FIFA 100
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. 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, former 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. 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 claimed. (The list contains the names of just seven players from Asia and Africa, for example.) Such assertions were also forwarded by BBC columnist Tim Vickery.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.
List
Following is the list of the "FIFA 100" greatest living footballers as nominated by Pelé.- Players active at the time of announcement are marked by (*).
- Players who are still active are in italics.
Argentina
| Player | Pos. | DoB |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 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 |
| 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 | 1951-09-05 |
| Oliver Kahn* | GK | 1969-06-15 |
| Jürgen Klinsmann | FW | 1964-07-30 |
| Sepp Maier | GK | 1944-02-28 |
| Lothar Matthäus | MF | 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 |
Republic of Ireland
| Player | Pos. | DoB |
|---|---|---|
| Roy Keane* | MF | 1971-08-10 |
Italy
| Player | Pos. | DoB |
|---|---|---|
| Roberto Baggio* | FW | 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 | 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 |
South Korea
| Player | Pos. | DoB |
|---|---|---|
| Hong Myung-Bo* | DF | 1969-02-12 |
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 |
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 |
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|MF/FW | FW | 1972-03-17 |
|---|
Uruguay
| Player | Pos. | DoB |
|---|---|---|
| Enzo Francescoli | FW | 1961-11-12 |
