Every era has had its superstars. Whether it was George Best in the 1960s, Pelé in the ’70s, Diego Maradona in the ’80s, Ronaldo Nazário in the ’90s, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2000s and 2010s, or Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland more recently—there have always been the headline-makers, the ones who dominate the conversation week after week.
But alongside them, every era also had its unsung heroes—players who shaped the game yet never quite received the acclaim their talent deserved. They weren’t always the main attraction, but more often than not, they were the ones who made everything tick.
So here, we’re doing our best to put things right: giving long-overdue credit to the players who were every bit as important as their more glamorous teammates, but who never did—and still don’t—get the recognition they desperately deserve.
Here are Sports Illustrated’s 20 most underrated footballers of all time.
20. Keylor Navas
Goalkeepers are often underappreciated at the best of times—praised quietly when they excel, but relentlessly criticised for even the smallest slip. Few, however, have been as chronically underrated as Keylor Navas.
When people discuss Real Madrid’s greatest-ever goalkeepers, the conversation usually centres around Iker Casillas, Thibaut Courtois or even the legendary Ricardo Zamora.
Yet Navas has every right to be in that discussion. The Costa Rican was fundamental to Real Madrid’s historic run of three consecutive Champions League titles between 2016 and 2018, producing world-class performances at moments when margins were razor-thin.
After leaving Spain, he continued to excel, becoming a pillar of consistency for Paris Saint-Germain and helping the club sweep up domestic silverware.
19. Romelu Lukaku
Hear us out—yes, Romelu Lukaku isn’t the prettiest striker to watch, often looking closer to losing the ball than in control of it.
But his records are simply too impressive to ignore and certainly don’t justify the amount of criticism he gets.
The big Belgian is his country’s all-time leading goalscorer, has scored over 300 club goals (and counting) across Belgium, England and Italy, and has collected trophies with almost every team he’s played for.
It’s time to put some respect on his name.
18. Branislav Ivanovic
Among Premier League fans, Branislav Ivanović is often remembered as a stereotypical tough, no-nonsense Balkan defender—and he certainly was that. But he was much more than just a hard man.
Ivanović combined physicality with exceptional footballing intelligence, reading the game superbly, delivering precise crosses and posing a genuine goal threat at the other end, whether with his head or feet—as best demonstrated by his stunning header that secured Chelsea the Europa League in 2013.
Beyond that iconic strike, Ivanović was instrumental in Chelsea’s dominance throughout his time at the club, helping them lift three Premier League titles, three FA Cups, the Champions League and more.
Yet despite these achievements, he rarely features in conversations about the Premier League’s best-ever right backs—and he really should.
17. Adriano
It might seem odd to include Adriano here, given how often he’s still talked about, but much of that chatter focuses on what could have been—the personal issues that curtailed his career, or the fact that he was devastatingly effective in Pro Evolution Soccer.
In reality, during his short prime, Adriano was arguably the most fearsome striker in world football—a fact that’s easy to forget today.
One man who hasn’t forgotten is Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“Adriano was one of the best players I have ever played with. He was a different animal. Nobody could stop him,” Zlatan—who has shared a pitch with Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Hernán Crespo and more—once said of the powerhouse Brazilian.
It’s a shame his peak was brief, but let’s not forget just how good he really was either.
16. Mario Mandzukic
Players who rise to the occasion in the biggest moments are invaluable, and Mario Mandžukić excelled in exactly that role.
He famously scored a dramatic extra-time winner to send Croatia past England in the 2018 World Cup semifinals, propelling his nation to their first-ever World Cup final, where he found the net once more—though France ultimately denied them the trophy.
Mandžukić had also made his mark in Europe’s elite competitions, opening the scoring for Bayern Munich in their 2-1 Champions League final triumph over Borussia Dortmund in 2013.
Across a remarkable 17-year career, he collected 10 domestic league titles in top European leagues, including the Bundesliga and Serie A, and was a sought-after talent for clubs like Bayern, Atlético Madrid, and Juventus.
Yet for all his clutch goals and consistency, Mandžukić often remains underappreciated.
15. James Milner
You don’t rack up more Premier League appearances than anyone in history unless you’re a seriously good footballer.
Yet somehow, that’s exactly how many people define James Milner—reducing him to a trivia answer, a “solid but average” player whose longevity alone carried him to the record.
What they overlook is that Milner has never been average. A Premier League champion with both Manchester City and Liverpool, and a Champions League winner with the latter, the endlessly adaptable Englishman has been a vital cog in some of the greatest sides the league has ever seen.
He’s not flashy, he’s not loud, and he’s never been the headline act—but that doesn’t make him any less valuable. Milner is the type of player every manager dreams of.
14. Diego Milito
Inter Milan won their first-ever Champions League title (excluding the days of the European Cup) in 2009–10 under the tactical genius of José Mourinho.
On the pitch, however, it was Diego Milito who stole the show—the Argentine striker, elegant, powerful, and intelligent in equal measure—scoring both goals as Inter defeated Bayern Munich 2–0 at the Santiago Bernabéu.
“The Prince” wasn’t just a flash in the pan, though. He scored goals wherever he played domestically, firing for fun with Real Zaragoza, Genoa, Racing Club and of course Inter.
His relative lack of opportunities on the international stage—just four games across major tournaments (two at the 2007 Copa América and two at the 2010 World Cup, one as a substitute)—feels thoroughly unfair in hindsight.
13. Edin Dzeko
Sergio Agüero (rightly so) gets most of the credit for securing Manchester City their first ever Premier League title, thanks to his last-gasp winner against Queens Park Rangers that sealed a 3-2 victory for Roberto Mancini’s side.
It’s easy to forget that just two minutes before Agüero’s dramatic strike, his striker partner Edin Džeko had also scored to level the match—a goal just as crucial, but often overlooked because of the theatrics at the end.
That alone should earn Džeko a spot on this list, but his consistency over a long career makes it even clearer.
The Bosnian scored goals with alarming regularity at the top level—in Germany with Wolfsburg, in England with City, in Italy with Roma, Inter and Fiorentina and for his national team—racking up over 450 career goals yet rarely receiving any plaudits.
12. Guti
In the Real Madrid sides of the 1990s and 2000s, countless big names—Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Clarence Seedorf, Wesley Sneijder, Claude Makélélé—came and went in midfield. Yet one man remained: the homegrown, Madrid-born academy graduate José María Gutiérrez Hernández, best known as Guti.
A midfield maestro and occasional forward, the Spaniard made 542 appearances for Madrid, helping the club to 15 trophies—most notably three Champions League and five La Liga titles.
Yet his contributions are often reduced to a single YouTube highlight reel—an admittedly outrageous backheel assist he produced for Karim Benzema in 2010.
Ironically, that was one of his final goals contributions for Madrid. Guti left his boyhood club at the end of that season. But what about the 172 others? You’d have thought they don’t matter.
11. Ian Rush
Ian Rush is Liverpool’s all-time top scorer with a staggering 346 goals, firing the Reds to five First Division titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups, and two European Cups in the 1980s and '90s.
Yet when the conversation turns to Liverpool’s all-time greats, Rush is often overlooked, with journalists and fans alike favouring the likes of Steven Gerrard, Kenny Dalglish, Mohamed Salah, John Barnes, Robbie Fowler, and even Luis Suárez—who, yes, was brilliant but spent just three-and-a-half years at Anfield and won little more than a League Cup.
Goals aren’t everything, sure, but without Rush’s remarkable haul, the Reds wouldn’t have been the all-conquering force they once were—or the global powerhouse they remain today.
10. Frank Rijkaard
We think EA FC has warped how younger fans remember—or even respect—footballing legends. Instead of judging greatness by impact on the pitch, it’s often reduced to in-game ratings.
Unfortunately for Frank Rijkaard, he doesn’t score highly in that metric—but in reality, he was phenomenal.
Rijkaard was the quiet backbone of AC Milan’s dominant late ’80s and early ’90s teams, playing alongside the likes of Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit. During his time there, he helped the Rossoneri win two Serie A titles and two European Cups, anchoring a midfield that allowed his more attacking teammates to shine.
Because his brilliance was understated—and since overlooked in video games—Rijkaard, one of football’s all-time greats, is now often dismissed as merely a niche ’90s star.
9. Youri Djorkaeff
Youri Djorkaeff had the unfortunate role of living in the shadow of Zinedine Zidane—both elegant, technically superb midfield masters (though Djorkaeff could also play up top) who were at the peak of their powers in the 1990s and early '00s.
One, of course, is widely remembered as perhaps the best ever to do it, but the other (Djorkaeff, in case you hadn’t guessed) has been largely forgotten.
The reality is Djorkaeff played just as vital a role, if not more important, in France’s World Cup triumph in 1998, scoring once and producing three assists—including one in the final—and again as France won the European Championship two years later, serving as a key creator for Les Bleus.
Also regarded as an Inter Milan icon (he scored some of the club’s greatest goals in its history), Djorkaeff may have lived in Zidane’s shadow, but he stepped out of it every time he was on the pitch.
8. Bebeto
There have been some beautiful strike partnerships in the history of football—Crouch and Defoe, Phillips and Quinn, Shearer and Sutton, Henry and Bergkamp, Guðjohnsen and Hasselbaink—but perhaps none have been so wonderful, or so underappreciated, as that of Bebeto and Romário.
Opposite in nature—Bebeto shy and coy, Romário extroverted and volatile—their on-pitch chemistry was a thing of beauty. Their link-up at the 1994 World Cup, where they scored eight goals between them (Romário five, Bebeto three), fired the Seleção to glory for the first time since 1970.
Of course, because he was the quiet one, Bebeto’s role is often overlooked compared to Romário’s, just as his domestic achievements tend to be forgotten.
In case you need reminding, Bebeto scored 100 goals in four seasons for Deportivo La Coruña in Spain between 1992 and 1996, helping the relatively modest club win the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.
7. Steve Bruce
Before he became a journeyman manager, Steve Bruce was one of the finest centre backs of his generation—the old-fashioned type who put his body on the line for his team and, in the words of the great Neil Warnock, would “die to get three points out there.”
He wasn’t flashy, but boy was he effective. Bruce made over 400 appearances for Manchester United, scoring an impressive 52 goals, and helped them lift three Premier League titles, three FA Cups and a handful of other major honours.
And yet, despite all that, he never played for England—turning down a call-up late in his career for a friendly because he felt it was a “sympathy” cap.
Underrated doesn’t even begin to cover it.
6. Santi Cazorla
Santi Cazorla was pure magic—a two-footed box of tricks in the middle of the park who could wriggle out of impossible spaces, glide past opposition players as if they weren’t there, and read the game like he was watching from a bird’s-eye view, often anticipating his opponents’ next move before they even knew it themselves.
Perhaps because he never consistently played for the world’s biggest teams—spending much of his career at Villarreal, Málaga, his boyhood club Real Oviedo, and, at a time of relative decline, Arsenal—his trophy cabinet doesn’t fully reflect his talent.
Internationally, he helped Spain win the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, but given the sheer wealth of midfield talent in those squads—Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, David Silva, Cesc Fàbregas, Xabi Alonso, Juan Mata—Cazorla was, and remains, often forgotten, despite being capable of going toe-to-toe with most of them on his day.
5. Olivier Giroud
Watch a highlight reel of Olivier Giroud’s best-ever goals and you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d just stumbled across the greatest striker of all time.
Silky control to take a high ball out of the air with his left, followed by a low finish on his right with the very next touch? Check. Acrobatic overhead kick? More than a few. Outrageous volley from the edge of the box that somehow finds the top corner? Absolutely.
Perhaps the greatest scorpion kick goal football has ever seen? Only Olivier Giroud.
Still, for all his incredible goals for club and country, and a cabinet full of trophies including the 2018 World Cup and 2020–21 Champions League, he rarely gets the credit he truly deserves.
4. Alessandro Costacurta
Ask anyone to list Italy’s greatest defenders and you’ll hear the usual names: Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Fabio Cannavaro, Giorgio Chiellini, Alessandro Nesta, Leonardo Bonucci.
Very few will mention Alessandro Costacurta—and frankly, we can’t understand why.
Costacurta was comfortably one of the outstanding centre backs of his era. Blessed with a velvet first touch, excellent passing range and razor-sharp tactical awareness, he was a pillar of an AC Milan side that dominated Serie A and regularly conquered Europe for more than a decade. During his time in Milan, he helped the Rossoneri to seven league titles and five European Cups/Champions Leagues.
Perhaps his comparatively modest international résumé has caused him to fade from collective memory, but make no mistake: Costacurta was every bit as good as many of the “bigger” defensive names people recall more readily—if not better in certain aspects.
3. Juan Roman Riquelme
“When we have the ball, we have the world’s best player. But when we lose the ball, we play with 10 men,” former Barcelona manager Louis van Gaal once said of the great Juan Román Riquelme.
That’s perhaps why he’s often overlooked among the all-time attacking midfield greats. Riquelme wasn’t buzzing around the pitch like Diego Maradona or displaying the athleticism of Zidane—instead, he relied on intelligence, vision, and flawless technique.
You have to be something special to be Lionel Messi’s idol—and Riquelme exactly was that.
2. Matt Le Tissier
Matt Le Tissier was brilliant from the penalty spot—everybody knows that—but he was just as exceptional in open play.
Though English, Le Tissier played with a distinctly continental flair: The seasoned touch of a silky Spaniard (he was Xavi’s idol, believe it or not), the dribbling skill of a graceful Dutchman and the intelligence of a seasoned Italian playmaker. Exceptionally gifted and technically brilliant, he did things most others wouldn’t even dream of.
There was a reason he was known as “Le God” at Southampton, where he spent his entire playing career.
Outside of those fans, however, he rarely gets the plaudits he so richly deserved—including for England, for whom he made just one competitive start, in a World Cup qualifying game against Italy in 1997.
1. Kevin Keegan
When people think of Kevin Keegan, they inevitably picture the man who almost guided Newcastle United to the Premier League and famously went on a rant about Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson—“I will love it if we beat them, love it.” You know the one.
What often gets forgotten is that before all that, Keegan was a two-time Ballon d’Or winner. That’s more than Zidane, more than Ronaldinho, more than Ruud Gullit, more than George Best.
In his prime with Liverpool and Hamburg in the late 1970s, Keegan was the best player on the planet, bar none—a silky attacking midfielder who tore opponents apart for fun and found the net with the regularity of a striker.
You know what we’d love? We would love it if people remembered that.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The 20 Most Underrated Players in Soccer History—Ranked.