World Class Football Players From Around the World Quiz

Answer: Harry Kane

Harry Kane was born on 28 July 1993 in Walthamstow, London, England. Tottenham Hotspur was the first club to offer Kane a full-time professional contract. Kane signed up in 2010 and became a full-time professional player. He was on Tottenham's books from 2020 until 2023, when he joined Bayern Munich. In the early days, Kane was out on loan to Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City, and Leicester City. He scored 280 goals in 435 games at Tottenham.
He made his international debut for the England team in 2015.

Answer: Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi was born on 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina. Messi spent most of his career with Barcelona (2004 to 2021). In 2000, as a 13-year-old, he joined FC Barcelona's youth academy. In 2005, he was called up to play for the national team, Argentina. Messi scored 474 goals in 520 appearances for Barcelona. During his first full season with Barcelona he scored 36 goals in just 30 games, making him the team's leading scorer.

Argentina reached the World Cup Final on 18 December 2022 vs. France. Messi scored the first goal for Argentina, and Di María added the second in the 36th minute. At half-time, the score was 2-0. France scored two goals in the second half, and the score was 2-2 at the end of normal time. Two more goals came in extra time, with Messi on the scoresheet again and Mbappé scoring again for France. The game finished at 3-3, forcing a penalty shootout. Messi was the first Argentina player to take a penalty and scored from the spot. By the end of the shootout, Argentina had won 4-2, making them the 2022 World Cup winners.

Answer: Bobby Charlton

Bobby Charlton was born on 11 October 1937 in Ashington, Northumberland, England, and passed away on 21 October 2023. Charlton was one of the "Busby Babes," a group of young football players from Manchester United that progressed from the youth team. Several players from the group died in the 1958 Munich air disaster.

Manchester United signed Charlton up as an amateur in 1953, and in October 1954 he signed up as a professional. Charlton spent most of his professional career at United but had a short spell at Preston North End (1974-1975). He played in 606 league games from the 1956-57 season to 1972-73, scoring 199 goals. While playing for England, Bobby Charlton scored 49 goals (1958-1970). People have said that Bobby was one of the best midfielders of his era.

Answer: Maradona

Diego Maradona was born on 30 October 1960 in Lanús, Argentina, and on 25 November 2020 died in his sleep from a heart attack. The first thing you think of when hearing the name of Maradona is the "Hand of God." It was a goal scored by Maradona at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Basically, he scored with his hand, which a few years later he admitted he did on purpose.

However, his second goal was an absolute peach, beating five of the outfield players and then beating the English goalkeeper Peter Shilton. Argentina went on to win the World Cup, beating West Germany 3-2. English star Gary Lineker won the "Golden Boot" award for being the highest scorer when he scored six goals. Diego Maradona was in joint third place with five goals.

Answer: Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo was born on the 5th February 1985, in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. He played for several world-class teams, including Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus. Ronaldo has also been a main player for his national side, Portugal, where he has played in over 200 games and scored over 100 goals.

He had two spells at Manchester United, 2003-2009 and 2021-2022. In his first spell he scored 84 goals in 196 games, and in the second he scored 19 goals from 40 games. While playing for Real Madrid between 2009 and 2018, he scored 311 goals from 292 games, quite a feat in my opinion. When Ronaldo left Real Madrid, he moved to the Italian club Juventus. Between 2018 and 2021, he played in 98 games and scored 81 goals. His record speaks for itself as a world-class goalscorer and a player who could change the outcome of a game.

Answer: David Beckham

David Beckham was born on 2 May 1975 in London, England. He signed up as a trainee on 8 July 1991 for Manchester United and, on 23 January 1993, he signed as a professional footballer. He made his Premier League debut on 2 April 1995. In September 1996 David played his first game for England against Moldova, which was a World Cup qualifying match.

Between 1992 and 2003, Beckham played 265 games and scored 62 goals. Not an out-and-out goalscorer, David was a playmaker and a specialist free-kick taker. His range of passing was an inspiration to many other players. In the 1998-99 season, Beckham, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, and Ryan Giggs were all part of the winning squad that won the Treble: FA Premier League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League. During his career at United, David won the Premier League six times, the FA Cup twice, and the Champions League once.

In the 1998 World Cup, Beckham got a red card for kicking an opponent in England's match against Argentina. Many people blamed David for getting knocked out of the World Cup. On 6 October 2001, during England's final qualifying match against Greece, with little time left on the clock, England was behind 2-1 and needed to win or draw to earn a place in the World Cup. England won a free kick after Teddy Sheringham was fouled. Beckham curled the ball into the net to guarantee England's qualification. It ended the backbiting from the 1998 World Cup; and overnight he became a hero.

Answer: Michel Platini

Michel Platini was born on 21 June 1955 in Joeuf, France. He played for Nancy from 1972 to 1979, scoring 98 goals in 181 appearances; Saint-Étienne from 1979 to 1982, where he scored 58 goals in 104 appearances and, finally, from 1982 to 1987, he scored 68 goals in 147 games while playing for Juventus. His best stint at any club he played for, in my opinion.

In certain aspects of the game, you could draw parallels between Platini and David Beckham. Platini was a specialist free-kick taker, an expert at taking penalties, and could pass the ball with great accuracy as well as a prolific goalscorer. His record for France between 1976 and 1987 was that he played 72 games and scored 41 goals.

Platini's first international game for France was a friendly against Czechoslovakia on 27 March 1976. Not surprisingly, Platini scored from a free-kick. In the 1976 Olympics, Platini was in the squad that reached the quarterfinal before losing 4-0 to Germany. At the Euro '84, Platini was all about the French player who scored nine of France's 14 goals in just five games. France went on to win the tournament by beating Spain 2-0. In the whole competition, Platini scored an amazing nine goals.

At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Platini was unfit but did score two important goals; however, in the semi-final against West Germany, they lost 2-0. After this game, Michel Platini never scored another goal in his international career.
Platini made his last appearance for France on 29 April 1987.

Answer: Ruud Gullit

Ruud Gullit was born on 1 September 1962 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He became a professional footballer on 22 September 1978 when he signed up with HFC Haarlem. He played for Feyenoord between 1982 and 1985 before a two-year spell at PSV between 1985 and 1987. It was at this stage of his career that he turned into a world-class player. While playing for PSV, he scored 46 goals in 68 games.

In 1987 Gullit had moved to AC Milan, where he stayed until 1994, scoring 38 goals in 125 appearances. When he signed for AC Milan, he broke the world record for a transfer fee. During his time at the club, he won the Supercoppa Italiana in 1992 and 1994, the European Cup in 1988-89 and 1989-90, and the UEFA Super Cup in 1990, among others.

Ruud Gullit was nineteen years old when he played in his first game for the Netherlands. Gullit was instrumental in winning the UEFA Euro 1988. The Netherlands beat Russia 2-0 with Gullit scoring in the 32nd minute and Van Basten scoring in the 54th minute. He played for the Netherlands from 1981 until 1994, scoring 17 goals. Throughout his career, he could play several positions.

While he was still on the books at Milan, he went on loan to Sampdoria between 1993 and 1994 and then signed up with Sampdoria between 1994 and 1995. His last club was Chelsea, where he played between 1995 and 1998.

Answer: Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff was born on 25 April 1947 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and died on 24 March 2016. Cruyff played for the Dutch side Ajax between 1964 and 1973, playing 329 games and scoring 257 goals. In 1973, he moved to the Spanish club Barcelona, where he played in 227 matches and scored 85 goals. He left the club in 1978. After brief stints with the Washington Diplomats and Los Angeles, he was loaned to Levante before rejoining Ajax in 1981-1983 and then Feyenoord in 1983-1984.

On 7 September 1966, he made his official debut for the Netherlands in a UEFA Euro 1968 qualifier against Hungary, where he also scored his first international goal in the 2-2 draw. In the 1974 World Cup, the Netherlands finished as runners-up after losing to West Germany 2-1 in the final. After the tournament had finished, Cruyff was named the best player of the World Cup.

Throughout his international career, Cruyff played in 48 games and scored 33 goals. He also had the distinction of never being on the losing side in which he had scored (1966 to 1977).

Answer: Kylian Mbappé

Kylian Mbappé was born on 20 December 1998 in Paris, France. He really became a star while playing for Paris Saint-Germain between 2018 and 2024. In those years, he played in 178 games and scored an incredible 162 goals. He was fast, had the skill of taking defenders on, and had the ability of scoring goals. In 2024 Mbappé joined the Spanish club Real Madrid.

His international career started off as a U17 player in 2014 and a U19 team player in 2016. In 2017, Mbappé got his first full international call-up. In a 2018 World Cup qualifying game against the Netherlands, Mbappé scored his first goal for his country, and in the same year he scored two goals in a friendly match against Russia.

Russia hosted the 2018 World Cup. The final was France vs. Croatia. France beat Croatia 4-1 with Mbappé scoring in the 65th minute. Mbappé scored four goals in the tournament, with Harry Kane the top scorer with six goals. At the start of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, Mbappé was named as the new captain.