When discussing footballers, often the conversation veers towards the playmaker. Perhaps the most important role on the field, a playmaker’s job is to ensure the game goes smoothly in favor of their team. To do so, a playmaker must have excellent vision, superb dribbling skills, a high football IQ, and a knack for improvisation.
Throughout history, football fans have seen some truly fabulous playmakers. However, the question we would like to answer is this: Who are the best? In this article we look at a few candidates who definitely have earned the title of the best playmaker in football history.
Diego Maradona
Argentina’s Diego Maradona is one of the greatest players of all time. One of the two players to win the FIFA “Player of the Century” award, Maradona was well-known for his perfect 20/20 vision, short stature, and incredibly eye for passing and receiving.
He filled out the midfielder role incredibly well, though could switch to forward and even defense when the situation called for it. It was Maradona’s incredibly playmaking abilities that ensured Argentina’s victory at the world cup in 1986.
Of course, a repeat of that spectacular event occurred just recently, in 2022. The Qatar Cup, covered widely by betting sites, saw Lionel Messi, an excellent player and playmaker in his own right, lead the Argentine team to another victory.
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Johan Cruyff
Holland’s genius player undoubtedly deserves a spot on this list. A practitioner of AFC Ajax’s total football, Cruyff could control the entire field, switching comfortably between the front, the midfield, and the back.
His style of play was characterized by short passes, ensuring that his team would always be in possession of the ball. When he joined Barcelona, the club adopted the strategy, and it would become a main characteristic of Spain’s national team. The so-called “tiki-taka” strategy which won Spain the 2010 World Cup, can definitely be traced back to Johan Cruyff.
A genius on the field, Cruyff famously said that football is a game you play with your body and win with your brain. His creativity and football IQ propel him to the top of the list of great playmakers in the sport’s history.
Zinedine Zidane
Zizou still remains one of the greatest stars of French football. During his player days, he played the starring role in many clubs, most notably Juventus and Real Madrid. As an attacking midfielder, Zizou remained in full control of his games, earning a Ballon d’Or and a Player of the Year award on three occasions.
What propelled Zizou to the top was above all his excellent vision. However, his vision was backed by an excellent physique, a graceful technique, elegant passes and incredible ball control. On numerous occasions he has been named one of the greatest players of the past 50 years, a title which he has certainly earned.
After his retirement, Zidane took to coaching. From 2013 until 2021 he was involved in managing and coaching Real Madrid, both the B team as well as the team proper. He retired in 2021, due to going trophy-less that season.
