FIFA 100

Pelé in 2008

The FIFA 100 is a list of the world-renowned Brazilian striker Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international governing body of football.

The figure 100 refers to the 100th anniversary of FIFA and not the number of players listed, which is actually 125; Pelé had been asked to select 50 active players and 50 retired players, for a total of 100 players, but found it too difficult to limit the number of former players to just 50.^[1] The list contains 123 professional male and 2 female players. At the time the FIFA 100 was selected, 50 of the players were still active, with the remaining 75 retired from the game.

Criticism

Some football observers have questioned the selection methodology of the list. David Mellor, politician turned football pundit, wrote in his column in the Evening Standard that he felt the selections were politically motivated rather than made on purely footballing grounds.^[2] He suggested that the selections looked as if they came from the pen of Sepp Blatter rather than Pelé. As evidence for this, Mellor noted the wide geographical spread of the selected players: a true selection would be more heavily biased to South America and Europe, he argued. Such assertions were also forwarded by BBC columnist Tim Vickery.^[3]

One of Pelé's old team-mates, the former Brazil midfielder Gérson, reacted to his omission from the FIFA 100 by tearing up a copy of the list on a Brazilian television programme. Marco van Basten and Uwe Seeler refused to take part in the project on a point of principle.^[4]

List

Following is the list of the "FIFA 100" greatest living footballers as nominated by Pelé.^[5][6]

• Players active at the time of announcement are marked by (*).
• Players who are still active are in italics.

Argentina Player Position Date of Birth Gabriel Batistuta* FW 1969-02-01 Hernán Crespo* FW 1975-07-05 Alfredo di Stéfano FW 1926-07-04 Mario Kempes FW 1954-07-15 Diego Maradona FW/MF 1960-10-30 Daniel Passarella DF 1953-05-25 Javier Saviola* FW 1981-12-11 Omar Sivori FW 1935-10-02 Juan Sebastián Verón* MF 1975-03-09 Javier Zanetti* DF/MF 1973-08-10  Belgium Player Pos. DoB Jan Ceulemans MF 1957-02-28 Jean-Marie Pfaff GK 1953-12-04 Franky Van der Elst MF 1961-04-30  Brazil Player Pos. DoB Carlos Alberto DF 1944-07-17 Cafu* DF 1970-06-07 Falcão MF 1953-10-16 Pelé FW 1940-10-23 Júnior MF 1954-06-29 Rivaldo* MF 1972-04-19 Rivelino MF 1946-01-01 Roberto Carlos* DF 1973-04-10 Romário* FW 1966-01-29 Ronaldinho* MF/FW 1980-03-21 Ronaldo* FW 1976-09-18 Djalma Santos DF 1929-02-27 Nílton Santos DF 1925-05-16 Sócrates MF 1954-02-19 Zico MF/FW 1953-03-03  Bulgaria Player Pos. DoB Hristo Stoichkov FW 1966-02-08  Cameroon Player Pos. DoB Roger Milla FW 1952-05-20  Chile Player Pos. DoB Elías Figueroa DF 1946-10-25 Iván Zamorano FW 1967-01-18  Colombia Player Pos. DoB Carlos Valderrama MF 1961-09-02  Croatia Player Pos. DoB Davor Šuker FW 1968-01-01  Czech Republic Player Pos. DoB Josef Masopust MF 1931-02-09 Pavel Nedvěd* MF 1972-08-30  Denmark Player Pos. DoB Brian Laudrup FW 1969-02-22 Michael Laudrup MF 1964-06-15 Peter Schmeichel GK 1963-11-18  England Player Pos. DoB Gordon Banks GK 1937-12-30 David Beckham* MF 1975-05-02 Bobby Charlton MF 1937-10-11 Kevin Keegan FW 1951-02-14 Gary Lineker FW 1960-11-30 Bobby Moore DF 1941-04-12 Michael Owen* FW 1979-12-14 Alan Shearer* FW 1970-08-13  France Player Pos. DoB Éric Cantona FW 1966-05-24 Marcel Desailly DF 1968-09-07 Didier Deschamps MF 1968-10-15 Just Fontaine FW 1933-08-18 Thierry Henry* FW 1977-08-17 Raymond Kopa MF 1931-10-31 Jean-Pierre Papin FW 1963-11-05 Robert Pirès* MF 1973-10-29 Michel Platini MF 1955-06-21 Lilian Thuram* DF 1972-01-01 Marius Trésor DF 1950-01-15 David Trezeguet* FW 1977-10-15 Patrick Vieira* MF 1976-06-23 Zinedine Zidane* MF 1972-06-23  Germany Player Pos. DoB Michael Ballack* MF 1976-09-26 Franz Beckenbauer SW 1945-09-11 Paul Breitner MF/DF 1951-09-05 Oliver Kahn* GK 1969-06-15 Jürgen Klinsmann FW 1964-07-30 Sepp Maier GK 1944-02-28 Lothar Matthäus MF/SW 1961-03-21 Gerd Müller FW 1945-11-03 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge FW 1955-09-25 Uwe Seeler FW 1936-11-05  Ghana Player Pos. DoB Abédi Pelé FW 1964-11-05  Hungary Player Pos. DoB Ferenc Puskás FW 1927-04-02  Italy Player Pos. DoB Roberto Baggio* FW/MF 1967-02-18 Franco Baresi DF 1960-05-08 Giuseppe Bergomi DF 1963-12-22 Giampiero Boniperti FW 1928-07-04 Gianluigi Buffon* GK 1978-01-28 Alessandro Del Piero* FW 1974-11-09 Giacinto Facchetti DF 1942-07-18 Paolo Maldini* DF 1968-06-26 Alessandro Nesta* DF 1976-03-19 Gianni Rivera MF 1943-08-18 Paolo Rossi FW 1956-09-23 Francesco Totti* FW/MF 1976-09-27 Christian Vieri* FW 1973-07-12 Dino Zoff GK 1942-02-28  Japan Player Pos. DoB Hidetoshi Nakata* MF 1977-01-22  Liberia Player Pos. DoB George Weah FW 1966-10-01  Mexico Player Pos. DoB Hugo Sánchez FW 1958-07-11  Netherlands Player Pos. DoB Marco van Basten FW 1964-10-31 Dennis Bergkamp* FW 1969-05-10 Johan Cruyff FW 1947-04-25 Edgar Davids* MF 1973-03-13 Ruud Gullit MF 1962-09-01 René van de Kerkhof MF 1951-09-16 Willy van de Kerkhof MF 1951-09-16 Patrick Kluivert* FW 1976-07-01 Johan Neeskens MF 1951-09-15 Ruud van Nistelrooy* FW 1976-07-01 Rob Rensenbrink FW 1947-07-03 Frank Rijkaard MF 1962-09-30 Clarence Seedorf* MF 1976-04-01  Nigeria Player Pos. DoB Jay-Jay Okocha* MF 1973-08-14  Northern Ireland Player Pos. DoB George Best MF 1946-05-22  Paraguay Player Pos. DoB Romerito FW 1960-08-28  Peru Player Pos. DoB Teófilo Cubillas FW 1949-03-08  Poland Player Pos. DoB Zbigniew Boniek MF 1956-03-03  Portugal Player Pos. DoB Eusébio FW 1942-01-25 Luís Figo* MF 1972-11-04 Rui Costa* MF 1972-03-29  Republic of Ireland Player Pos. DoB Roy Keane* MF 1971-08-10  Romania Player Pos. DoB Gheorghe Hagi MF 1965-02-05  Russia Player Pos. DoB Rinat Dasayev GK 1957-06-13  Scotland Player Pos. DoB Kenny Dalglish FW 1951-03-04  Senegal Player Pos. DoB El Hadji Diouf* FW 1981-01-15  South Korea Player Pos. DoB Hong Myung-Bo* DF 1969-02-12  Spain Player Pos. DoB Emilio Butragueño FW 1963-07-22 Luis Enrique* MF 1970-05-08 Raúl* FW 1977-06-27  Turkey Player Pos. DoB Rüştü Reçber* GK 1973-05-10 Emre Belözoğlu* MF 1980-07-09  Ukraine Player Pos. DoB Andriy Shevchenko* FW 1976-09-29  United States Player Pos. DoB Michelle Akers MF/FW 1966-02-01 Mia Hamm* FW 1972-03-17  Uruguay Player Pos. DoB Enzo Francescoli FW 1961-11-12

See also

• World Soccer's Greatest Players of the 20th Century
• World Team of the 20th Century

References

1. "Fifa names greatest list". BBC. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
2. Mellor, David (5 March 2004). "Sing up for Ken, a true Blues man". Evening Standard Ltd. p. 77. line feed character in |work= at position 17 (help);
3. Vickery, Tim (8 March 2004). "Pele pays price for popularity". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
4. Davies, Christopher (4 March 2004). "Pele open to ridicule over top hundred". The Daily Telegraph (UK). Retrieved 10 February 2008.
5. "FIFA 100". Best Football Players Ever.
6. "The Fifa 100". The Guardian. 4 March 2004.

External links

• The FIFA 100