Who is the best player in the history of football....

Weah is the only one to win the Ballon D’or isn’t he? It has to be him surely.
I think most people would accept him as the answer. I do think Salah, Mane and Son are right up there though.

Drogba and Eto’o are definitely in the mix too. Yaya, he was a good player but I don’t think there is any argument for him being the “best”. Just my opinion.

The thing with Weah is it sort of feels like he didn’t stay “at his peak” for very long. By the time he came to England he was rubbish as well.
 
Algerian descent i think

gullit wasn’t born in Europe....does he count?
Gullit was born in Amsterdam. Can’t get much more Dutch than that. Surinam is by most definitions South America anyway (although I realise it could be considered Carribbean).

Or did you see the dreadlocks and just assume he was born in Jamaica? 🤣😉😉 jk
 
Weah is the only one to win the Ballon D’or isn’t he? It has to be him surely.

He obviously has a very strong case and winning that award is some achievement, but I don't think it's as cut and dried as "he's the only one voted as world player of the year so it must be him". Depends who he was up against at the time for a start. Would he have won it Ronaldo and Messi were in that era?

By that logic you'd say Cannavaro was definitely the best defender of all time and that Modric was better than other midfielder of his generation (eg Xavi, Iniesta....).

I'm not saying Weah isn't the answer though. But there's more to it than winning one award which has arguably in the past been won by players who weren't actually the best in the world at the time.
 
Sorry but he doesn’t count. He was by most definitions Portuguese.

Of course I was joking about Alexei Lalas!

Eh? He moved to Portugal when he was 18/19, he is “Portuguese“ as he was born in Mozambique, which happened to be an African colony of Portugal.
 
He obviously has a very strong case and winning that award is some achievement, but I don't think it's as cut and dried as "he's the only one voted as world player of the year so it must be him". Depends who he was up against at the time for a start. Would he have won it Ronaldo and Messi were in that era?

By that logic you'd say Cannavaro was definitely the best defender of all time and that Modric was better than other midfielder of his generation (eg Xavi, Iniesta....).

I'm not saying Weah isn't the answer though. But there's more to it than winning one award which has arguably in the past been won by players who weren't actually the best in the world at the time.

He was for at least a year, clearly the best in the world though. You couldn’t argue that for the other players you mentioned. He may not have beaten Messi and Ronaldo but he was up against the likes of Baggio, Klinsmann, Maldini, Stoichkov and Brazilian Ronaldo.
 
I’m glad so many list Son as their favourite, he’s been mine since seeing him live for Spurs against us at the Riverside. Wonderful unselfish team player.

But the best has to be an African player surely?

I’d pick Drogba ahead of Weah, Yaya and Eto’o. Mane and Salah are only halfway through their careers though.
Son destroyed us one of the best performance by an away player I have ever seen at the riverside.
 
It sounds like you've just gone through a load of stats to make your decision, I'm basing it on what I watched with my own eyes, yes Drogba and Eto were good but Weah was phenomenal at his peak.

I'd put Weah not far behind Van Basten and the Brazilian Ronaldo for the best out and strikers I've seen.

No, I was picking Drogba based on what I'd seen with my own eyes, but then checking on some stats to see if my memory was clearly contradicted. We each might have seen a lot more of one or other of the contenders, but at least the stats suggest each are a contender and it then comes down to personal preferences.

One of the things that holds me back slightly on Weah is I felt at the time that there was a little bit of politics at work when choosing him as world player of the year, because there was a move to try and get African football more on the world football map, which I agreed with. Mainly though, I don't think he did it for long enough, compared to Drogba.
 
I'm sticking with Eusebio like someone else has already suggested.

Up to you if you've since changed the question to exclude him but for me Eusebio is the answer to your original question.
 
Last time we were in the PL, Son was the only player I saw live who made me think he's much better than I realised.
I think that was a breakthrough season for him, but I think he's the first East Asian player who I'd regard as essential to the team that he plays for in English football. Ji Sung Park was perfectly decent, but I'd regard him as a good squad man, rather than a key player.

That said, I think you're going to struggle to get much better than Weah.
 
Son destroyed us one of the best performance by an away player I have ever seen at the riverside.

So did Kanu when Arsenal thrashed us 6-1 - another non-Euro/SA player but admittedly not in the same class as those already mentioned

I still think Yaya is the best footballer - he had it all - unlike some others mentioned who could only play in one position. The very best footballers excel in a variety of skills.
 
I'm sticking with Eusebio like someone else has already suggested.

Up to you if you've since changed the question to exclude him but for me Eusebio is the answer to your original question.
I haven't really changed the question, I've just clarified what I was asking. You can have Eusebio if you want to play by your own rules though.
 
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