In soccer, it may be the strikers who get the goals, but without the service provided by the team’s wingers, the center forward would cut a lonely figure. So who are the best wingers of all time?
A player with the skill to run with the ball, create chances, and deal with the hard-tackling defenders is one of the most important on the field. Defenders defend, strikers score, but a winger creates the magic that wins games.
14 Best Wingers In The World
Some of the greatest players in soccer have been wingers; as well as being creative, quick, and great on the ball, a winger can also pop up with plenty of goals.
A team with a winger who can help with 10-15 goals a season is priceless. Today, we’re going to look at the 14 best wingers of all time, 14 players whose value to their teams was incalculable.
14. Robert Pires
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.23 | 0.15 |
One of the greatest left-wingers of all time, Robert Pires.
One of the best wingers that Premier League fans had the privilege to watch, Robert Pires is an Arsenal legend, a tricky left-winger with superb passing, crossing, and shooting ability.
The French International joined the Gunners in 2000 and became one of the most consistent performers in an already great team.
One strength that Pires had was his shooting ability; he endeared himself to the Arsenal fans by scoring several vital goals and was even more adept at scoring past rivals.
The rivalry between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs is well documented, and Pires excelled at scoring at White Hart Lane, ending up with eight goals against Spurs.
The World Cup and European Championship winner helped Arsenal to two League titles and two FA Cups. He will be remembered fondly by Arsenal fans as a member of the squad that dominated the English Premier League for several seasons.
13. Franck Ribery
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.24 | 0.35 |
Another excellent French soccer player, Franck Ribery, the evergreen former Bayern Munich star, is now in his 22nd year as a professional player.
Ribery is best known for his years at Bayern and is a quick, determined winger with superb dribbling skills. He is difficult to dispossess when running at speed and has made a career out of cutting in from the wing and scoring.
A self-confessed crowd pleaser, Ribery looks like he loves playing soccer just for fun, and being a pacy winger, he uses his skills to take on opponents repeatedly. Now in the twilight of his career, Ribery will always be remembered as one of the best wingers European soccer has ever seen.
12. Gareth Bale
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.34 | 0.25 |
Welsh wizard Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid in 2013, and while the lightning-fast winger may not have had it all his own way in Spain, his incredible talent can’t be denied.
On his day, Bale has proven himself to be almost unstoppable; with the pace that defenders are terrified of, his ability to run at the defense with the ball at his feet makes him one of the most potent attacking threats in world soccer.
Bale has never put a foot wrong for Wales and led the national team to several high-profile tournaments. While the team doesn’t expect to win major honors, the fact that Bale is in the starting lineup makes teams take Wales very seriously.
As well as his pace and ball skills, Bale is also a big unit, his physical strength allowing him to barge opponents off the ball and making him extremely difficult to dispossess. Plagued several times by serious injuries, Bale, when fit, is a phenomenal player.
11. Arjen Robben
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.34 | 0.27 |
Arjen Robben is arguably one of the best Dutch wingers of all time. Having been bought by Bayern Munich in 2009, Robben went on to win 20 major trophies with the Bundesliga team.
An incredible winger, Robben used his pace and trickery to get to the byline before crossing in for the strikers to score.
One of the fastest players of his generation, Robben was also one of the most creative, and he seems only to have improved with age; pace may fade, but talent is permanent.
Now in his 22nd season as a professional football player, Robben is back in Holland playing for Groningen. Arjen Robben has played 96 times for the Netherlands, scoring 37 goals. Winning wherever he went, Robben won league titles with PSV, Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich.
10. David Beckham
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.18 | 0.30 |
It’s unlikely that many soccer fans worldwide won’t have heard of David Beckham, one of the most successful English wingers of all time. Rising to fame at Manchester United, Beckham made his team debut at only 17 years old and would become a global superstar.
His high-profile move to Real Madrid in 2003 only cemented Beckham’s status as one of the best midfielders of all time.
Beckham’s crossing ability was out of this world, with a right foot that could place a ball on a teammate’s head from 80 yards away. In 523 League appearances, Beckham scored 97 league goals, many of them from free kicks.
While not blessed with natural pace, Beckham was a tenacious and hard-working midfielder with a passing range that has rarely been seen since.
A worthy addition to our list for his crossing ability alone, Beckham nevertheless contributed with his all-around play. Beckham is one of the most successful wingers of all, with six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, and a UEFA Champions League medal.
9. Garrincha
Embed from Getty Images
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.40 | 0.16 |
Widely regarded as the greatest dribbler of all time, Garrincha Is one of the most famous Brazilian soccer players in history. Instrumental in Brazil’s victory in both the 1958 and 1962 World Cups, Garrincha was renowned for his ball control, agility, and flair.
Garrincha was often said to have been almost childlike in his attitude to day-to-day life, possibly due to his lack of education but undoubtedly due to his love for soccer.
So good was Garrincha at set pieces that he scored four directly from taking a corner in his career and was widely regarded as one of the best free-kick takers of all time.
8. Stanley Matthews
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| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.10 | 0.35 |
The adage if you’re good enough, you’re old enough certainly works both ways with Stanley Matthews, the famous English winger who played top-level soccer until he was 50 years old. Matthews is also the oldest player ever to represent England professionally, at the ripe old age of 42 years and 104 days old.
Matthews spent most of his career with Stoke City, playing for the team for 15 seasons; many people don’t realize that Matthews also played in two World Cups, in 1950 and 1954.
In 1956, Stanley Matthews made history as the first winner of the Ballon d’Or.
He is often cited as one of the best crossers of a ball in history; no mean feat considering the heavy old soccer balls that used to be played with in the 1940s and 50s.
The Legendary Franz Beckenbauer once said that almost no one in the game could stop Stanley Matthews; his pace and skill on the ball made him incredibly hard to dispossess.
Matthews was so determined to win that he wore lead-lined shoes on the way to the training pitch so that his feet would feel light as a feather when he put his soccer boots on.
7. Johan Cruyff
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.53 | 0.29 |
Johan Cruff transformed soccer forever; the Dutch master was one of the most skillful players ever to play the game and was part of the Ajax team that coined the phrase “Total Football.” Blessed with talent, agility, and incredible ball control, Cruyff was, for a period, unplayable.
The Cruyff turn, where the Dutch international would go one way with the ball, then reverse the ball’s direction before leaving a defender flat on their back, was just one of the tricks Cruyff used to great effect. He was, quite simply, one of the most gifted soccer players Holland has ever produced.
First at Ajax and later at Barcelona, Cruyff would inspire a generation of soccer players, intuitively understanding that skill and style was more important than just lumping a ball upfield and chasing it. Total football, and especially Johan Cruyff, turned soccer into an art form.
6. Luis Figo
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.17 | 0.28 |
Combining the grace and agility of a ballerina with the raw power of an NFL player, Luis Figo was rightly regarded as one of the best wingers in history. The Portuguese legend was incomparable both at Barcelona and later at Real Madrid.
A superb crosser of the ball, Figo could also score spectacular goals; he had quick feet, was excellent at dribbling, and was powerful enough to brush off defenders as he made his way towards goal. A genuinely outstanding player and one of the finest Portugal has ever produced.
5. Ryan Giggs
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.17 | 0.27 |
Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs is regarded as the most consistent and prolific left winger of all time. In a 24-year career, the Welsh wizard appeared for Manchester United 672 times in the league, scoring 114 goals, after making his debut at only 17 years old.
Giggs was incredibly fast but also had the ability to maintain speed with the ball at his feet, making him a living nightmare for defenders. It’s not just his skill with the ball that warrants Giggs’ inclusion on our list; it’s his incredible consistency. It’s not easy to play at the very top level of soccer for over two decades.
Giggs did it with style, though; trusted by Sir Alex Ferguson, even in his later years when he moved to a more central role, Giggs scored in every single season he played. Compared to future Wales star Gareth Bale, Giggs shades it for many, not just for skill but for his sheer consistency.
4. Ronaldinho
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.36 | 0.30 |
Not many players have the sheer talent to look like they’re having the time of their lives while playing in front of 60,000 screaming fans; soccer is a professional sport with consequences for the losers.
Yet Ronaldinho always seemed to play with a big smile on his face; it’s impossible not to like a player who looks like they’re enjoying themselves that much.
But don’t let the beaming grin fool you; Ronaldinho was a serial winner, one of the most gifted players of all time; the Brazilian carried the expectations of his club and country on his shoulders yet rarely seemed phased by any of it.
Able to play on either wing, thanks to his incredible skill with either foot, Ronaldinho would ghost past players easily; his stepovers would bamboozle defenders.
Ronaldinho could score from anywhere on the soccer field and often did. As well to his creative skills, he was also one of the best free-kick takers in the world.
3. George Best – Best Left Winger of All Time?
- Country: Northern Ireland
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.39 | 0.27 |
If you’ve never seen George Best in action, then you’re missing out on one of the greatest soccer players ever born; at his peak, George Best was the best player on the planet.
One thing that stands out about how good a player Best was is his ability to ride a tackle; referees in the 1960s were much more lenient than modern officials, and Best was kicked senseless for 90 minutes every week. Certainly a candidate for toughest winger, but arguably the best left winger of all-time.
Despite the violent tackles against him, Best would often emerge with the ball and go on mazy runs past three or four players before scoring or setting up a teammate.
The greatest Irish soccer player ever born, and in many people’s eyes, one of the top three ever to play soccer, George Best was as much a part of the 1960s culture as the Beatles; he was often nicknamed the fifth Beatle.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.74 | 0.24 |
Cristiano Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, is almost superhuman in his skills; with more records to his name than any other player in history, he is, without doubt, one of the greatest wingers ever to play the game.
With over 800 senior goals, and 1,100 career appearances, it was tough to place Ronaldo in second place, but the most significant Portuguese player of all time did spend much of his career also playing as a striker.
As a winger, though, Ronaldo was unbeatable; he was lightning-fast, full of tricks and turns, and powerful enough to drive past defenders like a freight train.
A debut for Portugal at 18, and a further 179 caps since, Ronaldo has won 32 trophies in a career that can only be described as phenomenal. The player has the drive and determination to succeed, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a player with Ronaldo’s willpower.
There’s not much else to say about Cristiano Ronaldo; no one will be overly surprised when the day comes that we find out he was a robot sent here to win every soccer game he played. It’s doubtful we will ever see a player of his like again; he is truly magnificent.
1. Lionel Messi – Left Winger or Right Winger? Either is fine.
| Average Goals/Game | Average Assists/Game |
|---|---|
| 0.84 | 0.40 |
Only one player could beat Cristiano Ronaldo for the top spot on our list of the best wingers of all time, and that person is Lionel Messi. Messi is the perfect soccer player with 35 trophies to his name and a skill level that will likely never be seen again.
Able to play on either wing, Messi would often be found cutting inside from the wing, scoring spectacular goals, or setting up a teammate; his dribbling skills and ability to dodge tackles made him one of the most potent attackers in world soccer.
His former manager, Pep Guardiola, once said, “Messi is the only player that runs faster with the ball than he does without it.”
It was traits like this that made Messi the greatest soccer player ever; he was impossible to dispossess, hard to keep track of, and skillful enough to do whatever he liked with the ball.
For many, Messi has surpassed fellow Argentine Diego Maradona and contemporary superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
You don’t have to be a soccer fan to enjoy watching highlight reels of Messi; his mazy runs, near-impossible balance, and pure creativity mark him as an extraordinary player and one of definitely one of the best wingers of all time.
As a winger who could drift anywhere on the pitch, he was a nightmare to play against, sheer perfection in motion.
