The best attacking midfielders of every era

Four eras, voted separately — a attacking midfielder is only ever compared with the attacking midfielders of his own time.

1930s–60s

Bobby Charlton

#1 · 1214 Elo

1970s–80s

Diego Maradona

#1 · 1372 Elo

1990–2009

Kaká

#1 · 1254 Elo

2010–now

Kevin De Bruyne

#1 · 1252 Elo

1930s–60s

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The best attacking midfielders of the 1930s–60s, ranked by community Elo
	Player	Elo	Won–lost	Duels
1	Bobby CharltonMan United	1214	20–4	24
2	ZizinhoFlamengo	1058	7–3	10
3	Gianni RiveraAC Milan	956	9–15	24
4	Valentino MazzolaTorino	936	3–7	10
5	Nils LiedholmAC Milan	892	1–7	8

Show all 8

The best attacking midfielders of the 1930s–60s, from number 6
	Player	Elo	Won–lost	Duels
6	Sandro MazzolaInter Milan	886	8–18	26
7	Raymond KopaReal Madrid	856	4–15	19
8	Juan Alberto SchiaffinoPeñarol	797	2–19	21

1970s–80s

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The best attacking midfielders of the 1970s–80s, ranked by community Elo
	Player	Elo	Won–lost	Duels
1	Diego MaradonaNapoli	1372	41–3	44
2	Ruud GullitAC Milan	1244	25–3	28
3	Michel PlatiniJuventus	1199	20–4	24
4	ZicoFlamengo	1160	23–9	32
5	Glenn HoddleTottenham	1067	13–9	22

Show all 16

The best attacking midfielders of the 1970s–80s, from number 6
	Player	Elo	Won–lost	Duels
6	SócratesCorinthians	991	12–12	24
7	Bernd SchusterBarcelona	975	14–17	31
8	Kazimierz DeynaLegia Warsaw	962	9–11	20
9	Zbigniew BoniekJuventus	939	16–28	44
10	Günter NetzerBorussia Mönchengladbach	900	12–20	32
11	Roberto RivelinoCorinthians	898	8–18	26
12	Wolfgang OverathKöln	878	8–20	28
13	Liam BradyArsenal	860	3–11	14
14	Teófilo CubillasAlianza Lima	848	8–24	32
15	Giancarlo AntognoniFiorentina	828	7–21	28
16	Antonín PanenkaBohemians Prague	813	2–13	15

1990–2009

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The best attacking midfielders of the 1990–2009, ranked by community Elo
	Player	Elo	Won–lost	Duels
1	KakáAC Milan	1254	23–2	25
2	Zinedine ZidaneReal Madrid	1253	22–1	23
3	Gheorghe HagiGalatasaray	1186	23–7	30
4	Pavel NedvědJuventus	1127	22–9	31
5	Michael LaudrupBarcelona	1105	18–9	27

Show all 16

The best attacking midfielders of the 1990–2009, from number 6
	Player	Elo	Won–lost	Duels
6	Rui CostaFiorentina	1096	17–7	24
7	Paul GascoigneTottenham	1090	16–10	26
8	Juan Román RiquelmeBoca Juniors	1052	20–15	35
9	DecoPorto	1052	5–3	8
10	Thomas Häßler1. FC Köln	1002	5–7	12
11	Zvonimir BobanAC Milan	999	14–13	27
12	Jay-Jay OkochaPSG	979	13–11	24
13	Dejan SavićevićAC Milan	915	7–18	25
14	GutiReal Madrid	906	6–13	19
15	Pablo AimarValencia	896	1–8	9
16	Dragan StojkovićRed Star Belgrade	893	1–10	11

2010–now

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The best attacking midfielders of the 2010–now, ranked by community Elo
	Player	Elo	Won–lost	Duels
1	Kevin De BruyneMan City	1252	21–1	22
2	Andrés IniestaBarcelona	1209	17–1	18
3	David SilvaMan City	1174	17–3	20
4	Wesley SneijderInter Milan	1166	17–5	22
5	Bruno FernandesMan United	1163	12–3	15

Show all 30

The best attacking midfielders of the 2010–now, from number 6
	Player	Elo	Won–lost	Duels
6	Bernardo SilvaMan City	1141	14–4	18
7	Mesut ÖzilReal Madrid	1105	14–7	21
8	James RodríguezReal Madrid	1103	6–0	6
9	Mario GötzeBorussia Dortmund	1099	7–2	9
10	Martin ØdegaardArsenal	1088	5–0	5
11	IscoReal Madrid	1070	4–0	4
12	Dominik SzoboszlaiLiverpool	1058	6–2	8
13	Marek HamšíkNapoli	1053	3–0	3
14	Christian EriksenTottenham	1037	2–0	2
15	Philippe CoutinhoLiverpool	1019	4–2	6
16	Rayan CherkiLyon	1016	3–2	5
17	Cole PalmerChelsea	1013	3–2	5
18	Dimitri PayetMarseille	1008	3–2	5
19	Santi CazorlaArsenal	1007	3–3	6
20	Samir NasriMan City	1005	2–2	4
21	Phil FodenMan City	989	4–4	8
22	Henrikh MkhitaryanBorussia Dortmund	982	2–3	5
23	Jamal MusialaBayern Munich	980	2–4	6
24	Juan MataChelsea	963	2–5	7
25	OscarChelsea	940	2–6	8
26	Nabil FekirLyon	933	1–5	6
27	Florian WirtzBayer Leverkusen	908	0–5	5
28	Papu GómezAtalanta	897	0–6	6
29	Dani OlmoBarcelona	889	1–8	9
30	Shinji KagawaBorussia Dortmund	867	0–8	8

How is this ranked?

Every duel shows two attacking midfielders from the same era. Fans pick the greater one. The winner gains rating points and the loser drops them, more after an upset.

Who votes?

Anyone visiting Make Your GOAT. No account is needed, and each device is limited to 30 votes a minute.

Does it change?

Yes. The table moves with every vote. This page shows it as it stood at most an hour ago.