Top 5 Most popular soccer players
1. Lionel Messi
Messi was born on 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Santa Fe, the third of four children of Jorge Messi, a steel factory manager, and his wife, Celia Cuccittini. She worked in a magnet manufacturing workshop. He is of Italian and Spanish descent, the great-grandson of immigrants from the northcentral Adriatic Marche region of Italy and Catalonia on his father's side. On his mother's side, he has primarily Italian ancestry.[5][13] Growing up in a tight-knit, football-loving family, "Leo" developed a passion for the sport from an early age, constantly playing with his older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, and his cousins, Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, both of whom became professional footballers.[14] At the age of four, he joined the local club Grandoli, where his father coached him, though his earliest influence as a player came from his maternal grandmother, Celia, who accompanied him to training and matches.[15] He was greatly affected by her death shortly before his eleventh birthday; since then, as a devout Catholic, he has celebrated his goals by looking up and pointing to the sky in tribute to his grandmother.[16][17]
During the 2003–04 season, his fourth with Barcelona, Messi rapidly progressed through the club's ranks, debuting for a record five youth teams in a single campaign.[34] After being named player of the tournament in four international pre-season competitions with the Juveniles B, he played only one official match with the team before being promoted to Juveniles A, where he scored 18 goals in 11 league games.[35][36] Messi was then one of several youth players to strengthen a depleted first team during the international break. French winger Ludovic Giuly explained how a teenage Leo caught the eye in a training session with Frank Rijkaard's first team: "He destroyed us all... They were kicking him all over the place to avoid being ridiculed by this kid; he just got up and kept on playing. He would dribble past four players and score a goal. Even the team's starting center-backs were nervous. He was an alien."[37]On 24 June 2005, his 18th birthday, Messi signed his first contract as a senior team player. It made him a Barcelona player until
2010, two years less than his previous contract, but his buyout clause increased to €150 million.[44] His breakthrough came two months later, on 24 August, during the Joan Gamper Trophy, Barcelona's pre-season competition. For the first time, he gave a well-received performance against Fabio Capello's Juventus, receiving an ovation from the Camp Nou.[52] While Capello requested to loan Messi, a bid to buy him came from Inter Milan, who were willing to pay his €150 million buyout clause and triple his wages.[53] According to then-president Joan Laporta, it was the only time the club faced a real risk of losing Messi, but he ultimately decided to stay.[54] On 16 September, his contract was updated for the second time in three months and extended to 2014.[44][55]On 27 September, Messi began the 2020–21 season by scoring a penalty in a 4–0 home win against Villarreal in La Liga.[302] Two days before the opening game, he again criticized the club, this time for the manner of Luis Suárez's departure, stating, "At this stage, nothing surprises me anymore."[303] On 20 October, Messi scored a penalty and assisted the fifth goal in a 5–1 home victory
against Ferencváros in the Champions League, becoming the first player in history to score in sixteen consecutive Champions League seasons.[304] On 25 November, the Argentine was nominated for the 2020 Best FIFA Men's Player award and was later shortlisted as one of the final three candidates.[305][306] On 29 November, Messi scored his fourth goal in their 4–0 victory over Osasuna. After scoring, he unveiled a shirt of his former side Newell's Old Boys, in tribute to Argentine compatriot Diego Maradona, who had died four days earlier, and raised both hands to the screen showing Maradona's face in the stadium. The shirt was a number 10 replica of Maradona's same one during his stint with the club in 1993.[307] On 17 December, Messi finished third in The Best FIFA Men's Player award behind Robert Lewandowski and Cristiano Ronaldo and was included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI for the fourteenth consecutive year.[308]
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in São Pedro, Funchal, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, and grew up in Santo António, Funchal.[9][10] He is the fourth and youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Viveiros da Aveiro, a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro, a municipal gardener and part-time kit man.[11] His great-grandmother on his father's side, Isabel da Piedade, was from the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde.[12] He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia "Katia."[13] His mother revealed that she wanted to abort him due to poverty, his father's alcoholism, and having too many children already, but her doctor refused to perform the procedure.[14] Ronaldo grew up in a Catholic and impoverished home, sharing a room with all his siblings.[15]
As a child, Ronaldo played for Andorinha from 1992 to 1995,[16] where his father was the kit man,[11] and later spent two years with Nacional. In 1997, aged 12, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who signed him for £1,500.[17] He subsequently moved from Madeira to Alcochete, near Lisbon, to join the Sporting youth football academy.[17] By age 14, Ronaldo believed he could play semi-professionally and agreed with his mother to cease his education to focus entirely on football.[18] While popular with other students at school, he had been expelled after throwing a chair at his teacher, who he said had "disrespected" him.[18] However, one year later, he was diagnosed with a racing heart, a condition that could have forced him to give up playing football.[19] Ronaldo underwent heart surgery where a laser was used to cauterize multiple cardiac pathways into one, altering his resting heart rate.[20] He was discharged from the hospital hours after the procedure and resumed training a few days later.[21]At age 16, Ronaldo was promoted from Sporting's youth team by first-team manager László Bölöni, who was impressed with his dribbling.[22]
He subsequently became the first player to play for the club's under-16, under-17, and under-18 teams, the B team, and the first team, all within a single season.[17] A year later, on 29 September 2002, Ronaldo made his debut in the Primeira Liga, against Braga, and on 7 October 2002, he scored two goals against Moreirense in their 3–0 win.[23] Throughout the 2002–03 season, his representatives suggested the player to Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier and Barcelona president Joan Laporta.[24] Manager Arsène Wenger, who was interested in signing the winger, met with Arsenal's grounds in November to discuss a possible transfer.[25]
On 20 September 2020, Ronaldo scored in Juventus's opening match, a 3–0 home win over Sampdoria in Serie A.[262] On 1 November, after Ronaldo took nearly three weeks to recover from COVID-19, he returned to action against Spezia, where he came off the bench in the second half and scored within the first three minutes. He later scored a second goal from the penalty spot in an eventual 4–1 away win.[263] On 2 December, he scored a goal against Dynamo Kyiv in a Champions League group match to reach his 750th senior career goal.[264] Ronaldo played his 100th match in all competitions for Juventus on 13 December, scoring two penalties in a 3–1 away win to Genoa in the league and bringing his goal tally to 79.[265] On 2 March 2021, he scored a goal in a 3–0 win over Spezia in his 600th league match to become the first player to achieve at least 20 goals in the past 12 consecutive seasons in the top five leagues of Europe.[266] On 9 March, Juventus were knocked out of the Champions League at the round of 16 by Porto on the away goals rule (4–4 on aggregate).[267] On 14 March, he scored his 57th career hat-trick in a 3–1 away win over Cagliari.[268]
On 12 May, Ronaldo scored a goal in a 3–1 away win over Sassuolo to reach his 100th goal for Juventus in all competitions on his 131st appearance, becoming the fastest Juventus player to achieve the feat.[269] With Juventus's victory in the 2021 Coppa Italia Final on 19 May, Ronaldo became the first player in history to win every major domestic trophy in England, Spain, and Italy.[270] Ronaldo ended the league campaign with 29 goals, winning the Capocannoniere award for the highest goalscorer and becoming the first footballer to finish as top scorer in the English, Spanish, and Italian leagues.[271]
3. Neymar
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior was born in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, to Neymar Santos Sr. and Nadine da Silva. He inherited his name from his father, a former footballer, and became his son's advisor as Neymar's talents grew.[15] Neymar comments on his father's role: "My father has been by my side since I was little. He takes care of things, my finances, and my family."[16] Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street football.[17] Neymar said that futsal had a massive influence on him growing up, helping him develop his technique, speed of thought, and ability to perform moves in tight spaces.[18]
In 2003, Neymar moved with his family to São Vicente, where he began playing for youth side Portuguesa Santista.[19] Then, later in 2003, they moved to Santos, where Neymar joined Santos FC.[20] With the success of his youth career and added income, the family bought their first property, a house next to Vila Belmiro, Santos' home stadium. Their quality of family life improved, as at age 15, Neymar was earning 10,000 reais per month and at 16, 125,000 reais per month. At 17, he signed his first professional contract, upgraded to the Santos first team, and signed his first sponsorship deals.[21]Neymar began playing football at an early age, and he was soon spotted by Santos FC, who offered him a contract in 2003, where he was inducted into their youth academy, which has, in the past, produced Brazilian internationals like Coutinho, Clodoaldo, Diego, Elano, and Alex. He also joined the likes of Pepe, Pelé, and Robinho in starting his career at the club, nicknamed Peixe.[22]
While in the youth academy, Neymar met Paulo Henrique Ganso, becoming good friends in the process. Aged 14, Neymar traveled to Spain for tryouts with the Real Madrid youth team, at the time when Real had stars like Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, and Robinho. However, he did not stay in Madrid as his father decided at the time that he preferred the young prodigy to keep growing up while playing at Santos.[23][24]Neymar made his professional debut on 7 March 2009, despite being only 17 years old. He was brought on for the last thirty minutes in a 2–1 win against Oeste.[17] The following week he scored his first goal for Santos against Mogi Mirim. One month later, on 11 April, Neymar scored the decisive goal in a 2–1 win against Palmeiras in the 2009 Campeonato Paulista semi-final first leg.[25] In the final, however, Santos suffered a 4–2 aggregate defeat to Corinthians.[26] In his first season, Neymar racked up 14 goals in 48 games.[17]
Neymar missed out on the first match of the 2020–21 season because he had tested positive for COVID-19 a week earlier;[156] PSG went on to lose the game against Lens by a score of 1–0.[157] However, he returned to training before the match against Marseille on 13 September 2020.[158] PSG lost Le Classique for the first time since 2011 as OM were victorious 1–0 in a match that had 14 yellow cards and five red cards handed out by the referee, including one of each to Neymar.[159]
Neymar scored his first two goals of the season in a 6–1 win against Anger on 2 October.[160] He entered the list of the top ten goal scorers in PSG history by scoring his 72nd for the club, which put him level with Raí.[161] On 28 October, Neymar suffered an adductor injury in a match against İstanbul Başakşehir, leaving the pitch after 26 minutes of play.[162] He returned to action as a substitute in a 3–2 loss against Monaco on 20 November,[163] and scored his first goal after recovering from his injury in a 1–0 win against RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League on 24 November.[164]
4. Robert Lewandowski
Lewandowski was born in Warsaw[8] and grew up in Leszno, Warsaw West County.[9] He took his first steps in football as an unregistered player for the local club, Partyzant Leszno.[10] In 1997, he joined MKS Varsovia Warsaw, whereas a teen, he played for seven years.[11] The following year he moved to Delta Warsaw, where he finally managed to play in the first team, scoring four goals.[12]
In 2006–07, Lewandowski was the Polish third division's top goalscorer with 15 goals, helping Znicz Pruszków win promotion.[13] The next season he was the top scorer in the Polish second division with 21 goals.[13]In June 2008, Lech Poznań signed Lewandowski from Znicz for 1.5 million PLN.[11][14] Earlier that month, Lewandowski's agent Cezary Kucharski offered him to his former team Sporting Gijón, which had been promoted to the La Liga, Spain's first division, after ten years in the second tier. However, Gijón rejected him.[15]Following press speculation that Lewandowski might move to one of several clubs,[19][20] he joined Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund in June 2010, signing a four-year contract with the German club[21] for a fee reported to be worth around €4.5 million.[22] On 19 September, he scored his first goal in the Bundesliga to make it 3–0 in the Revierderby against Schalke 04; the game ended 3–1.[23]
On 24 September, Lewandowski assisted Leon Goretzka's and Bayern's first goal in Bayern's 2–1 victory over 2019–20 UEFA Europa League winners Sevilla in the 2020 UEFA Super Cup in Budapest.[146] Six days later, he played in Bayern's 3–2 win over Borussia Dortmund in the 2020 DFL-Supercup to win their fifth trophy of the year.[147] On 4 October, he scored all four goals in a 4–3 win against Hertha Berlin.[148] On 24 October, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt to become the first player in Bundesliga to achieve ten goals in only five matches.[149] On 16 December, he scored a brace against Wolfsburg to be the third player to pass the 250-goal mark in Bundesliga, after Gerd Müller and Klaus Fischer.[150]
After winning the treble with Bayern Munich and his performances in the tournaments,[151], he was named The Best FIFA Men's Player 2020 on 17 December 2020, becoming the first Polish player to win the award.[152][153] The cancellation of the 2020 Ballon D'Or was met with extensive criticism, as most news and sports organizations believed Lewandowski was the front-runner and ought to win the award.[154]
On 28 March, he was injured in his right knee during a World Cup qualification match against Andorra; hence, he missed both Champions League quarter-final matches against Paris Saint-Germain. Bayern Munich lost on away goals rule after a 3–3 draw on aggregate.[162] On 24 April, he returned after almost a month on the sidelines in a 1–2 defeat to Mainz, scoring in added time.[163] On 8 May, he scored his 14th Bundesliga hat-trick in a 6–0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach.[164] On 22 May, he broke Gerd Müller's record of 40 goals in the 1971–72 season with a 90th-minute goal in Bayern's 5–2 win over Augsburg to reach his 41st goal on the final day of the season.[165] He also managed to win his first European Golden Shoe award.[166]
5. Kylian Mbappé
Mbappé was born in Paris[5] and was raised in Bondy, Seine-Saint-Denis, a commune 10.9 km (6.8 mi) from the center of Paris.[6] His father, Wilfried, is from Cameroon and, being Mbappé's agent, is a football coach. His mother, Fayza Lamari, is of Algerian (Kabyle) origin and is a former handball player.[7][8] He has a younger brother, Ethan, who played for PSG's under-12 squad in 2018.[9][10] Mbappé's adoptive brother, Jirès Kembo Ekoko, is also a professional football player.[11] Growing up, his idol was Cristiano Ronaldo, a player he looked to emulate.[12][13] As a child, Kylian Mbappé went to a private Catholic school in Bondy, where he was considered academically gifted[14] but extremely unruly.
Mbappé began his career at AS Bondy, coached by his father, Wilfried. Another of his youth coaches at AS Bondy, Antonio Riccardi, stated,
The first time I coached him was when he was six years old. You could tell he was different. Kylian could do much more than the other children. His dribbling was already fantastic, and he was much faster than the others. He was the best player I've ever seen in 15 years coaching here. In Paris, there are many talents, but I'd never seen a talent like him. He was what we call a 'crack' (the best).[15]
Eventually, he moved to the Clairefontaine academy, putting on a host of impressive performances leading to numerous French clubs, and Real Madrid, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich, attempting to sign him.[8] At the age of 11, Real Madrid invited Mbappé to train with their under-12s and visit the club's facilities.[16] At age 14, he traveled to London after an invite from Chelsea, playing a match for their youth team against Charlton Athletic.[17] He ultimately settled on Monaco.[18]
In October 2015, Mbappé was brought in by Leonardo Jardim to be a mainstay in Monaco's B-team, but his skill and maturity level prompted his promotion to the main squad after just three weeks.[19] He made his first-team debut two months later, on 2 December 2015, in a 1–1 Ligue 1 home draw against Caen, replacing Fábio Coentrão after 88 minutes. He, therefore, became Monaco's youngest-ever first-team player aged 16 years and 347 days, breaking Thierry Henry's record set 21 years previously.[18][20]Mbappé missed the first three matches after contracting the COVID-19 while playing with the France national team.[80] He returned to action on 20 September 2020 in a 3–0 away win against Nice and scored a goal from a penalty kick.[81] On 28 October, Mbappé recorded two assists, both for Moise Kean, in a 2–0 Champions League group stage victory against İstanbul Başakşehir.[82]
In doing so, he became the player with the most assists in the competition since the beginning of the 2017–18 edition, with his tally adding up to fourteen over the four seasons.[83] In a Ligue 1 match against Montpellier on 5 December, Mbappé scored his 100th goal for PSG, becoming only the fifth player to achieve the feat for the Parisian club.[84] In his side's final Champions League group match, Mbappé scored his first two goals of the European campaign against Başakşehir, as PSG won 5–1 and qualified for the knockout phase as group winners.[85] He also became the youngest player in Champions League history to reach twenty goals (although this record would then be surpassed later in the same season by Erling Haaland).[86][87]
Mbappé capped a fine debut senior season at Monaco by scoring five times for France as they won the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. The striker almost single-handedly secured their spot in the final with a sparkling performance in their 3–1 victory against Portugal in the semi-finals.[18]
Mbappé was called up to the senior France squad for the first time to face Luxembourg and Spain in March 2017.[100] He made his debut on 25 March against the former side, coming on for Dimitri Payet in the 78th minute of a 3–1 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification away win.[20] In doing so, he became the second-youngest player ever (only behind Maryan Wisniewski) to feature for France at 18 years, three months, and five days old.[101] On 31 August 2017, Mbappé scored his first senior international goal in a 2018 World Cup qualification match against the Netherlands.[102] He scored twice against Russia in a friendly in March 2018.[103]
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