World Team of the 20th Century

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The World Team of the 20th Century were chosen in 1998 to comprise, as an eleven-member side divided as one goalkeeper four defenders, three midfielders, and three forwards, the best association football players of the twentieth century CE.

The team, announced by MasterCard on 10 June 1998, in conjunction with the opening cermonies of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in Paris, France, were selected in plurality voting undertaken by a panel of 250 international football journalists from amongst the members of eleven-member sides styled as the South American and European Teams of the 20th Century, selected previously by the same panel to be composed of players respectively to have represented principally member nations of the CONMEBOL and UEFA continental confederations.

Similarly constitued teams for players from the nations of CONCACAF, the Confederation of African Football, and collectively the Asian and Oceania Football Confederations were chosen by separate, smaller juries of journalists situated respectively in North and Central America, Africa, and Asia and Oceania, and announced alongside the European and South American teams, but players selected to the former sides were not considered for selection to the world team.

Position	Player	National side(s) represented by year	Professional club(s) represented by year	Rank on the World Soccer magazine enumeration of the top players of the 20th century	Continental, FIFA World Cup, World Soccer, and FIFA awards
Goalkeeper	Lev Yashin	Soviet Union (1954–1970)	FC Dynamo Moscow (1949–1971)	11	European Footballer of the Year (1963), UEFA Jubilee Award (Russia) World Cup All-Star Team[1](1958) [2]
Defender (fullback)	Carlos Alberto Torres	Brazil (1964–1977)	Fluminese (1963–1966, 1974–1977) Santos FC (1966–1974) Flamengo (1977) New York Cosmos (1977–1980, 1982) California Surf (1981)	Unranked	FIFA 100
Defender (centre-back)	Franz Beckenbauer	West Germany (1965–1977)	Bayern Munich (1965–1977) New York Cosmos (1977–1980, 1983) Hamburger SV (1980–1982)	4	European Footballer of the Year (1972, 1976) World Cup All-Star Team[1] (1966, 1970, 1974) FIFA 100
Defender (centre-back)	Bobby Moore	England (1962–1973)	West Ham United (1958–1974) Fulham (1974–1977) San Antonio Thunder (1977) Seattle Sounders (1978)	14	UEFA Jubilee Award (England) World Cup All-Star Team[1] (1966) [2]
Defender (fullback)	Nílton Santos	Brazil (1949–1963)	Botafogo (1949–1965)	Unranked	World Cup All-Star Team[1] (1958) FIFA 100
Midfielder	Johan Cruijff	Netherlands (1966–1978)	Ajax Amsterdam (1964–1973, 1981–1983) FC Barcelona (1973–1978) Los Angeles Aztecs (1979) Washington Diplomats (1980–1981) Levante UD (1981) Feyenoord (1983–1994)	3	European Footballer of the Year (1971, 1973, 1974), UEFA Jubilee Award (Netherlands) World Cup All-Star Team[1] (1974) FIFA 100
Midfielder	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Argentina (1947) Spain (1957–1961)	River Plate (1943–1945, 1947–1949) Huracán (1946–1947) Millonarios (1949–1953) Real Madrid (1953–1964) RCD Espanyol (1964–1966)	6	European Footballer of the Year (1957, 1959), UEFA Jubilee Award (Spain) FIFA 100
Midfielder	Michel Platini	France (1976–1987)	AS Nancy (1972–1979) AS Saint-Étienne (1979–1982) Juventus (1982–1987)	5	European Footballer of the Year (1983, 1984, 1985), Onze d'Or (1983, 1984, 1985) World Cup All-Star Team[1] (1982, 1986) World Soccer Player of the Year (1984, 1985) FIFA 100
Forward	Garrincha	Brazil (1955–1966)	Botafogo (1953–1965) Corinthians (1966) Atlético Junior (1968) Flamengo (1968–1969) Olaria (1972)	20	World Cup Golden Shoe Award (1962), World Cup All-Star Team[1] (1958, 1962) [2]
Forward	Diego Maradona	Argentina (1977–1994)	Argentinos Juniors (1976–1981) Boca Juniors (1981–1982, 1995–1997) FC Barcelona (1982–1984) SSC Napoli (1984–1991) Sevilla FC (1992–1993) Newell's Old Boys (1993)	1 (by Fans)	Onze d'Or (1986, 1987), South American Footballer of the Year (1979, 1980) World Cup Golden Ball Award (1986), World Cup Bronze Ball Award (1990), World Cup All-Star Team[1] (1986, 1990) World Soccer Player of the Year (1986) FIFA 100
Forward	Pelé	Brazil (1956–1971)	Santos FC (1956–1974) New York Cosmos (1975–1977)	1 (by Fifa)	South American Footballer of the Year (1973) World Cup All-Star Team[1] (1958, 1970) FIFA 100

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} The constitution of the all-star team for each FIFA World Cup contested prior to 1998 was determined by a panel of journalists concomitant to the selection of the all-star team for the latter year's World Cup; all-star teams were selected contemporaneously only in 1998 and thereafter.
2. ^ ^{a b c} To be considered for selection to the FIFA 100, a player must have been living upon the team's selection in February 2004 and announcement on March 4, 2004; Lev Yashin, Bobby Moore, and Garrincha, consequently, were ineligible for selection.

[edit] See also

• African Footballer of the Year, Asian Footballer of the Year, European Footballer of the Year, Oceania Footballer of the Year, Onze d'Or, South American Footballer of the Year
• FIFA 100
• FIFA World Player of the Year
• World Soccer Awards
• World Soccer players of the 20th century
• Football League 100 Legends
• UEFA Jubilee Awards
• International Federation of Football History & Statistics

[edit] References

• Brown, Gerry, and Morrison, Michael (eds.; 2003). ESPN Information Please Sports Almanac. New York City: ESPN Books and Hyperion (joint). ISBN 0-7868-8715-X.

[edit] External links

• Analysis of the constitution of the world team in the International Herald Tribune
• Enumeration of the European, South American, and world teams by Infoplease
• Enumeration of the European, South American, and world teams by HickokSports.com
• SoccerTimes.com compilation of the five continental teams selected

World Team of the 20th Century  v • d • e
Lev Yashin (Goalkeeper) Carlos Alberto Torres | Franz Beckenbauer | Bobby Moore | Nílton Santos (Defenders) Johan Cruijff | Alfredo Di Stéfano | Michel Platini (Midfielders) Garrincha | Diego Maradona | Pelé (Forwards)