You are a football aficionado, and you seek that dream list of midfield maestros? Join me as we dig through very annals of football history to find the top 10 best midfielders of all time to have ever swung their nice-looking cleats.
This is very crucial to the world of football because midfielders play a very important role in controlling the game, linking defense with attack, and determining the rhythm of play.
The best midfielders can master all their technical skills, but primarily, they have understood, been intelligent, and displayed leadership qualities that influence the game’s outcome.
Such will be the players remembered not so much for orchestrating an organizational play, for crucial assists, or even for such iconic goals. Here are the top 10 best midfielders of all time – from the destroyer-type one box-to-box warriors to creative geniuses, who have redrawn the art of midfield play.
Such legends have adorned this turf with their marvelous skills, acceptance from the fan world, and respect from peers. Let’s take a peek at the careers of such midfield maestros who left an imprint on football history.
Top 10 Best Midfielders of All Time
10 Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard is in the class of the best midfielders that ever played, and more specifically, identified with a striking ability to score lots of goals and sheer consistency in his general game.
From his time at Chelsea Frank transformed himself into a box-to-box midfielder who excelled both at attack and defense. His sharp IQ well assisted him with timing his runs into the penalty box, which had him score lots of goals game changers.
The legacy leaves him directly attached to Chelsea, where he remains Chelsea’s all-time most prolific scorer with 211 goals the greatest feat by any midfielder.
He led Chelsea to several domestic and international titles in play; three Premier League titles and the coveted UEFA Champions League title in 2012.
He is an absolute professional and has the work rate of Lampard, commitment to improving his game, and that, with vision and long-ball range, he is a constant threat to opponents who have knowledge of what he can do against them.
Therefore, being such a constant performer for over ten years, Lampard will always remain a football legend. Frank Lampard is number 10 in our list of top 10 best midfielders of all time.
9 Johan Neeskens
Johan Neeskens is really the leader representing modern football. He has played crucial roles in developing “Total Football” with both Netherlands and Ajax in the 1970s.
He is known for his sweating and flexibility as a player, so strongly versatile in defense and attack, equally effective for switching from playing positions, which makes him good for this style that lets itself flow freely while going through all kinds of in-game position changes.
His tenacious tackling, effective passing, and end would make him a dominant midfield destroyer. Neeskens was, of course, part of a golden ajax team that captivated the imagination of European football and secured three successive European Cups between 1971 and 1973.
His pairing on the pitch with Johan Cruyff was legendary: often, Neeskens provided the defiance and tenacity necessary to enable Cruyff to express his creativity, and together they took the Dutch national side into two successive World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978 in which Neeskens played out of this world.
He was, by every possible definition, the quintessential midfielder: combining the best technical ability with relentless dynamism; and in this sense, one of the greatest footballers of his generation.
His influence in extending beyond his playing career, however, lies in dictating the characteristics modern-day midfielders must possess within his demanding, all-action game.
8 Luka Modric
Luka Modric happens to be one of the best who can make progress beyond an expertise in elusiveness and to top it all, he has excellent vision along with technical skills.
He is a master playmaker controlling the game through composed ball and personalizes pinpoint passes that, indeed, make him a pillar to the success of Real Madrid and Croatia. He can fit equally as well into either role: either a deep-lying playmaker or that little bit more advanced creative force in midfield.
Modric has been part of the spine that led the team to win five UEFA Champions League titles, achieving a historic treble from 2016-2018. Guiding the Croatian national to reach the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup where he won the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament, Modric becomes heavily important.
He ended the ten-year stranglehold of the Ballon d’Or on Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the year was exactly when he won it. Modric differs from most playmakers with longevity and the consistency he has maintained at a top level.
His performances have been world-class right into the twilight of his career, and his intelligence gives him deep understanding of the game. This alone, that he can dictate the flow of the game at will and always be there when it matters most, brings his name under all-time greats of football.
7 Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard, to his name, is synonymous with the words leadership, passion, and loyalty. He spent most of his long and glorious career at Liverpool, becoming a local hero there.
He is specifically known for his phenomenal ability to take his teammates that much further. A true box-to-box midfielder, he had the power shots from distance, sensitive passing, and tenacity in defense. His ability to turn matches around on his own made him one of the most influential players in midfield at his age.
Then there was that unforgettable moment in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final when Gerrard inspired a come-back of all come-backs against AC Milan in what has been etched in football history as the “Miracle of Istanbul” when the youngster overturned a 3-0 deficit to win the game on penalties.
Leadership on the pitch paved way for the fifth European triumph for this club. On most times, during his career, Gerrard’s penchant to get goals in big games made him a match-winner.
Even though Gerrard has never had the title of a Premier League champion while playing, countless personal accolades and contributions toward Liverpool’s success under his feet justify him being regarded as the greatest midfielder of all time and among the greatest ever.
6 Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes is just one of technically great midfielders to have ever stepped into the pitch. With vision and accuracy coupled with football acumen, Scholes has featured for Manchester United with distinction nearly for the last two decades.
He has always managed to shape the games that he played in, with long-range shooting added to this, making him a constant thorn to the side of opponents. Scholes’s sheer ability to read the game and deliver passes immaculately timed was the reason he dominated the midfield.
Scholes has grabbed 11 titles from the Premier League and two trophies in the UEFA Champions League with Manchester United.
He is one of the fantastic players of one of the most successful periods in the history of the club, sharing with other fantastic midfielders such as Roy Keane and Michael Carrick, balancing the team that makes United dominants of the domestic and European sides.
Scholes, though not too vocal off the pitch, visibly influenced the game. His contemporaries, ranging from legends Xavi and Iniesta to the more ordinary players, praise him for his technical brilliance and command over the game.
Capping it all, his ability to maintain a level of play to be the best constantly while sustaining his humility and consistency with the team stands him as one of the finest midfielders of all time.
5 Andrea Pirlo
One of the most elegant and technically gifted midfielders ever to step foot on a football field, Andrea Pirlo; this midfielder stood out from most through his superior vision, beautiful passing, and composure in the face of pressure.
He was a deep-lying playmaker who could dictate the rhythm of a game with effortless ease because of his ability to deliver inch-perfect long balls and enough creativity in tight spaces, making him one of the most feared playmakers in world football.
Indeed, it was during the period of his AC Milan-Juventus that Pirlo came to know about the pinnacle of his career. Under Milan, he won many Serie A titles and bagged two UEFA Champions League trophies. He was a maverick due to his composure in possession as well as his record-breaking free-kick ability.
His influence extended beyond Italy to international levels where he played for the champion team that won the FIFA World Cup in 2006. The distinguishing features of Pirlo were footballing intelligence and his tendency to make the difficult look effortless.
4 Didi
A legendary Brazilian midfield maestro whose visions, technique, and leadership shaped the golden era of Brazilian football, Waldyr Pereira was famously known as Didi.
With a beauty almost essentially beautiful in ball control, Didi showed an accuracy that proved deadly in passing, making him the playmaker able to dictate the flow of the game with a calm composure that applied to distribution.
His “folha seca” or free-kick dry leaf so called because of how it dipped unpredictably became just as iconic, turning the player into a different kind of set-piece specialist.
He played an important role in Brazil’s success story of back-to-back FIFA World Cup victories in the years 1958 and 1962. He won the Golden Ball as the best player of the 1958 tournament, even though he demonstrated his importance to Brazil as the conductor of the attack, creating openings for other stars, like Pelé and Garrincha, to exploit.
His intelligence and mastery of play from midfield helped change the Brazilian team’s fortunes into that of a superpower. Graceful, elegant, and always with a touch of smoothness, Didi is remembered for much more than technical capabilities as the finest midfielder Brazil ever produced.
Along with tactical understanding and poise, he made available a different kind of contribution to the art of midfield play that left an enduring legacy, marking him as the best the game has ever produced.
3 Xavi
Xavi Hernandez simply is one of the best midfield footballing players. With precision passing and match awareness, no player can dictate the pace of a game than Xavi.
He stood tall at the heart of Barcelona’s famous tiki-taka style and proved the master of short passes which would help the teams he represented maintain possession to take away defense lines. His vision and understanding were top-notch, allowing him to execute a few very penetrating passes even when there was no space at all.
Xavi is one of those Barcelona legends who won several Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League trophies in the golden years of the club. His work with certain Andrés Iniesta and Lionel Messi brought onto the domestic stage one of the most feared teams in football history.
On the international stage, too, Xavi has been influential he led Spain to two back-to-back European Championships in 2008 and 2012 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
And yet, Xavi was the least of them in what marked him out – durability and an unerringly consistent ability to dictate the rhythm of a match. His style of play is more based on intelligence and technique, rather than athleticism, and therefore managed to stay atop for years.
His influence on the game, especially regarding the definition of the modern day playmaker’s role, means that Xavi will always remain a reference point when it comes to the beauty of midfield football.
2 Lothar Matthaus
Lothar Matthäus is perhaps the most complete and varied midfielder in football history. Potent, powerful with great tactical intelligence, and carrying inspiring leadership qualities, Matthäus was a definite box-to-box midfielder who demonstrated aptitude both within and outside of the realm of defense.
His staying power and accuracy in ball circulation combined with his knack to score from nearly anywhere made him a constant threat on the pitch. Whether he broke up attacks or pressed forward with a bit of purpose, Matthäus could influence nearly every inch of the game.
Matthaeus has the most decorated career for any German footballer, crowning glory arriving when he captained West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
He became the team’s key player and completed the year as the first recipient of the Ballon d’Or, thus finally proving to be the world’s best player at that time.
The club career was quite impressive too, especially while he was playing for Bayern Munich where he gained several Bundesliga titles while playing for Inter Milan and the title in the Serie A.
His ability to be a leader makes him very versatile, considering his applicability to play in any position in the midfield-l from an anchor man to a loose playmaker.
Lothar longevity combined with his ability to adapt and play across the eras consolidated his position as the greatest midfielder of all time. His unrivaled work ethic and sheer tactical brilliance crowned him a pure footballing legend.
1 Andres Iniesta
Andrés Iniesta is one of the most technically gifted midfielders to have ever laid foot on a pitch. He is an extraordinary dribbler, control is a little close maybe but he never walked past his man.
His vision and creativity unlocked the defense. With composed ball control and a strategic sense of picking the perfect pass, he was synonymous with Barcelona and with the Spanish national side for over a decade.
Major Moments: Though there have been glamour moments during Iniesta’s career, a more vital one happened during the 2010 FIFA World Cup when, in the final match against the Netherlands, he scored the game-winning goal and thus crowned Spain as the first-ever World Cup winner.
He was of equal importance for his parent club Barcelona as he played an important role in their unilateral rule, winning multiple La Liga titles, and four UEFA Champions League trophies. His playing with Xavi in midfield helped to redefine modern football in the style of tiki-taka.
A beautiful amalgamation of elegance and acumen, that was the difference Iniesta made. The complete control-type player easily negotiated through opposition but moved with consistent judgment when the game demanded so.
It is his humility and focus on the team rather than individualistic accolades that only add to creating a legacy of one of football’s greats. His influence on the game will transcend centuries because he has truly defined the role of the modern midfielder.
Frequently Asked Questions:-
Andres Iniesta is widely considered one of the best midfielders of all time.
Yes, Pedri is widely considered one of the best midfielders in the world. His exceptional passing, dribbling, and vision make him a standout player.
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