Top 10: Stars of the 21st Century World of Football

We can all count ourselves incredible fortunate to have been able to watch these star-name footballers on a weekly basis over the past 13 years - while looking forward to the next wave of gifted players emerging. The players who feature have all brought joy to millions around the world with their incredible talents - and we salute them all.

10. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The Sweden international is one of the most gifted strikers of the last 13 years; he’s won titles at every big club he’s played for - and he’s played for quite a few. Since the turn of the century he’s won league titles with Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain. The 32-year-old has also scored some of the most incredible goals of recent times, including that absurd acrobatic effort against England in 2012.

9. Kaka
Kaka, who won the 2007 Ballon d’Or ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, was outstanding during his first spell with AC Milan. The Brazilian possessed an incredible change of pace which allowed him to accelerate away from his marker and leave him for dead. He then had the finesse to either pick a pass or bend one of his trademark strikes past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net. In 2009 he moved to Real Madrid for a world-record fee, but struggled to reproduce his best form at the Bernabeu and is now back at the San Siro for a second spell.

8. Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry was simply untouchable for a couple of years with Arsenal in the Premier League. He won the European Golden Boot twice - in 2004 and 2005 - and would destroy defences on his own. It’s somewhat scandalous that the former France international never managed to win a Ballon d’Or, although he came close in 2003, when he finished second to Juventus’ star Pavel Nedved.

7. Ronaldo
Ronaldo was, quite simply, a footballing phenomenon - hence his apt nickname ‘Il Fenomeno’. The Brazilian would have been higher in this list had we taken the 1990s into consideration - that one season he enjoyed at Barcelona, Ronaldo was simply on a different planet to everyone else - but he was still a wonderful player after the turn of the century. Winner of two Ballon d’Or awards - in 1997 and 2002 - Ronaldo remains the highest goalscorer in the history of World Cup finals.

6. Andres Iniesta
One of the most technically-gifted footballers of all time, Andres Iniesta was a key cog in Pep Guardiola’s legendary Barcelona side as well as the Spain team which continues to dominate the international scene. The 29-year-old broke into the Barcelona team in 2002 and has gone on to win 21 trophies with the Catalan giants, including three Champions League titles. In 2010 he cemented his legendary status when he scored the goal that won Spain the World Cup. The Ballon d’Or should have followed, but he was immensely unfortunate to finish runner-up to Barcelona teammate Messi.

5. Xavi
It’s virtually impossible to mention Iniesta without talking about his midfield teammate Xavi, who has also been incredibly important for Barcelona and Spain over the past decade. Few players in history have possessed equal vision to Xavi, who often completes matches with successful pass completion stats above 95%. He continues to make both Barcelona and Spain tick - and you can almost guarantee that he’ll emulate Guardiola by becoming a successful coach after hanging up his boots.

4. Ronaldinho
The man who brought joy to millions of football fans across the world, Ronaldinho was - and still is - a genius. During his five-year spell at Barcelona he did things on the pitch that we’d never seen before. And while the tricks and flicks were all well and good, the attacking midfielder was also hugely effective, scoring 94 goals and providing 81 assists in his 214 matches at the Camp Nou. Ronaldinho won two La Liga titles and a Champions League with the Catalan giants, while he picked up the Ballon d’Or in 2005. The 33-year-old later spent two years with AC Milan before heading back to Brazil, where he won the Copa Libertadores with Atlético Mineiro.

3. Zinedine Zidane
The maestro. It seems a travesty to put the great Zinedine Zidane at number three on this list. The former France international is one of the most gifted footballers of all time and ended his career having won the lot. After joining Real Madrid from Juventus for a world-record fee in 2001, Zizou went on to help Los Blancos secure their ninth European Cup with a stunning left-footed volley which is widely considered the best goal ever scored in a major final. He would light up the Bernabeu on a weekly basis with his immaculate, graceful style of play - and he ended his career by scoring a penalty in a World Cup final before being sent off in the same match for head-butting Italy’s Marco Materazzi.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo’s come an awful long way since arriving at Manchester United as that skinny and raw yet supremely talented winger. After cutting out the playacting and bulking up, Portuguese superstar Ronaldo became a phenomenon at Old Trafford. He left United a season after winning the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or, joining Real Madrid for a world-record £80m fee in 2009. And the 28-year-old has gone from strength to strength at the Bernabeu, scoring a quite ridiculous 222 goals in 215 matches.

1. Lionel Messi
There is no superlative in existence that hasn’t been attached to Lionel Messi over the past five or six years. The Argentina international is only 26, but plenty would argue that he is the greatest footballer in history. Nobody thought that Diego Maradona would ever be surpassed as Argentina’s best ever player, but Messi - who is already Barcelona’s all-time top scorer - has made a habit of achieving the impossible since arriving at the Camp Nou as a teenager who required growth hormone treatment to fulfil his dream. But not even in his wildest dreams would Messi have imagined that he’d go on to win 21 trophies with the Catalan giants and four consecutive Ballon d’Or awards.It might take another hundred years before we see a player as good as Lionel Messi.