Football / Soccer / Calcio / Futebol / Fußball

Obviously there's many ways to measure influence, but Franz Beckenbauer is worth a shout:

• As a player, one of the all-time greats
• Invented the libero position
• Also played in midfield with great success
• Captain of the first national team to win the Euros and the World Cup consecutively
• Captain of a Bayern team that won three consecutive European Cups
• Manager of World-Cup winning West German national side
• One of three people to win the World Cup both as player and manager
• Chair of Germany's winning bid to host the World Cup (yes, tainted by corruption)

I'd still give the nod to Cruyff, though.

Sorry Maradona is the OG

Best probably, but there are more influential players. Ronaldinho and Ronaldo (R9) are more influential in terms of entertainment and inspiring people. Pele or Cruyff are probably #1 in how they changed the game.

omg why do these boring ass quotes always get upvoted on here.

Pele is the most influential player ever. It’s not even close. He made the game truly global. Ffs they had ceasefires during wars to watch him play. Cruyff is the next because of play and managing. Then it’s Messi.

Hot take.

The most entertaining and pleasing to watch sure

but most influential? what did he influence lol how to make half a team look like fools? nobody does that but him nobody else does that like messi does

If Messi does things that no one else can, then he is certainly the least influential player ever in the history of football.

Messi is the goat but I'd argue Pelé and Cruyff were FAR more influential to the sport than Messi. I don't think it's even close really.

Do people only have one understanding of the word influence? I see a shitload of the discussion here saying that Messi hasn't been influential in regards to the sport as a whole, I don't see anyone discussing Messi's ability to influence what happens on a football pitch in any given game. He's easily one of the most influential players in the history of the sport in that sense.

This is great and enlightening information and I'm glad this was upvoted by almost 1000 people already.

Do upvote bots just instantly upvote anything that has Messi in the title? There was a post last week that was top where they totally mispelled his first name.

I just want a coach/footballer to come out and say "Who? Messi? Never heard of him" or even a "Ye I could 1v1 that scrub, no talent" and farm clicks like crazy

I'm not talking shit here, I genuinely think Cristiano Ronaldo us more influential.

Well this is an absolute shit post.

Aye.

Tapping him up? I like it

OK, for the sake of discussion, and this is something I’ve thought about: can we really say Messi is all that influential if what he can do cannot be replicated by anyone else? Not just the level of his individual skills, but having so many and how he combines them.

In my own personal experience, I’d say ronaldinho. I remember being a kid when he blew up and all of my friends wanted to juggle and dribble like him. The joy he had on his face when he played is something I’ll never forget.

Then it wouldn't make him influential. It just makes him one of a kind becuase of his playing style. There has never been a primary playmaker who also scores a lot of goals like he did, the only player who could have done that was Neymar. Ronaldo is also one a type given how much he scored playing from the wide position and only Mbappe does that, the early Liverpool version of Salah was a bit like that but he is much more playmaker these days. Its very hard for any teams to find another Ronaldo/Messi its not like basketball where Steph Curry revolutionized how teams thought of the 3 pointers and tried to play that way.

Sorry Arteta but that batshit false

When an Argentinian hits the fucking siu after scoring a bicycle kick I don't think Messi's the most influential

I can't see how he's been "influential". Everyone hits a deadball in the way Ronaldo showed us, so I'd say he's been more so. Messi's just a superb footballer in his own right. No one tries to emulate him.

Messi not getting his dick sucked 10 times a day.

Challenge IMPOSSIBLE.