acrobatic hooked effort with a defender draped throughout him; an arrowed strike into the underside nook after a blinding solo run; a picturesque free-kick. He might do all of it. Suarez, who gained the Golden Boot with 31 Premier League markers, practically dragged the Reds to the title and ended their drought all by himself that season.

Why he is right here: Suarez has been a voracious scorer for nearly 20 years, punishing nearly each group he is confronted in his profession. He is feasted on opponents large and small, discovering the online with beautiful regularity within the Netherlands, England, Spain, and now america. That translated to worldwide play, too, the place Suarez is Uruguay’s all-time prime scorer; his objectives within the semifinals and ultimate helped the nation declare the 2011 Copa America.

Suarez ran roughshod over a number of leagues with a number of groups, in a position to dupe defenders along with his ability or bully them along with his tenacity. He was the perfect No. 9 on this planet at his apex in Barcelona. His switch to the Catalan membership additionally had a reverberating impact on the game, as “El Pistolero” arrived and have become the ultimate piece of Barca’s vaunted “MSN” triumvirate with Messi and Neymar. There’s arguably by no means been a greater attacking trio.

Suarez gained the treble in his first season with Barcelona. Then, with Messi injured and ailing for elements of the 2015-16 marketing campaign, he delivered one of many true Herculean seasons in current historical past, scoring 59 objectives in 53 video games throughout all competitions, together with 40 in La Liga.

He stands out as the most infamous pantomime villain of his technology, however he is additionally one of many perfect gamers. The mark he is left – actually, on Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder, and figuratively – will not quickly be forgotten. – Nesci

Observe the rollout all week lengthy. Thursday: Nos. 6-10.