Ranking the greatest soccer players since 2000 (Nos. 11-15)

The latest edition of theScore’s Eras project, which celebrates greatness in every major sport over the last 25 years, ranks and discusses the 25 best male soccer players since 2000.

Remember: Respective accomplishments and accolades compiled before the year 2000 weren’t considered for this project. For example, Zinedine Zidane’s titanic showing in the 1998 World Cup isn’t part of his resume as it relates to this exercise, but his performances – and the infamous conclusion – in the 2006 tournament are taken into account.

Monday: Introductory essay and players 21-25
Tuesday: Players 16-20

15. Ronaldo 🇧🇷

Era teams: Inter Milan 2000-02; Real Madrid 2002-07; AC Milan 2007-08; Corinthians 2009-11; Brazil 2000-11

Signature performance: Ronaldo’s two-goal display in the 2002 World Cup final is among the most memorable performances in tournament history. It’s also one of the most improbable, a comeback story for the ages. Four years prior, when he was the most unstoppable forward on the planet, an ambiguous medical episode on the day of the 1998 final – later described as a seizure – rendered him helpless against France.

What followed were two devastating knee injuries with Inter Milan. The latter, a gruesome rupture of his patellar tendon in April 2000 that doctors dubbed the worst they’d ever seen, sidelined him for over a year and threatened his participation in the 2002 event. Not only did he return, he dominated. Ronaldo won the Golden Boot with eight goals in Korea and Japan – his 15 World Cup tallies rank second all time – putting an exclamation point on his resurgence with a brace to take down Oliver Kahn and Germany.

Why he’s here: Another all-time great whose peak came in the 20th century. Prior to the aforementioned injuries Ronaldo was, in a word, unstoppable. “Il Fenomeno” – the phenomenon – could not be a more apt nickname.

A generational athlete, his speed, especially over the first few steps, was staggering. Nobody could catch him. Most players, no matter how rapid, have to slow down when they have the ball, giving defenders the chance to recover. Ronaldo didn’t. He combined that with raw strength, elite dribbling skills, and precision finishing. He was the perfect package, and almost certainly your favorite player’s favorite player.

The Ronaldo of the 21st century, the period we’re evaluating, wasn’t nearly the same explosive, once-in-a-lifetime force of nature. But he still produced after joining Real Madrid in 2002, the same season he won his second Ballon d’Or, five years after his first. He scored 82 La Liga goals during his four full seasons in the Spanish capital. How many more could it have been had his knees not imploded? It’s one of the sport’s great “what-ifs?”

“Without hesitation, Ronaldo is the best player I ever played with,” Zidane, one of his fellow Galacticos at Real Madrid, proclaimed. – Gianluca Nesci

14. Mohamed Salah 🇪🇬

Era teams: Al Mokawloon 2010-12; FC Basel 2012-14; Chelsea 2014-15; Fiorentina 2015; AS Roma 2015-17; Liverpool 2017-present; Egypt 2011-present

Signature performance: Anfield exploded when Salah sliced his way through a cluster of Manchester City defenders to score one of the most memorable goals in Liverpool’s recent rivalry with Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side. Salah sidestepped Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, and Phil Foden before turning Aymeric Laporte inside out with a subtle drop of the shoulder that opened up just enough space for him to lash a shot into the bottom corner. “Only the best players in the world score goals like this,” Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said at the time. “People will talk about this goal for a long, long time.”

Though Liverpool’s 2-1 lead didn’t last – Kevin De Bruyne scored minutes later to secure a 2-2 draw for City in October 2021 – Salah’s goal set the tone for a wildly entertaining title race that City edged by a single point thanks to a valiant comeback effort on the final day of the season. Only Ian Rush (15) has scored more goals for Liverpool in matches against City. But Salah’s 11 tallies feel much heavier in this clash of new-age titans.

Why he’s here: Salah is a three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner who’s recorded at least 27 goal contributions in each of his seven previous seasons in the English top flight. Only Thierry Henry has finished as top scorer more times than Salah.

But that only tells part of the Egyptian’s story. He’s arguably one of Liverpool’s greatest players, enthralling the masses with his mazy dribbling and quick-trigger pace. No player’s ever opened a Premier League season as strongly as Salah, who has a record nine goals in opening-day clashes since joining Liverpool from Roma in 2017. Even as his career winds down, Salah continues to post impressive numbers. He’s the first player in Europe’s top five leagues to reach double digits in goals and assists in all competitions this season and still plays with the same zip and pizzazz that powered his astonishing rise.

He ranks higher than Ronaldo because all of his prime years have come inside the 21st century. Salah has stood up and gone toe to toe with City, the Premier League’s greatest team, and won every competition an English club can win, including the Premier League, Champions League, the FA Cup, League Cup, Club World Cup, and UEFA Super Cup.

The only blemish on his record – and the one thing keeping him from being higher on this list – is the absence of international success. Salah led Egypt to the 2017 and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations finals but suffered heartbreaking losses to Senegal each time. He wasn’t even able to take a penalty in the shootout defeat three years ago. Egypt also lost all three matches at the 2018 World Cup with Salah nursing a shoulder injury in Russia. But that says more about Egypt than Salah. – Anthony Lopopolo

13. Kylian Mbappe 🇫🇷

Era teams: AS Monaco 2015-17; PSG 2017-24; Real Madrid 2024-present; France 2017-present

Signature performance: Mbappe couldn’t even celebrate one of the most remarkable individual feats in World Cup history. His hat-trick against Argentina made him only the second player after Pele to score three times in a final, but France ultimately blew their chance to win back-to-back World Cups, losing the shootout that followed a remarkable 3-3 draw that Mbappe somehow made possible.

Argentina would’ve won the 2022 World Cup final comfortably if Mbappe hadn’t intervened. France failed to record a single shot on target until he struck twice in a 97-second spell with only 10 minutes to go in Qatar. Just like that, Argentina’s 2-0 lead evaporated, and when Lionel Messi made it 3-2 in extra time, Mbappe responded in the 118th minute with his second penalty of the game. He even dispatched the first of France’s spot-kicks in the shootout. “Not being able to be champion after that was crazy,” Messi later admitted.

Why he’s here: Think about everything Mbappe has accomplished before turning 26. He won Ligue 1 with Monaco as a teenager, became the youngest player since Pele to score in a World Cup final, tied the Brazilian icon for sixth in World Cup scoring with 12 goals across only two tournaments, and climbed to the top of Paris Saint-Germain’s scoring chart. He has few rivals in his peer group. Mbappe’s already achieved in seven years what most players could only dream of accomplishing over an entire career.

There are caveats. That most of his domestic success has come in France’s top flight is worthy of skepticism. He’s yet to win the Champions League, and he’ll have to do just that at Real Madrid to correct his record. But these are asterisks more than clear knocks against a player who’s scored at an incredible clip from a wide position. Take a look at the players he surpassed on PSG’s all-time scoring list: Ronaldinho, Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Edinson Cavani, who each dominated the game at one point or another. Mbappe once scored five goals in a single game and went on to win 14 trophies with PSG. That doesn’t disappear because he played in France. It just weighs a little less.

The reason Mbappe ranks on this list while his closest rival Erling Haaland watches on simply comes down to the breadth of the Frenchman’s early-career success. While Haaland’s topped 100 Premier League goals and won a continental treble, he hasn’t even played in a World Cup yet. Mbappe’s already gone down as the best player in the history of a major European club – and that isn’t up for discussion, according to World Cup winner Thierry Henry.

“The impact he had all over the world, what he has been doing, for me, yes, he will go down as the best player in PSG’s history,” Henry said earlier this year. – Lopopolo

12. Ronaldinho 🇧🇷

Era teams: Gremio 2000-01; PSG 2001-03; Barcelona 2003-08; AC Milan 2008-2011; Flamengo 2011-12; Atletico Mineiro 2012-14; Queretaro 2014-15; Fluminense 2015; Brazil 2000-13

Signature performance: Iker Casillas’ reaction spoke volumes after Ronaldinho’s second goal. The legendary Real Madrid goalkeeper shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, “How are we supposed to stop this guy?” But the response from the Madrid faithful at the Santiago Bernabeu was even more telling in a game their team would lose 3-0. Instead of booing Ronaldinho or their team off the field, Madrid fans gave him a standing ovation after his epic display.

Nine days before he won the Ballon d’Or in November 2005, Ronaldinho’s crowning achievement on the pitch started with a shoulder dip that sent his marker to Mars before he tucked his shot inside the near post. His first goal was nice, but his second was a work of art. In another rampaging run toward the Madrid penalty box, Ronaldinho went left this time, making another Madrid defender look silly on his way to firing his shot into the far side of Casillas’ net.

Why he’s here: There’s a whole generation of fans who rank Ronaldinho as the best ever. And they only needed a small sample size to arrive at that conclusion. That’s how good the Brazilian was after he joined Barcelona. He had an incomparable combination of skills, flare, and creativity that made him one of the most impossible players to defend, as well as one of the most enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing players to watch.

By 2005, there was hardly any debate about who the top player in the world was. Ronaldinho elevated his game to new heights, but never lost his childlike enjoyment of the game on his way to winning the only Ballon d’Or of his career. Despite the individual accolades and worldwide recognition, there was a void in his resume. Ronaldinho had already won the World Cup with Brazil, but success at the club level paled in comparison. That changed when Ronaldinho led Barcelona to Champions League glory in 2006.

It was a fitting end to a dominant season that’s still remembered fondly. Not long after, Ronaldinho’s career went into decline. Although he was around to play a role in mentoring a young Messi, injuries started to take a toll on Ronaldinho before he left Barca in 2008. He eventually ended his glittering career in Brazil years later as one of the sport’s most popular cultural icons. – Gordon Brunt

11. Luis Suarez 🇺🇾

Era teams: Nacional 2005-06, 2022-23; Groningen 2006-07; Ajax 2007-11; Liverpool 2011-14; Barcelona 2014-20; Atletico Madrid 2020-22; Gremio 2023-24; Inter Miami 2024-present; Uruguay 2007-24

Signature performance: Suarez had a particular knack for tormenting Norwich City during his time in England. He did exactly that Dec. 4, 2013, scoring four goals in a single game, ranging from excellent to outrageous, in his final season at Liverpool.

The variety was most impressive: a looping, long-range shot on the bounce; an acrobatic hooked effort with a defender draped all over him; an arrowed strike into the bottom corner after a dazzling solo run; a picturesque free-kick. He could do it all. Suarez, who won the Golden Boot with 31 Premier League markers, nearly dragged the Reds to the title and ended their drought all by himself that season.

Why he’s here: Suarez has been a voracious scorer for almost two decades, punishing almost every team he’s faced in his career. He’s feasted on opponents big and small, finding the net with stunning regularity in the Netherlands, England, Spain, and now the United States. That translated to international play, too, where Suarez is Uruguay’s all-time top scorer; his goals in the semifinals and final helped the nation claim the 2011 Copa America.

Suarez ran roughshod over multiple leagues with multiple teams, able to dupe defenders with his skill or bully them with his tenacity. He was the best No. 9 in the world at his apex in Barcelona. His transfer to the Catalan club also had a reverberating effect on the sport, as “El Pistolero” arrived and became the final piece of Barca’s vaunted “MSN” triumvirate with Messi and Neymar. There’s arguably never been a better attacking trio.

Suarez won the treble in his first season with Barcelona. Then, with Messi injured and ailing for parts of the 2015-16 campaign, he delivered one of the true Herculean seasons in recent history, scoring 59 goals in 53 games across all competitions, including 40 in La Liga.

He may be the most notorious pantomime villain of his generation, but he’s also one of the very best players. The mark he’s left – literally, on Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder, and figuratively – won’t soon be forgotten. – Nesci

Follow the rollout all week long. Thursday: Nos. 6-10.