Top 12 Best Team Captains In Football

Who are the Top 12 Best Team Captains In Football? Have you ever wondered who are the Greatest Team Captains in Football? well if you have then we have what you need, We have compiled a list of the 12 Best Team Captains In Football. Every Football Club in the world has a captain to maintain the discipline of fellow players on the pitch, give directions from the coach and set an example to the players.

Twelve Greatest Captains in Football History

Previously we published the Top 10 Greatest One Club Footballers of All Time which also on that list you might find some of the players from the Top 12 Best Team Captains In Football. So without further delay let’s count down the Top 12 Best Team Captains In Football.

12. John Terry – Chelsea F.C/England

Following Desailly, former Chelsea Football Club player and a Legend’s retirement the English man John George Terry was made the club’s new captain by the then and now club manager Jose Mourinho though this was during his first spell way back in the 2004-05 Premier League season and this was his first time as a manager in the English top flight league though Terry had been at the club since 1998 when he was still a youth. Since then he has been the club’s captain and has so far helped the blues win several titles more than any other club captain.

Terry was also an England National Football Team captain a honour he got when England were playing Poland after the then Captain Michael Owen was subbed. It was in February 2012 when the FA stripped him off being an England Captain for the second time subjected for his racial abuse on Antonio Ferdinard who was then a Queens Park Rangers player later in September 2012 , he announced that he had retired from International Football.

11. Patrick Vieira – Arsenal/France

Scoring six in his 107 caps for France, he was appointed France’s national team Captain following Zinedine Zidane‘s retirement though him and other team-mates convinced him to end his retirement so he helps the team to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and he later handed back the captaincy of the team to their well known play maker Zidane though later in June 2006 Vieira took the captains armband for the match of the suspended Zidane.

Patrick Vieira was also English club Arsenal Football Club captain from 2002 till 2005 when he left the club for Italian club Juventus. Vieira was first made club’s vice-captain to ensure he would succeed the then captain Tony Adams. Later in May 2002 he became the Gunners captain following Adam’s retirement.

10. Franco Berasi – AC Milan

One of the seven players to have achieved the rare feat of winning Gold Silver and Bronze World Cup medals Franco Baresi is another player who gets to our list of the 12 Best Captains in Football as he was captain of both AC Milan and Italy a honour he got after replacing Guiseppe Bergomi as captain for the 1994 World Cup under his former manager at Milan Arrigo Sacchi and at the age of 34 when he retired from international football, he passed the captain’s armband to his Milan team-mate Maldini. Baresi was a defender and also captained his only career club AC Milan for over 15 seasons and on retiring he again passed his club armband to Paolo Maldini

9. Francesco Totti – Roma

The top active goalscorer in the Italian Serie A and the second highest scorer of all time in league history with 243 goals Totti has played for Italian club Roma through out his senior career he started way back in 1992 till now and he has been Roma’s captain for several years and he is another player on our list of the 12 Best Captains in Football.

Francesco Totti is one of the Top 10 Greatest One Club Footballers of All Time.

8. Diego Maradona – Napoli/Argentina

Maradona is one of the best footballers of all time and he was a captain for his national team Argentina and Italian club Napoli a club he played for most of his senior career football spending seven years at the club before joining another Spanish club Sevilla after Barcelona a club he had played for way back in from the 1982 to 1984 seasons before he joined Napoli where he reached the peak of his career helping the club win it’s first Serie A Italian Championship in 1986/87 domestic season. Diego is Napoli’s all time leading goalscorer with 115 goals.

7. Tony Adams – Arsenal/England

Th 48 year old played for only one club through out his career and that was Arsenal Football Club where he spent over 22 years playing as a defender winning four top flight division titles captaining both Arsenal and England at international level. He became England national team’s captain before the UEFA Euro of 1996 though Glenn Hoddle took it off him and gave it to the Premier League All Time Top Goalscorer Alan Shearer though he gained it back following Alan’s retirement. Tony Adams is the only player to have made tournament appearances in three different decades

6. Steven Gerrard – Manchester United / Republic of Ireland

Roy Keane who is now the assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland national football team. The Irish footballer played as a midfielder through out his career starting from his domestic league when he played for Cobh Ramblers before joining English clubs Nottingham Forest and Manchester United where he reached his career peak.

Keane was made United’s captain after Eric Cantona‘s unexpected retirement and in 1997 league season till 2001 though he was a Manchester United player till 2005 when he joined his last career club Celtic the Scottish giants . Keane was also captain of the Republic of Ireland setting 67 caps to his name and scoring 9 times for his country.

5. Steven Gerrard – Liverpool/England

Steven Gerrard was first made Vice-Captain by former England team coach Steve McClaren by then Chelsea Football Club captain John Terry was the national team captain and he was also vice to Rio Ferdinard who was made England captain in 2010 though Gerrard was later permanently made England’s captain by new coach Roy Hodgson. Gerrard was captain when England suffered a World Cup elimination just after two games all being a 1-2 loss against Italy and Uruguay during the 2014 World Cup tournament.

He later in July announced his retirement from international football having scored 21 goals in his 114 England caps being the third most capped player ever just one cap short to David Beckham who sits second to Peter Shilton. Steven Gerrard was also captain for his English club Liverpool Football Club since October 2003 till 2014-15 Premier League season when he left the club to play for Los Angeles Galaxy in the Major League Soccer.

Stevie G is also part of the Top 10 Greatest One Club Footballers of All Time.

4. Bobby Moore – England

Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore was an England professional footballer who played for West Ham United since his youth career and then in 1958 when he started playing his professional football at the same club playing at the club for three decades till when he joined Fulham. He was playing as a defender and was captain for the Hammers for more than ten years and was captain of the England national football team that won the 1966 World Cup. Bobby Moore was regarded as the greatest defender by Pele and he was a member of the of the World Team of the 20th Century. Bobby Moore scored only twice for England and had 108 caps to his name and he was a Ballon d’Or Runner-up in 1970

3. Carles Puyol – Barcelona

The third player in our list of the 12 best Captains in Football is the UEFA Club Best Defender of the year 2006 and World Cup winner in 2010, former Spain national team and Barcelona defender Carles Puyol who was captain for his only career club F.C Barcelona right from the end of the 2003-04 season when he was named the club captain after the retirement of team mate Luis Enrique spending ten years as the club captain in his 15 year career with the club and he is the second player after Xavi in Barca’s all time league appearance table.

2. Paolo Maldini – AC Milan/Italy

Maldini is regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time having played as a left back and centre-back for two and a half decades for his only career club AC Milan and Italy national football team and was captain both at club level and national team making him the second best captain in our short list of 12 players.

He won over 26 titles with his Italian club AC Milan and scored 7 goals in all of his 126 caps for the Azzuri, Italy and he is the top player with the most appearances in all competitions for AC Milan. Paolo Maldini is the top player with 168, the most UEFA Champions League appearances and he holds the record of playing the most minutes in the World Cups.

Paolo Maldini is the top player on the Top 10 Greatest One Club Footballers of All Time.

1.Franz Beckenbauer – Bayern Munchen/West Germany

The top best captain in our list is Franz Beckenbauer who was the captain of both his club Bayern Munchen and West Germany. He played as a defender helping West Germany to win the 1974 FIFA World Cup after three unsuccessful campaigns the worst was in 1966 when they were runners-up to the hosts England who won the title and again in 1970 when they were the third place team

Franz won several titles at club level winning i.e 4 Bundesliga titles, 4 DFB-Pokal cup titles, 3 European Cup 1 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and 1 Intercontinental Cup in 1976 before he played for New York Cosmos and Hamburger SV . He is nicknamed Der Kaiser meaning the Emperor because of his elegant style , dominance and leadership on the pitch and he is regarded as one of the greatest German Footballers of all time.