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Preview data: all rankings, scores, votes, refresh labels, methodology, testing and editorial-process statements in Top 49 are illustrative demo content, not live measurements or documented reviews.
Rank 15—No change
#15 in Footballers of All Time
of 20 ranked entries
Andrés Iniesta
Midfielder · Spain · 2002–2023
Scored the winning goal in extra time of the 2010 World Cup final, the single biggest moment of Spain’s golden generation, on top of a Barcelona career defined by control rather than spectacle. Recorded specifics: position Midfielder, country Spain, debut 2002. Panel highlighted scored the extra-time winner in the 2010 World Cup final, part of the same Barcelona and Spain golden generation as Xavi and consistently among the top vote-getters for the Ballon d’Or without ever winning it. The reservation on record is his statistical output rarely matched the scale of his biggest moments.
World Cup winner
Score breakdown
How Andrés Iniesta earned 77.4
Each criterion is scored independently, then combined using the weights published on Footballers of All Time.
- Individual brilliance & skillweight 30%
- 79.9
- Trophy & tournament successweight 25%
- 74.9
- Influence on how the game is playedweight 25%
- 76.4
- Peak dominance vs the era’s bestweight 20%
- 77.8
On the record
Recorded detail
| Position | Midfielder |
|---|---|
| Country | Spain |
| Debut | 2002 |
| World Cups + Ballons d’Or | 1 |
| Rating | 8.4 |
Panel verdict
Strengths and reservations
What it gets right
- Scored the extra-time winner in the 2010 World Cup final
- Part of the same Barcelona and Spain golden generation as Xavi
- Consistently among the top vote-getters for the Ballon d’Or without ever winning it
Where it gives ground
- His statistical output rarely matched the scale of his biggest moments
1 appearance
Where this entry ranks
From the same list
Ranked alongside it
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94.7/100 Top 49 score—No change
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The only man to win three World Cups, the last of them as a 29-year-old anchoring Brazil’s 1970 side, arguably the finest team ever assembled. Statistics from the amateur-adjacent fixtures of his early career are disputed; the World Cup record is not.
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Rank 06Franz Beckenbauer
Defender · West Germany · 1964–1983
Invented the modern attacking sweeper role and remains the only person to captain a World Cup-winning team, in 1974, and later coach one, in 1990.
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Rank 07Zinedine Zidane
Midfielder · France · 1988–2006
Two headers won the 1998 World Cup final outright; a red card in his final match, the 2006 final, still nearly cost France the trophy on penalties instead.
87.2/100 Top 49 score1Up 1
Rank 08Ronaldo Nazário
Forward · Brazil · 1993–2011
Won the Golden Boot and the 2002 World Cup itself, scoring both goals in the final, in a redemption arc from the mysterious pre-match collapse that derailed his 1998 final four years earlier.
86.5/100 Top 49 score1Up 1
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Top 49 rankings are editorial. Scores are produced from the published criteria on each list and are refreshed on the cadence stated there. Figures shown across this section are curated demonstration data.