Lionel Messi voted as the greatest player of the century.

Argentina and Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi has been voted as the greatest player of the Century, beating his arch rival, Cristiano Ronaldo to the second position among the 100 best players in the 21st century.

The Independent compiled the list after careful consideration and a detailed voting system, Lionel Messi has been ranked as the greatest player of the modern times.

The publication’s team consisted out of 10 writers that were tasked with the objective of choosing the best among the best with a couple of broad factors taken into consideration;
A players ability and the application of said ability, the consistency of the application, the level they reached over the course of their career and finally l, their influence on the competition and the level of their achievement.

And Messi, who is also widely considered as one of the best – if not the very best – player in the history of the sport, has been voted as the greatest player of the 21st century.

The six-time Ballon d’Or winner is a record breaker in more ways than one and has been on the very top of the mountain for over a decade now. Even now, and has been on the very top   of the mountain for over a decade now. Even now, in his early 30s Messi is arguably above everyone else and certainly Barcelona’s single most important piece of the squad.

Deservedly, alongside Messi, there are three other former Barcelona players in the top five with Xavi Hernandez in third, Ronaldinho in fourth and Andrés Iniesta in fifth. Needless to say, this is a huge compliment of the club as a whole.

Posted below are The Independent’s 100 best players of the 21st century.

100. Yaya Toure

99. Harry Kane

98. Daniele De Rossi

97. Bastian Schweinsteiger

96. Vincent Kompany

95. Karim Benzema

94. Sol Campbell

93. Pepe

92. Edwin van der Sar

91. Arturo Vidal

90. Angel di Maria

89. Diego Forlan

88. Radamel Falcao

87. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

86. Robin van Persie

85. Carlos Tevez

84. Gaizka Mendieta

83. Virgil van Dijk

82. Hernan Crespo

81. Rio Ferdinand

80. Toni Kroos

79. Juan Roman Riquelme

78. Thomas Muller

77. Mohamed Salah

76. Diego Godin

75. David Silvain

74. Eden Hazard

73. Cesc Fabregas

72. Deco

71. Lilian Thuram

70. Nemanja Vidic

69. Marcelo

68. Ryan Giggs

67. Antoine Griezmann

66. Clarence Seedorf

65. Wesley Sneijder

64. Gabriel Batistuta

63. Fernando Torres

62. Ruud van Nistelrooy

61. Claude Makelele

60. Sergio Aguero

59. Cafu

58. Miroslav Klose

57. Kevin de Bruyne

56. Henrik Larsson

55. Xabi Alonso

54. Dennis Bergkamp

53. Gareth Bale

52. Gerard Pique

51. Robert Lewandowski

50. Javier Zanetti

49. Didier Drogba

48. Michael Ballack

47. Oliver Kahn

46. Ashley Cole

45. Pavel Nedved

44. N’Golo Kante

43. Kylian Mbappe

42. Alessandro Del Piero

41. Alessandro Nesta

40. Patrick Vieira

39. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

38. Roberto Carlos

37. Rivaldo

36. Roy Keane

35. John Terry

34. Paul Scholes

33. David Villa

32. Iker Casillas

31. Francesco Totti

30. Arjen Robben

29. Wayne Rooney

28. Raul Gonzalez

27. Manuel Neuer

26. Paolo Maldini

25. Dani Alves

24. Carles Puyol

23. Frank Lampard

22. Luka Modric

21. Samuel Eto’o

20. Neymar

19. Andrei Shevchenko

18. Steven Gerrard

17. Sergio Busquets

16. Luis Suarez

15. Luis Figo

14. Philipp Lahm

13. Gianluigi Buffon

12. Sergio Ramos

11. Andrea Pirlo

10. Fabio Cannavaro

9. Kaka

8. Zinedine Zidane

7. Thierry Henry

6. Ronaldo

5. Andres Iniesta

4. Ronaldinho

3. Xavi Hernandez

2. Cristiano Ronaldo

1. Lionel Messi