The biggest football icons of the 00s
Who are the most legendary and recognisable football figures from the first decade of the 21st century?
The first decade of the 21st century was another absolutely classic era in the history of football.
It was chock-full of great games, great moments – and great icons, both on the pitch and on the touchline.
We've picked out 32 of the most legendary football figures from the 00s...
32. Carlo Ancelotti
The king of the Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti belongs to a select group of managers who have been crowned champions of Europe with multiple clubs.
Don Carlo claimed the first of his triumphs in the competition with AC Milan in 2003 – when the Rossoneri beat Juventus on penalties after one of the most boring finals of all time – then led them to glory again in 2007, this time getting the better of Liverpool.
31. Juan Roman Riquelme
Juan Roman Riquelme spent just five years in European football – with Barcelona then Villarreal – playing the majority of his career for Argentine giants Boca Juniors.
The archetypal enghanche certainly made his mark on the game at the highest level, though, performing the role with sublime style for club and country – notably providing the assist for Esteban Cambiasso to finish Argentina's legendary 24-pass move against Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 World Cup.
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30. Didier Drogba
One of the finest African players of all time and a true Chelsea great, Didier Drogba racked up more than 60 Premier League goals in five-and-a-half seasons during the 00s.
An absolute handful for defenders, the striker won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2006/07 and 2009/10, and helped Chelsea to the title in 2004/05 – the Blues' first top-flight crown in 50 years – 2005/06 and 2009/10.
29. Ruud van Nistelrooy
A menace in the penalty area, Ruud van Nistelrooy hardly ever scored from outside the box – because he simply didn't need to, such was his devastating ability to find space and finish clinically from close range.
The Dutchman won the 2002/03 Premier League Golden Boot, also winning the title with Manchester United that season, and went on to become a two-time La Liga champion with Real Madrid.
28. Oliver Kahn
Bayern Munich legend Oliver Kahn spent the vast majority of his career with the Bavarian giants, winning every trophy on offer – including the 2000/01 Champions League.
One of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, Kahn inspirationally captained Germany to the final of the 2002 World Cup – where he ended up on the losing side but collected the Golden Ball as player of the tournament, the first 'keeper ever to do so.
27. Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Shevchenko joined AC Milan from Dynamo Kyiv in 1999, and Ukraine's best ever player went on to become one of the Rossoneri's most prolific strikers – bagging 14 goals in the Milan derby alone.
A 2002/03 Champions League winner and 2003/04 Serie A champion, Shevchenko – who left Milan for Chelsea in 2006 but returned on loan in 2008 – scooped the 2004 Ballon d'Or.
26. Miroslav Klose
Clinical German marksman Miroslav Klose scored 16 goals across four World Cups – with 10 of those coming at the two editions of the tournament in the 00s, five in Germany's run to the 2002 final and five on home soil four years later.
Klose found the net 71 times in 137 caps in all, and was a Bundesliga champion with Bayern Munich in 2007/08 and 2009/10.
25. Cafu
A bit-part player in Brazil's 1994 World Cup win, Cafu captained his country to to victory in 2002 – and the image of him holding the trophy aloft is one of the most iconic in the tournament's history.
At club level, the legendary flying right-back won the 2006/07 Champions League with AC Milan – just a year before he retired, his status as an all-time great already long since assured.
24. Iker Casillas
Iker Casillas became Real Madrid's number one at the age of 19 – and Spain's first choice between the sticks shortly after his 21st birthday, going on to win 167 caps for his country.
But, while he was thrust into the international limelight sooner than expected, it was clear that Casillas was always destined for to big, big things – things such as winning three Champions League with Real (two of them in the 00s) and captaining Spain to their first three major tournament victories.
23. Francesco Totti
One of the few 21st-century one club men, modern Serie A icon Francesco Totti spent his entire career with hometown club Roma – for whom he made 786 appearances and scored 307 goals.
Club honours were few and far between for Totti, but he did captain Roma to the 2000/01 Scudetto – and later played a starring role in Italy's 2006 World Cup triumph.
22. Rivaldo
Among Brazil's most gifted players of his generation – or any generation, for that matter – Rivaldo was integral to his country's 2002 World Cup victory (where he experienced glory mixed with infamy, after feigning a facial injury to get Turkey's Hakan Unsal sent off in the semi-final).
At club level, Rivaldo starred for Barcelona and AC Milan – and is one few players to have won the World Cup, Champions League and Ballon d'Or.
21. Raul
Raul won two of his three Champions League titles with Real Madrid in the 00s, and the legendary Spanish striker is one of the greatest goalscorers in the history of Europe's premier club competition.
In all, Raul found the net 323 times for Real – making him one of the La Liga giants' all-time leading marksmen – and 44 times for Spain, including three goals at the 2002 World Cup.
20. Fabio Cannavaro
In 2006, Fabio Cannavaro joined a handful of other defenders in winning the Ballon d'Or – having captained Italy to World Cup glory in Germany earlier that year, earning the nickname Il Muro di Berlino (The Berlin Wall) for his rock-solid performances.
One of the finest centre-backs the game has ever seen, Cannavaro would walk into an 11 of best players never to win the Champions League – but he did enjoy domestic success with Real Madrid, winning the 2006/07 and 2007/08 La Liga titles.
19. Frank Lampard
Probably Chelsea's greatest ever player, Frank Lampard is right up there with the best midfielders of the Premier League era – and few have rivalled him for goalscoring ability.
Between the 2005/06 and 2009/10 seasons, Lampard netted at least 20 times in all competitions for the Blues – for whom his brace against Bolton Wanderers sealed the title in 2004/05, a season in which he also won the prestigious FWA Footballer of the Year award.
18. Gianluigi Buffon
For 16 years, Gianluigi Buffon was the most expensive goalkeeper in the world, having become so when he joined Juventus from Parma for £32.6m in 2001.
A true legend for club and country – winning a whopping 176 caps for Italy – Buffon was key to the Azzurri's 2006 World Cup success, winning the Yashin Award as the best goalkeeper of the tournament.
Incredibly, he only retired in 2023 at the age of 45!
17. Patrick Vieira
Captain of Arsenal's immortal 2003/04 Premier League-winning Invincibles, Patrick Vieira is one of the Gunners' most legendary players of all time.
A complete midfielder, the Frenchman earned himself something of a hardman reputation – which he certainly lived up to through run-ins with the likes of his Manchester United counterpart Roy Keane, such as that 2005 clash in the tunnel at Highbury.
16. Xavi
The epitome of Pep Guardiola's Barcelona philosophy, Xavi kept things ticking with elite proficiency in perhaps the greatest club side the game has ever known.
A Barca and Spain legend alike, the midfield metronome enjoyed a trophy-laden 00s – with the highlights being two Champions League triumphs and victory at Euro 2008.
15. Kaka
Kaka played only 25 minutes of Brazil's 2002 World Cup victory, but he would go on to enjoy a glittering career at the very highest level of the game – starring for AC Milan and Real Madrid.
The wonderfully gifted attacking midfielder received the Ballon d'Or in 2007, a year which saw him win the Champions League and Club World Cup with Carlo Ancelotti's Milan.
14. Arsene Wenger
Unheralded upon his 1995 arrival at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger went on to revolutionise the English game with his modern, scientific approach – an approach which yielded him great success with the Gunners.
He won many of this trophies at the North London club in the early 00s, leading them to a domestic double in 2001/02 – and, of course, their famous unbeaten Premier League title triumph two seasons later.
13. Andrea Pirlo
Has there ever been a midfielder as irresistibly elegant as Andrea Pirlo? And yes, there's his luscious locks – but we're talking about the Italian icon's ability on the ball, mainly...
A two-time Champions League winner with AC Milan and a 2006 world champion with Italy, Pirlo's career was suitably glittering for a player who dazzled so stunningly the pitch.
12. Steven Gerrard
Another all-time great Premier League midfielder, legendary Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was the Reds' saviour on countless occasions throughout his 17-year association with the club.
Gerrard's game-saving brace in the 2006 FA Cup final was very special indeed, but one match stands above all others as the future England skipper's career pinnacle: the 2005 Champions League final, when he inspired one of the most extraordinary comebacks in football history, the Miracle of Istanbul
11. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
You have to be pretty downright iconic to be commonly known by only your first name – and Zlatan Ibrahimovic emphatically ticks that box.
One of the great goalscorers, the prolific Swede was quite a character – to put it lightly – and he stamped his authority on European football with Ajax, Juventus and Inter Milan during the 00s – before joining Barcelona in 2009 for £40m in what was, at the time, one of the most expensive transfer ever.
10. David Beckham
David Beckham's last-gasp free-kick winner for England against Greece in 2001 has to go down as one of the most iconic moments in international football history, never mind that of the Three Lions.
Between 2000 and 2006, Becks captained his country by example, while starring at club level for Manchester United, then Real Madrid and La Galaxy – with who he became MLS' first global superstar.
9. Jose Mourinho
One of the most successful managers in the history of the game, Jose Mourinho's dugout journey began at the very beginning of the 00s – a decade in which he would guide Porto to an unlikely Champions League triumph, before leading Chelsea to their first two Premier League titles.
The Special One finished the decade with Serie A giants Inter Milan, where he did the treble in 2009/10.
8. Wayne Rooney
Sixteen-year-old Wayne Rooney's screamer for Everton against Arsenal in 2002 is one of those moments where you just remember where you were or what you were doing, no matter how unremarkable.
A two-time PFA Young Player of the Year, Rooney joined Manchester United in 2004 – famously hitting a hat-trick on his debut against Fenerbahce – and went on to become the Red Devils', and England's, record goalscorer.
7. Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi would establish himself as (arguably) the greatest player of all time in the subsequent decade, but the 00s were where it all began for the the Barcelona and Argentina hero.
In 2008/09, Messi enjoyed the first of 13 consecutive campaigns of 30 or more goals for Barca – collecting his second Champions League winners' medal that season, and winning his first Ballon d'Or in late 2009.
6. Zinedine Zidane
When Zinedine Zidane left Juventus for Real Madrid in 2001, he became the most expensive player of all time at £45m – a record which stood until 2009.
While he would retire just five years later, Zizou ensured legendary status at the Bernabeu with his performances on the domestic and continental stage – with the highlight surely being his outrageous volley in Real's 2002 Champions League final victory over Bayer Leverkusen.
5. Ronaldo
The 2002 World Cup was Brazil's World Cup – but it was Ronaldo's World Cup on an individual level, as O Fenomeno lived up to his well-earned moniker and then some, top-scoring with eight goals.
He carried that form over to new club Real Madrid, reaching the 30-goal mark in each of his first two seasons with Los Blancos as he cemented his incredible redefining of the centre-forward role.
4. Sir Alex Ferguson
Considered by many to be the greatest manager there's ever been, Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United dynasty began in the 80s – and continued right through the 00s, during which it bore fruit in abundance.
The decade yielded six Premier League titles, and a Champions League and FA Cup apiece for the immensely successful Scot, who was named Premier League Manager of the Season five times between 2000 and 2009.
3. Thierry Henry
Va va voom... That's what Thierry Henry brought to the Premier League, winning the Golden Boot an unbelievable four times between 2002 and 2006 – in addition to two titles with Arsenal.
Voted the Gunners' greatest ever player in 2017, the French icon – who kicked off the decade by helping Les Bleus to Euro 2000 success – was included in Pele's 'FIFA 100' list of the best living players in 2004.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
An unknown quantity when he arrived at Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, the whole footballing world very soon knew all about – and stood in awe of – Cristiano Ronaldo.
After three Premier League titles, a Champions League victory and his first Ballon d'Or win, 2009 saw CR7 swap Old Trafford and United for the Bernabeu and Real Madrid – where he would go on to only strengthen his legend.
1. Ronaldinho
A maverick and a magician, Ronaldinho did things with a football during his career that would have confounded most players before or since.
He was at his brilliant best for Barcelona – scoring some truly astonishing goals, perhaps none more special than his 20-yard toe-poke against Chelsea in 2005.
Ronaldinho didn't do badly for Brazil, either... Who could possibly forget his 40-yard free-kick lob over England goalkeeper David Seaman in the 2002 World Cup quarter-final?
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Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...
