The 50 Best Footballers Of All Time Have Been Named And Ranked

Italian legend Andrea Pirlo has shockingly beaten the likes of Diego Maradona and Pele to be crowned the best footballer of all time.

The 40-year-old ex-AC Milan and Juventus star enjoyed a prolific playing career and captured major silverware for both club and country.

And fans over at Ranker has placed Pirlo at the top of a stacked list of footballers, ranging from legends to current world-class stars.

The World Cup-winning Italian secured 28,816 upvotes and 17,900 downvotes at the time of this writing.

While Pirlo has significantly fewer votes than other names on the list, he managed to climb to the top spot through the website's 'reranks' system.

According to Ranker, reranks holds a higher precedent over the votes distributed for each player.

The publication explained: "When someone takes the time to rerank the whole list, this has more influence on the item's position than a binary up/down vote."

Posted below are the top 50 footballers of all time.

50. Arjen Robben

49. Wayne Rooney

48. Zico

47. Thiago Silva

46. Eusebio

45. Dennis Bergkamp

44. Luis Figo

43. Robert Lewandowski

42. Iker Casillas

41. Philipp Lahm

40. Alfredo Di Stefano

39. Toni Kroos

38. Kaka

37. Luis Suarez

36. Romario

35. Roberto Baggio

34. Ferenc Puskas

33. Samuel Eto'o

32. Lev Yashin

31. Gerd Muller

30. Francesco Totti

29. Cafu

28. Gareth Bale

27. Manuel Neuer

26. Sergio Ramos

25. Steven Gerrard

24. Didier Drogba

23. Carles Puyol

22. Raul

21. David Beckham

20. Ryan Giggs

19. Neymar

18. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

17. Thierry Henry

16. Roberto Carlos

15. Franz Beckenbauer

14. Xavi

13. George Best

12. Luka Modric

11. Gianluigi Buffon

10. Andres Iniesta

9. Johan Cruyff

8. Zinedine Zidane

7. Pele

6. Cristiano Ronaldo

5. Lionel Messi

4. Ronaldinho

3. Ronaldo

2. Diego Maradona

1. Andrea Pirlo

You can view the full list, which features over 250 footballers, over at Ranker.