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The 15 Best Real Madrid Players of All Time
The greatest Real Madrid players are also some of the sport's biggest superstars over the last century.
At one point or another, Real Madrid has both signed and developed the best players in the world at every position. Europe's winningest club only reached unprecedented levels of success thanks to its generational players, from Alfredo Di Stéfano to Zinedine Zidane to Cristiano Ronaldo. With so many illustrious careers in Real Madrid's history, the club's best players were often separated by their silverware.
Here's the 15 greatest Real Madrid players of all time.
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15. Raymond Kopa
Raymond Kopa became the second Real Madrid player to win the Ballon d'Or award for his performances in 1958. The winger helped Los Blancos secure back-to-back La Liga titles and three consecutive European titles from 1957 to 1959.
Kopa's dribbling ability, pace and vision allowed him to shine on his own despite playing alongside Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskas and Paco Gento.
14. Pirri
Pirri is one of the most versatile, relentless players to ever represent Real Madrid. Not only did he score 172 goals for Los Blancos, but he was talented enough to play in any position on the pitch, including defense. He memorably played the 1971 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final with his arm in a sling and the 1975 Copa del Rey final with a broken jaw.
Pirri won an astonishing 10 La Liga titles with Real Madrid.
13. Hugo Sánchez
Hugo Sánchez is one of the best foreign players to ever suit up for Real Madrid. The Mexico international recorded 208 goals in 282 matches, making him one of only seven players in the club's history to score over 200 goals.
Sánchez won five La Liga titles with Los Blancos and four Spanish Super Cups. He topped the La Liga scoring charts multiple times, including in 1989–90 when he bagged 38 goals.
12. Luís Figo
Despite his controversial transfer from Barcelona, Luís Figo proved his worth to the Madridistas in the five years he spent in Madrid. His perfectly timed assists and 57 goals for Real Madrid helped the team win two La Liga titles and the 2002 Champions League.
The midfielder's trophy cabinet might not be as impressive as many of the other players on this list, but his Ballon d'Or is proof enough of his brilliant skill on the ball. The Portugal international laid the foundation for another Portuguese player who would become a legend in the sport.
11. Karim Benzema
Playing alongside one of the best players of all time was no problem for Karim Benzema. The Frenchman proved to be one of the best No. 9's in Real Madrid history, scoring 354 goals in 648 appearances. He sits just behind Cristiano Ronaldo as the club's second-leading goalscorer.
Benzema also bagged 80 La Liga assists in his Real Madrid career, the most by any player to represent Los Blancos. In 2022, he won his fifth Champions League title with the club and took home the Ballon d'Or.
10. Luka Modrić
The class and quality Luka Modrić brings to the midfield is generational. He might have reached the pinnacle of his individual career when he won the Ballon d'Or in 2018, but Madridistas were singing his praises long before (and after) the prestigious award.
Modrić's vision and majestic passing has created the third-most assists (56) by a Real Madrid player in La Liga, behind only Toni Kroos and Benzema. The midfielder is also one of only four players in history to win six Champions League titles.
9. Santiago Bernabéu
Santiago Bernabéu is one of Real Madrid's most important figures, so much so that the club's stadium is named after the Spaniard. His physicality, leadership and precision in front of goal eventually earned him the captain's armband. He ended his career with 70 goals in 80 official matches.
Off the pitch, Bernabéu became Real Madrid's president. He led Real Madrid from behind the scenes for 34 years and built the club into one of the sport's biggest powerhouses.
8. Ferenc Puskás
Not many players have an award named after them, but Ferenc Puskás does. The forward is one of the best goalscorers in the sport's history and showed his talent when he came to the biggest club in the world in 1958. Puskás scored 242 goals in 262 appearances, making him Los Blancos' sixth leading goalscorer of all time.
The Hungarian won three European Cups with Real Madrid. Puskás scored seven goals in European Cup finals, the most by any player in history. Four of his goals came against Frankfurt in 1960, making him the only player to ever find the back of the net four times in a European Cup or Champions League final.
7. Paco Gento
Despite starting his Real Madrid career in 1953, Paco Gento still holds two incredible records with the club. The winger won 12 La Liga titles and six European Cups (now the Champions League) with Los Blancos; no other player, past or present, has more in either competition.
The Spaniard's 182 goals puts him among Real Madrid's top 10 goalscorers of all time. He served as the club's honorary president until his death in 2022.
6. Raúl
In the 16 years Raúl spent with Real Madrid, the striker won just about every trophy there is to win. His six La Liga titles and three Champions League titles headline his impressive resume, but it was his lethal finishing and consistency that turned him into an icon at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The Spaniard is the club's third all-time leading scorer with 323 goals in a record-741 appearances. No other player in Real Madrid history has made more appearances than Raúl.
5. Iker Casillas
Every goalkeeper that follows in Iker Casillas' footsteps has an impossible legacy to live up to. The Spaniard won his first Champions League title just days after he turned 19 years old and went on to win two more with Real Madrid.
In his prime, Casillas was the best goalkeeper in the world and routinely delivered elite performances between the posts to help Real Madrid claim title after title. He remains Los Blancos' second-most capped player of all time with 725 career appearances.
4. Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane's name holds a special weight among soccer fans across the globe, not just Madridistas. The Frenchman is one of the sport's greatest midfielders; the control, skill and creativity Zidane brought to the pitch looked effortless and almost otherworldly.
Despite only spending five years as a Real Madrid player, the midfielder cemented his legacy with his stunning volley in the 2001 Champions League final. To this day, the goal is one of the competition's best.
His legend status at the Santiago Bernabéu only grew when he returned as a manager to lead Real Madrid to the first ever Champions League three-peat from 2016 to 2018.
3. Sergio Ramos
The best defender to ever don the Real Madrid crest is Sergio Ramos. The captain's ruthless—sometimes borderline—aggression led Los Blancos' backline for almost two decades. Ramos' heroics in his own half helped the club win four Champions League titles and five La Liga titles.
He is remembered for so much more than his defending, though. The Spaniard's goal in dying seconds of the 2014 Champions League final will forever be one of his and the club's greatest moments. Ramos is also Real Madrid's 20th all-time leading scorer with 101 goals in 671 appearances.
2. Alfredo Di Stéfano
Alfredo Di Stéfano's resume is as impressive as they come. The Argentine's 308 goals helped Real Madrid win five European Cups and eight La Liga titles during his 11-year stint with the club. He even found the back of the net in all five of Real Madrid's victorious European Cup finals.
Over 60 years after he stopped playing for Los Blancos, Di Stéfano still remains the club's fourth all-time leading goalscorer. In fact, he would have remained atop the list had Raúl, Benzema, and the club's best player not come along.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Was there ever any doubt about the greatest Real Madrid player? Cristiano Ronaldo's legacy and achievements might never be topped, at least not anytime soon. The Portugal captain is the club's all-time leading scorer with 450 goals in 438 appearances.
Ronaldo added four Champions League titles, two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey titles, three FIFA Club World Cups and more to his overflowing trophy cabinet during his time in Madrid. He also won four Ballon d'Or awards for his heroics while representing Los Blancos.
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Amanda Langell is a Sports Illustrated Soccer freelance writer covering the European game and international competitions.