Lionel Messi

Born on 24 June 1987, this Little Magician left his home at the age of 13 to pursue his dream of playing professional football . It was then when he left Argentina and moved to Barcelona (Spain) in September 2000 and signed his first ever professional football contract at the age of 14 on tissue paper, since then, the rest is history and we are all witnesses. Scored his first goal for FC Barcelona with Ronaldinho assist, this Footballing God then went on to become one of the greatest players ever to play in FC Barcelona’s golden era. With numerous individual honours and records already awarded to his name – includes most Ballon d’Or won by a player in history tallying to seven. No doubt he has conquered club level football for past two decades and running, winning a world cup still awaits to his fairy tale ending career having already won a Copa America and Olympic Gold Medal with Argentina.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Widely regarded as one of the greatest players to ever play this sport Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese professional footballer player who plays as forward for Manchester United. Won 32 trophies in his career with seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues. With 5 Ballon d’Or and 4 Golden Boots to his name, the most by any European player, Ronaldo is the highest goal scorer in the history of football with 800+ goals and counting to his name. One of the major trophies he won was the Euro cup with Portugal in 2016 which is also the first in country’s history.

Robert Lewandowski

Initially started his career in the Polish Leagues, he then attracted the attention from the German club Borussia Dortmund, Lewandowski was sold for 4.5 million to the club the following year in 2010. Under Jurgen Klopp’s management at Dortmund, he won his first Bundesliga title. Same season, Dortmund failed to outsmart their city rivals Bayern Munich bagging runners up in the Champions League, however, they defeated Real Madrid in the semi-finals getting Lewandowski 4 goals tally in a single match. Following his success at Dortmund, Lewandowski was bought by the German Champions Bayern Munich where he rose to the elites winning every trophy to be won at the club level. He shocked the world in 2015 when he scored 5 goals under 9 minutes against VFL Wolfsburg and proved why he’s considered one of the greatest players alive to be playing football. Been nominated for the Ballon d’Or various times Lewandowski has not managed to win any unfortunately. Many journalists said he was robbed of the Ballon d’Or 2021 questioning the integrity of the federation; however, he did win the UEFA men’s player of the year in 2021.

Luka Modric

Born on 9^th September 1985 this Croatian player started his early days when he moved to Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 for a club – record transfer fee of £16.5 million, in 2010-11 he led Spurs to Champions League appearance in almost 50 years reaching the quarter finals of the tournament. After which he was picked up by Real Madrid in the summer of 2012 for a £30 million transfer fee. After Zinedine Zidane became the manager of Real Madrid Modrić was critical to three consecutive champions league titles from 2015-16 to 2017-18, been voted into the squad to the season. In his career at Real Madrid Modrić won seventeen major trophies including four UEFA Champions League, two La Liga titles, one Copa Del Rey and three FIFA World Cup titles. In 2018 he was a crucial contributor for the Croatian team as they reached their first ever FIFA World Cup Final but lost to France. In the same year he became the only Croatian player to win the Best FIFA Men’s player and Ballon d’Or award also becoming the first player to win it other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo in more than a decade.

Karim Benzema

Karim Mostafa Benzema is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Real Madrid and the French international team. Born on 19^th December 1987 this 34 years old footballer is regarded as one of the best forwards of his generation. It was 2009 when Benzema signed for Real Madrid in a transfer worth £35 million. After struggling in his debut season, Benzema eventually rose to pinnacle at Real Madrid and won twenty trophies, including 3 La Liga titles, two Copas Del Rey, and four UEFA Champions League titles. Benzema also ranks as the club’s third highest all-time top goal scorer and all-time top assist provider. Often described as an immensely talented striker he proved this once more in current Champions League where he scored two consecutive hat-tricks against PSG and Chelsea. Due to the involvement in controversies, Benzema missed out on French international team and missed the opportunity to be a part of World Cup winning team unfortunately. But with the ban being lifted now, Benzema with his current form will be a great asset for French international team as they’ll be eying to win their 3^rd World Cup.

Sergio Ramos

Often regarded as one of the best central defenders this generation has ever seen, Sergio Ramos was born in Camas Seville and started his professional football career early playing at Camas CF at the age of 6. It was the summer of 2005 when Sergio Ramos was picked up by Real Madrid for 27 million euros, a record fee for a Spanish defender.  Took the captaincy reins in 2015 after the departure of goalkeeper captain Iker Casillas and became one of the most successful captains in the history of Real Madrid with 3 consecutive Champions League trophy to his name. He is one of the few players to have won every trophy there is to be won at professional football including the World Cup 2010 South Africa.

Toni Kroos

Born on January 4 1990, this 32 year-old German footballer plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Started his senior club career playing for Bayern Munich where he debuted at the age of 17 in 2007 where he won two consecutive league titles and a UEFA Champions League title. In 2014 he moved to Real Madrid in a transfer worth 25 million euros where he won thirteen trophies, including two La Liga titles and Three UEFA Champions League titles won consecutively from 2016 and 2018. Made his senior debut for Germany in 2010 at the age of 20 and appeared in five major tournaments. In his international career Toni Kroos helped Germany win the 2014 FIFA World Cup and was the top assist provider of the tournament.

So these were the top seven modern GOATS of football for me, please let me know in the comment section below if you feel someone else should’ve made the list.