ESPN ranks Lionel Messi as the Best Footballer of the 21st Century

ESPN, one of the biggest media houses in terms of sports in the world, has ranked Argentine superstar Lionel Messi as the best footballer of the 21st century.

The 21st Century started on Monday, 1st January 2001, and ends on Friday, December 31st 2100.

We are almost in the 24th year of the 21st century, and Lionel Messi has been crowned as the undisputed king of football by the American powerful media House.

Portugal’s skipper Cristiano Ronaldo is ESPN’s second-best player since January 2001 until now.

Former Arsenal and French Forward Thiery Henry came third, ex-bona fide French playmaker Zidane is fourth while mercurial Croatian midfielder Luka Modric completes the top 5.

Surprisingly, Kylian Mbappe is the 6th best player of the 21st Century per ESPN.

Iniesta, Xavi, Nazario Ronaldo and Ronaldinho complete the top 10.

Toni Kross came 13th and is the only German on the list. Ex-Italian and Juventus goalkeeper Buffon is the only goalkeeper in the light as he finishes in the 25th.

Former Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney is the only English player to be on the list.

Spain had five players, Brazil and France each had four players.

Shockingly, there was no single African footballer in the 25-man list of the best footballers in the 21st century, according to ESPN.

Players like Samuel Eto (Cameroon), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) and Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), who had great careers in Europe, have all been snubbed.

Check out the complete top 25 players from the 21st century by ESPN.

1. Lionel Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Thierry Henry
4. Zinedine Zidane
5. Luka Modric
6. Kylian Mbappé
7. Andres Iniesta
8. Xavi
9. Ronaldo Nazario
10. Ronaldinho
11. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
12. Kevin de Bruyne
13. Toni Kroos
14. Sergio Ramos
15. Carles Puyol
16. Karim Benzema
17. Sergio Busquets
18. Robert Lewandowski
19. Kaka
20. Neymar Jr
21. Andrea Pirlo
22. Wayne Rooney
23. Patrick Vieira
24. Luis Suárez
25. Gianluigi Buffon