Football's Greatest Number 10s
The Greatest No. 10s in Football History
The No. 10 is the driver, the orchestrator, the magician that pushes an attacking team forward, penetrating defences and unlocking goals.
Playing between the central midfielders and forwards, the greatest No. 10s are equal part goalscorers and goal creators.
Great football No. 10 Pele
Some of the greatest players to play the sport have worn the No. 10 shirt or played the position named after the jersey number.
It is one of the most iconic positions in all sports!
Whether playing pinpoint passes, slaloming through defences or scoring outrageous goals, the players in this article are considered the 5 greatest-ever No. 10s in football.
5. Kaka
Career highlight stats
307 games, 104 goals and 84 assists for the Rossoneri
120 games, 29 goals and 39 assists for Real Madrid
Scudetto 2003-4 champion with AC Milan
Champions League 2006-07 title with AC Milan
Kaka was a rare piece of talent.
During his peak years, there was no player better at cutting through defences than the AC Milan great.
The attacking midfielder rose to prominence with the Italian club, joining them in 2003 from Sao Paulo for less than €10 million.
Kaka appeared in 307 games for the Rossoneri, scoring 104 goals and tallying 84 assists.
He helped AC Milan win the Scudetto in 2003-04 and the Champions League trophy in 2006-07.
Kaka’s greatness was subtle. He wasn’t a flashy player. Rather, Kaka preferred his game to do the talking on the pitch.
The Brazilian moved to Real Madrid in 2009 where he featured in 120 matches, scoring 29 goals and adding 39 assists.
Unfortunately, Kaka’s body began to fail him in Madrid. He spent plenty of time on the injury list after a major money move to Madrid.
Los Blancos paid €67m to Milan for Kaka.
Kaka spent the final years of his career in the United States with Orlando City and in Brazil with his boyhood club Sao Paulo.
He burned brightly but too quickly. Still, Kaka is one of the greatest No. 10s of all time. Perhaps his only crime was not sustaining it for longer.
4. Michel Platini
Career highlight stats
Two Serie A titles
One Coppa Italia trophy
One European Cup
Three consecutive Ballon d’Or awards
Michel Platini may not be familiar to many modern football fans. Platini retired in 1987, ending a career that stretched 15 years.
He began his career with AS Nancy after coming through the French club’s academy.
Platini spent seven seasons at Nancy before moving to Saint-Etienne. He continued to thrive as a goalscorer, leading Italian giants Juventus to sign him for €129,000 in 1982.
The reason Platini’s transfer was so cheap was due to his Saint-Etienne contract expiring. Juventus only paid a nominal fee to land the player.
It is Platini’s Juventus years that are best remembered. He won two Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia trophy, one European Cup, one Cup Winners’ Cup and one European Super Cup.
On the international level, Platini was France’s best player of the era. He powered Les Bleus to the 1984 European Championship win.
As a No. 10, Platini could pass the ball, score goals and create opportunities for teammates. He won the Ballon d’Or in three consecutive seasons.
Although the trophy haul could have been more, Platini’s quality was never in question.
The Great Leo Messi
3. Lionel Messi
Career highlight stats
2022 FIFA World Cup champion with Argentina
19 goals and 29 assists with PSG
Four Champions League titles
Lionel Messi’s greatness cannot be debated.
He is the greatest player of the modern era and is still adding to his stats. Some fans will argue Messi is the greatest attacking midfielder of all time.
Perhaps he is the best all-around player in football history. Yet, one of the men ahead of him on this list lifted more than one World Cup trophy.
No player could touch Messi’s skill level during his prime with Barcelona.
Messi may play for a star-studded Paris Saint-Germain team currently, but it doesn’t detract from him being the best player in the squad.
Sure, there is his lack of defensive commitment in matches. Yet, Messi’s attacking play often makes up for those defensive shortcomings.
His passing range is spectacular, but most fans love to see one of Messi’s slaloming runs. He still shrugs off defenders with ease and doesn’t break stride.
Whether Messi takes a free kick or scores from open play, his goals are varied.
The Argentine is a human highlight reel. You can watch hours of his goals, runs and assists on YouTube without getting bored.
In 2022, Messi finally won the FIFA World Cup to solidify his legacy. It came at the same time Messi’s rival, Cristiano Ronaldo’s, career imploded.
The Flea is the greatest modern No. 10, and it is difficult to believe another player will ever reach Messi’s heights.
2. Pele
Career highlight stats
Three FIFA World Cup trophies
Scored 1283 goals across his career
Voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) in 2000
Pele is the first true No. 10. It is thanks to the Brazilian that all playmakers that followed chose to wear the No. 10 jersey.
Pele did something Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona did not, and that was to win more than one World Cup.
The Brazilian claimed three FIFA World Cup trophies from 1958 to 1970, the latter being perhaps the greatest football team of all time. Pele is inextricably linked with the Brazil national team.
You may struggle to find a modern football fan that can tell you which club team Pele played for (Santos). It seems like every video, photo and story is about Pele playing for Brazil.
In 1975, Pele’s fame led him to New York to play for the Cosmos. There, he made the American public aware of a foreign sport known as soccer.
Although soccer’s popularity was fleeting and only made a dent, Pele worked tirelessly to promote it.
His importance to the game off the pitch was nearly as great as the impact he made on it.
1. Diego Maradona
Career highlight stats
1986 World Cup champion with Argentina
1988-89 UEFA Cup champion with Napoli
Scored 338 goals across his career
Whether it is the off-field lunacy or on-field genius of Diego Maradona, it is hard to think of any other player as the greatest No. 10 of all time.
Maradona led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup trophy and nearly did it again four years later in Italy.
Then, there was the 1994 edition of the tournament, with Maradona in the twilight of his career.
If it wasn’t for a failed drug test, Maradona may have led Argentina to the World Cup trophy in the United States, too.
The madness of Maradona led to his departure from Barcelona. His greatness saw Napoli win two Scudetti between 1986 and 1990.
He also led the Naples club to the 1988-89 UEFA Cup.
Maradona is a legend in Naples thanks to the team’s successes in the 1980s with murals around the city dedicated to him.
With a taste for cocaine and issues off the field, Maradona departed Napoli disgraced.
A short spell with Sevilla was followed by a return to Argentina.
Maradona turned out for Newell’s Old Boys and Boca Juniors.
The genius of Maradona was fleeting. He didn’t begin to achieve his potential for club or country until joining Napoli in 1984.
By the end of 1991, it was all over for Maradona in Europe. Still, Maradona is a legendary figure and the greatest No. 10 of all-time.
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