Messi, Maradona or Pele? Ranking the top 10 World Cup legends

[BBC] It's a daunting task. Trying to whittle down thousands of players from 22 tournaments spread over almost a century to pick the top 10 World Cup legends of all time. To my mind, the top six or seven are obvious - even if the order is debatable - but it's those who fill the remaining spots that will no doubt spark the biggest talking point. It's hard to leave out Miroslav Klose, for example, although for what it's worth the top goalscorer in World Cup history would come in a close 11th. There's no room for Garrincha either, the dazzling bowlegged Brazilian winger, or Roberto Baggio, a true Italian icon, and France striker Just Fontaine, who netted 13 in the 1958 tournament alone. Some of the game's greats such as Dutch icon Johan Cruyff, Portugal striker Eusebio and Germany's goalscoring machine Gerd Muller miss out too - perhaps a top 20 would've made this easier? - while the collective beauty of Spain's 2010 vintage means no individual is on the list. So who does make it?! Well, I've picked my top 10 below - those most synonymous with the tournament. You can have your say in the comments, too. World Cup fixtures and group standings How to watch the World Cup on the BBC Everything you need to know about the World Cup 10. Sir Geoff Hurst, England, World Cup winner 1966 We all know the story. Hurst wasn't supposed to play as England's star striker Jimmy Greaves, injured in the group stages, was returning to fitness for the 1966 final against West Germany and the clamour was for him to start at Wembley. But Sir Alf Ramsey stuck with the man who only made his international debut a few months earlier, and the rest is history. West Ham forward Hurst scored a fabulous hat-trick as the Three Lions clinched the game's grandest prize for the only time in their history - and on home soil. Hurst was by no means the most talented or iconic player in that team, but you cannot discount a hat-trick in the showpiece - that's a legendary feat only matched by France's Kylian Mbappe four years ago in Qatar, and he was on the losing side. Without Hurst there would be no "they think it's all over...", no 60 years of hurt... Did it cross the line? [Getty Images] 9. Cafu, Brazil, World Cup winner 1994 & 2002 We'll give Kevin Bridges the assist for this one. If you've not seen his 'In Search of the Beautiful Game' yet then it's well worth digging out on iPlayer. The comedian swaps Clydebank for the Copacabana in search of 'jogo bonito' and meets the legendary Cafu - the only man to appear in three successive World Cup finals. The marauding full-back came off the bench when Brazil trumped Italy on penalties at the Rose Bowl in 1994, was a beaten finalist in France four years later and then lifted the trophy as captain at Japan and South Korea in 2002. Cafu is World Cup royalty, only Klose boasts more than his 16 wins across four tournaments, but also a legend who remembers his roots - "100% Jardim Irene" he scribbled on his canary yellow shirt before lifting the trophy in 2002, a message to the Sao Paulo favela where he grew up. 8. Paolo Rossi, Italy, World Cup winner 1982 Rossi's World Cup fairytale began against Brazil in one of the tournament's all-time iconic matches - sweat-drenched Azzurri blue against the vibrant yellow of the favourites, a classic played out to a backbeat of buzzing horns in Barcelona. Italy's strength was meant to be their defence, but Rossi proved the hat-trick hero - netting twice in the first half and grabbing the winner in the second. Those were also the striker's first Italy goals since returning from a two-year ban following a match-fixing scandal earlier that year - something he always denied - but they would not be the last. The penalty-box predator grabbed both in a semi-final win against Poland, and then scored the opener as Italy dispatched West Germany 3-1 in the final at the Bernabeu to win a first World Cup since 1938. Rossi's six goals earned him the tournament Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards, as well as the World Player of the Year prize. 7. Zinedine Zidane, France, World Cup winner 1998 With chants of "Zidane president!", the image of Zidane and message "Merci, Zizou" lit up the Arc de Triomphe as more than a million joyous fans crammed on to the Champs-Élysees to celebrate France's World Cup success in 1998. Zidane, a second-generation Algerian immigrant raised in the concrete high rises of northern Marseille, was the talisman and face of a multi-cultural Les Bleus team that finally delivered the globe's biggest footballing prize. "We realised Zidane was the player who was going to make the difference," France defender Lilian Thuram told me. The majestic midfielder's World Cup legacy is a cocktail of important goals, balletic brilliance and hot-headed red cards. France's 2006 final defeat by Italy is of course remembered for Zidane headbutting Marco Materazzi. But he also missed two matches in '98 after being sent off in the group stages against Saudi Arabia. He returned for the quarter-final, guiding France past Italy and then Croatia, before delivering a masterclass in the final against Brazil, scoring twice - both headers from corners - to spark wild celebrations in Paris. 6. Kylian Mbappe, France, World Cup winner 2018 Mbappe's World Cup legend is still being written. At 27, and with potentially two or even three more tournaments to come, the France superstar could well be challenging at the top of this list by the time he retires. The striker excelled in Russia as a 19-year-old in 2018 - France's youngest ever scorer, the first teenager to score twice in a knockout game since Pele in 1958 with his last-16 double against Argentina, and then the first teenager since Pele to score in a final as Les Bleus beat Croatia. Mbappe's career has arguably peaked at World Cups. Prolific with Paris St-Germain and now Real Madrid, but unable to land a Champions League with either, it's with France on the biggest stage where he has shone the most. His performance against Argentina in the 2022 final alone - scoring a scintillating hat-trick - was worthy of winning the game's biggest prize for a second time. It's just that he was up against Lionel Messi and co… 5. Franz Beckenbauer, West Germany, World Cup winner 1974 (and 1990 as head coach of Germany) Runner-up in 1966 and third place four years later. Franz Beckenbauer finally got his hands on the World Cup in 1974, captaining West Germany to victory over the much-fancied Netherlands. Beckenbauer, the elegant ball-playing defender, led the hosts in thwarting the Total Football of Cruyff's side - the very style of play that influenced his own game - even after his side fell behind to a second-minute penalty having not yet touched the ball. That would be his third and final edition as a player, but Der Kaiser returned in the dugout to lead his country to successive finals. West Germany were beaten by Argentina in 1986, but four years later Beckenbauer became the only man to win the World Cup as a player and a manager when his side earned revenge on La Albiceleste in Italy. [Getty Images] 4. Lionel Messi, Argentina, World Cup winner 2022 It looked like it might not happen for either of the best players of a generation, possibly the best of all time. Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were deep into their 30s without a World Cup triumph between them, and the Argentina icon was staring at an early exit in Qatar after a shock opening defeat by Saudi Arabia. But in his fifth tournament, Messi - having led Argentina to the 2014 final - turned his team's fate on its head. A goal and assist against Mexico followed, before he scored against Australia in the last 16, a penalty in the quarter-final tie with the Netherlands and another from the spot against Croatia in the semi-finals. Messi was inspired once more in a classic final against France. The diminutive magician scored twice, taking his goal total for the tournament to seven, before converting in the shootout as Argentina clinched a first World Cup since Diego Maradona's heroics in 1986. 3. Ronaldo, Brazil, World Cup winner 1994 & 2002 A tale famously one of redemption. Like Cafu, striker Ronaldo was in the squad when Brazil won the World Cup in 1994 but, aged just 17, did not make an appearance. Four years later, he was at his blistering best, an unstoppable blend of pace, skill and ruthless finishing heralding him the best player on the planet. He scored four goals as Brazil reached the final but a seizure before the match - and the resulting confusion of whether he would play or not - meant the prolific striker looked far from himself as the Selecao were well beaten by France. The years before his next World Cup in 2002 were blighted by a serious knee injury, Ronaldo barely featuring for Inter Milan or Brazil and his inclusion at the tournament in doubt. But in Japan and South Korea he was able to rekindle flashes of brilliance, scoring eight times including twice in the final against Germany to banish the painful memories of Paris. Ronaldo took his World Cup total to a then-record 15 in the Germany edition four years later. 2. Diego Maradona, Argentina, World Cup winner 1986 He comes in at number two here, but there is no one more box office than Maradona - a statement one epitomised by his World Cup summers. Left at home as a tender 17-year-old in 1978, when Argentina beat the Netherlands to win their first World Cup, Maradona's first taste of football's biggest event came four years later, when the flamboyant forward was sent off for retaliating as the holders crashed out in a bruising encounter with Brazil. Maradona's defining summer would come in Mexico in 1986. What is arguably the best individual tournament in history is remembered most vividly for his two goals against England in the quarter-final. The first was the infamous 'Hand of God' moment. The second, an act of pure genius - a daring dribble from his own half leaving England players velcroed to the Azteca turf, before grounding and rounding goalkeeper Peter Shilton. He scored twice again in the semi-final against Belgium, before captaining Argentina to victory over West Germany in the final - finishing the tournament with five goals and as many assists. A tearful Maradona's Argentina side were beaten finalists in 1990, and four years later El Pibe de Oro (The Golden Boy) ended his World Cup with the typical drama and scandal that seemed to hang on to him like a shadow - sent home after testing positive for banned substances in the group stages. 1. Pele, Brazil, World Cup winner 1958, 1962 & 1970. Who else but the great Pele? The only man to win three World Cups, all in different decades and, for generations, the most iconic name in the sport. Having famously told his father he would win him the World Cup after Brazil's shock defeat by Uruguay at the Maracana in 1950, Pele was only 17 when he burst into the footballing world's consciousness in 1958 with a semi-final hat-trick against France and two more in the final success over Sweden. He was part of the Brazil squad that retained the trophy four years later, but missed most of the tournament through injury after scoring in the opening game - only later receiving a winners' medal. In 1966, as the world's greatest player, he was on the end of such rough treatment he vowed to never play in the tournament again. Come 1970, though, Pele was back. Carrying the weight of his nation in Mexico, the forward was at his skilful, creative, innovative best, dazzling in yellow as the Selecao reached the final in style and then thrashed Italy 4-1 in the showpiece, Pele scoring the first and setting up two others. Pele, of course, is the most legendary World Cup star of all time. Pele played at four World Cups, winning three and scoring 12 goals in 14 games [Getty Images]