10 greatest forwards in the 21st century

#4 Ronaldinho - Brazil (retired)

Soccer Aid 2016

One would be hard-pressed to find a football fan, that has not heard of or seen clips of Ronaldinho. It is safe to say that the Brazilian winger, changed the face of the game completely during his glory years at PSG and Barcelona.

Football fans will never forget his performance against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, where the home crowd gave him a standing ovation or his salsa dance and dink goal versus Chelsea in the Champions League

Ronaldinho completely revolutionized football and the role of an attacker. He inspired a generation after him, with his tricks, flamboyance, speed, and outrageous goals. Ronaldinho wasn't just a trickster, he won a La Liga title with Barcelona in 2004-05, and inspired the club to a Champions League triumph in 2005-06.

Ronaldinho scored 70 goals in 145 appearances for Barcelona during his five seasons at the club. He has also scored 33 goals in 97 appearances for Brazil. He was an integral part of Brazil's 2002 FIFA World Cup triumph.

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#3 Ronaldo Nazario - Brazil (retired)

Ronaldo of Brazil celebrates scoring the winning goal

Many players on this exclusive list have mentioned the Brazilian Ronaldo, as their role model. This just goes to show the impact and greatness of the man. Ronaldo during the late 90's and early 2000's was undoubtedly the best player in the world.

Greats of the game like Zinedine Zidane. Luis Figo, David Beckham and more have been quoted saying that Ronaldo is the best player they have ever seen.

Ronaldo had the ability to do things, that no one could even dream of. His dribbling, pace, strength and finishing, was matched by none during his time at the top of the world.

Ronaldo scored 247 goals in 343 league appearances during his career. Ronaldo played for Brazil in 98 matches, scoring 62 goals, and is the second highest goal-scorer for his national team, trailing only Pele. He won the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Ronaldo scored twice in the final, and received the Golden Boot as the tournament's top goalscorer. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo scored his 15th World Cup goal, a FIFA World Cup record at the time.

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#2 Lionel Messi - Barcelona and Argentina

There may be no greater weapon in football than Messi's left foot

In recent weeks there was speculation about Messi leaving Barcelona, but those rumors have since been quashed.

Messi has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won 33 trophies which includes ten La Liga's, four Champions League's and six Copa Del Rey's. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most La Liga goals with 444, a La Liga and European league season with 50 goals, Most number of hat-tricks in La Liga , with a staggering 36,and the UEFA Champions League with 8, and most assists in La Liga with 183.

Messi is also Argentina's all time leading goal-scorer with 70 goals in 138 appearances. Messi has won a goal medal at the 2008 summer Olympics with Argentina.

🚨 WORLD EXCLUSIVE 🚨Lionel Messi will NOT be leaving Barcelona, we can confirm.We sat down with the man himself to clear up a few things 🐐Here's what he had to say: pic.twitter.com/NfnhGpZpXc

— Goal (@goal) September 4, 2020

Messi's dribbling, vision, and God-given talent, have earned him the right to be called the best player in the World. His only fival, in this generation has been ,Cristano Ronaldo. The two forwards, have pushed the boundaries of football, and changed the game forever.

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#1 Cristiano Ronaldo - Juventus and Portugal

Ronaldo is arguably still the best even at 35

Ronaldo, this week scored his 100th and 101st goals for his country, the only European to have done so. Ronaldo has scored 450 league goals in 579 appearances at Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.

Cristiano Ronaldo, at 35 is still banging in the goals, scoring 37 goals in all competitions for Juventus last season. The Portuguese international has won 5 Ballon D'Ors. He has won 30 major trophies throughout his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA Euro, and one UEFA Nations League title. Ronaldo holds the records for the most goals (130) and most assists (40) in the history of the UEFA Champions League.

What a beautiful way to reach my goal 100! 🇵🇹⚽️👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/LzAGszcNlf

— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) September 10, 2020

Not much more needs to be said about Cristiano Ronaldo. He has firmly established himself as one of the greatest ever to play the game, and his legacy will live on forever.