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Pelé in 2008

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, England, 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.^[1] 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, 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.^[2] 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 argued. Such assertions were also forwarded by BBC columnist Tim Vickery.^[3]

One of Pelé's old teammates, 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.^[4]

List

Following is the list of the "FIFA 100" greatest living footballers as nominated by Pelé.^[5]^[6]

Players active at the time of announcement are marked by (*).

Players who are still active are in italics.

Argentina

Player	Position	Date of Birth
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/MF	1960-10-30
Daniel Passarella	DF	1953-05-25
Javier Saviola*	FW	1981-12-11
Omar Sívori	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
Eric 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 Pires*	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/DF	1951-09-05
Oliver Kahn*	GK	1969-06-15
Jürgen Klinsmann	FW	1964-07-30
Sepp Maier	GK	1944-02-28
Lothar Matthäus	MF/SW	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

Italy

Player	Pos.	DoB
Roberto Baggio*	FW/MF	1967-02-18
Franco Baresi	DF/SW	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/MF	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

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/DF	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

Republic of Ireland

Player	Pos.	DoB
Roy Keane*	MF	1971-08-10

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

South Korea

Player	Pos.	DoB
Hong Myung-bo*	DF	1969-02-12

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
Michelle Akers	MF/FW	1966-02-01
Mia Hamm*	FW	1972-03-17

Uruguay

Player	Pos.	DoB
Enzo Francescoli	FW/MF	1961-11-12

References

^ "Fifa names greatest list". BBC. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 30 April 2007..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em

^ Mellor, David (5 March 2004). "Sing up for Ken, a true Blues man". Evening Standard Ltd. p. 77. |access-date= requires |url= (help)

^ Vickery, Tim (8 March 2004). "Pele pays price for popularity". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2007.

^ Davies, Christopher (4 March 2004). "Pele open to ridicule over top hundred". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 10 February 2008.

^ "FIFA 100". Best Football Players Ever.

^ "The Fifa 100". The Guardian. 4 March 2004.

External links

The FIFA 100

[1] "Fifa names greatest list". BBC. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 30 April 2007..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em

[2] Mellor, David (5 March 2004). "Sing up for Ken, a true Blues man". Evening Standard Ltd. p. 77. |access-date= requires |url= (help)

[3] Vickery, Tim (8 March 2004). "Pele pays price for popularity". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2007.

[Telegraph-4] Davies, Christopher (4 March 2004). "Pele open to ridicule over top hundred". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 10 February 2008.

[5] "FIFA 100". Best Football Players Ever.

[6] "The Fifa 100". The Guardian. 4 March 2004.

v t e FIFA 100
UEFA	Baggio Ballack Banks Baresi Van Basten Beckenbauer Beckham Bergkamp Bergomi Best Boniek Boniperti Breitner Buffon Butragueño Cantona Ceulemans Charlton Cruyff Dalglish Dasayev Davids Del Piero Desailly Deschamps Emre Eusébio Facchetti Figo Fontaine Gullit Hagi Henry Kahn Keane Keegan R. van de Kerkhof W. van de Kerkhof Klinsmann Kluivert Kopa B. Laudrup M. Laudrup Lineker Luis Enrique Maier Maldini Masopust Matthäus Müller Nedvěd Neeskens Nesta Van Nistelrooy Owen Papin Pfaff Pires Platini Puskás Raúl Rensenbrink Rijkaard Rivera Rossi Rui Costa Rummenigge Rüştü Schmeichel Seedorf Seeler Shearer Shevchenko Stoichkov Šuker Thuram Totti Trésor Trezeguet Van der Elst Vieira Vieri Zidane Zoff
CONMEBOL	Carlos Alberto Batistuta Cafu Crespo Cubillas Di Stéfano Falcão Figueroa Francescoli Júnior Kempes Maradona Passarella Pelé Rivaldo Rivelino Roberto Carlos Romário Romero Ronaldinho Ronaldo Djalma Santos Nílton Santos Saviola Sívori Sócrates Valderrama Verón Zamorano Zanetti Zico
CAF	Diouf Milla Okocha Abedi Pelé Weah
CONCACAF	Akers Hamm Sánchez
AFC	Hong Nakata

v t e FIFA
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FIFA 100