Best World Cup Player by Country

32 teams play in the World Cup each year, with each boasting a roster of 23 players. Since the inception of the World Cup in 1930, numerous format and rule changes have altered those numbers to their present-day values, but each year one particular player stands out for his country and, over time, one often transcends the rest in his country's history. Here I have attempted to determine each country's best performer in past World Cups dating all the way back to 1930.

 

This list is by no means set in stone; many countries have several players which can be considered best (particularly Nigeria, Japan and Germany), but keep in mind that this list is meant to recognize the success of each individual on the World Cup stage. Similarly, many countries' best player(s) are currently active, and thus not eligible for this list (Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba, Ghana's Michael Essien, United States' Landon Donovan and one day Jozy Altidore and possibly Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo). Also, this list favors longevity over single-cup brilliance (thus negating Just Fontaine's record 13-goal campaign in favor of Zinedine Zidane's three-time romp).

 

Mexico: Hugo Sánchez

France: Zinedine Zidane

South Africa: Shaun Bartlett

Uruguay: Enzo Francescoli

Argentina: Diego Maradona

Greece: Theodoros Zagorakis

Nigeria: Jay-Jay Okocha

South Korea: Hong Myung-Bo

England: Bobby Charlton

USA: Kyle Rote Jr.

Algeria: Lakhdar Belloumi

Slovenia: Milenko Ačimovič

Germany: Franz Beckenbauer

Ghana: Mohammed Ahmed Polo

Serbia: Savo Milošević

Australia: Alex Tobin

Netherlands: Marco van Basten

Japan: Hidetoshi Nakata

Cameroon: Roger Milla

Italy: Paolo Maldini

Paraguay: José Luis Chilavert

New Zealand: Vaughan Coveny

Slovakia: Stanislov Varga

Brazil: Pélé

Portugal: Figo

North Korea: Mun In Guk

Ivory Coast: Cyril Domoraud

Spain Raúl

Honduras: Wilmer Velásquez

Chile: Elías Figueroa

Switzerland: Heinz Hermann