England may have officially gifted the world with soccer, but the sport has since been transformed by many nations, each adding its own unique touch.
Brazil infused it with flair, turning the game into a spectacle of skill and creativity, while Johan Cruyff and the Netherlands revolutionized it with "Total Football"—a seamless, tactical blend of movement and intelligence.
Italy, meanwhile, turned soccer into a calculated art form, mastering defensive discipline and strategic brilliance with their trademark style, built on man-marking and tactical adaptability.
Yet, despite their reputation for defensive solidity, Italy has also produced some of the game's most elegant and technically gifted players. From deep-lying playmakers, known as who dictate the tempo with pinpoint passing, to prolific strikers who have left their mark with countless goals, Italian football is as much about artistry as it is about structure.
Here, we've ranked the 10 best Italian soccer players of all time.
10. Alessandro Del Piero
Both Juventus’ record appearance maker and all-time leading goalscorer with 290 goals in 705 matches, Alessandro Del Piero was not just a prolific scorer throughout his career—he was a player who thrived in the biggest moments, always delivering when his club needed him most.
In Juventus’ second, and to date last, Champions League triumph in 1995-96, the Italian forward netted six times, including a crucial goal against Real Madrid in the quarterfinals. In 1997-98, he then scored the decisive winner against an Inter Milan side led by his goal-scoring rival Ronaldo, a victory that all but secured the Serie A title for Marcello Lippi’s men.
Admirably, he remained loyal to Juventus even after the club’s relegation to Serie B in 2006, scoring 20 goals to ensure their immediate return to the top flight.
For Italy, Del Piero was just as clutch. In the 2006 World Cup semifinal, he sealed a 2-0 win over Germany with a clinical late finish, securing the Azzurri’s place in the final. There, they triumphed over France in a dramatic penalty shootout—where Del Piero once again delivered, confidently converting his spot-kick to help Italy claim their fourth World Cup title.
9. Dino Zoff
Italian goalkeeping legend Dino Zoff had a challenging start to his soccer career, spending his early years on the bench at struggling Udinese after being rejected by Inter Milan and Juventus as a teenager.
Though his fortunes improved with spells at Mantova 1911 and Napoli, his career didn’t truly take off until 1972, when he joined Juventus at the age of 30. Over the next 11 years, Zoff made nearly 500 appearances for the Old Lady, helping them secure six Serie A titles and two Coppa Italias.
He also went on to represent Italy at three World Cups in1974, 1978, and 1982. As Italy’s 40-year-old captain, he led them to glory in the latter, becoming the oldest player ever to lift the trophy—a testament to the fact that it’s never too late to achieve your dreams.
8. Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti could have played for any team in the world during his prime, but the son of Rome remained true to his roots throughout his entire career, spending an incredible 26 seasons with AS Roma.
During that time, Totti, a skilled playmaker and prolific goalscorer, amassed 786 appearances and 307 goals—both club records—helping the Giallorossi win five major honors, most notably thein 2000-01. He also remains Serie A's second-top scorer ever, behind only Silvio Piola.
For Italy, Totti was a key player in the Azzurri's 2006 World Cup victory, scoring a crucial late winner against Australia in the round of 16.
Questions remain about whether he could have reached even greater heights had he ever left Rome, but in many ways, the fact that he achieved everything he did with just one club—especially not one of Italy’s big three—only serves to further highlight his exceptional quality.
7. Gianni Rivera
The first Italian-born player to win the Ballon d'Or (Omar Sívori, who claimed the award in 1961, had switched his allegiance from Argentina to Italy), Gianni Rivera was crowned the world's best player in 1969, shortly after leading AC Milan to its second-ever European Cup triumph.
A graceful, intelligent, and supremely skilled playmaker, Rivera was the blueprint for future Italian greats like Roberto Baggio, Francesco Totti, and Gianfranco Zola—the original "," capable of creating something from nothing and dazzling opponents with his magic.
Rivera's longtime Milan coach and friend Nereo Rocco, under whom he won those two European Cups, as well as two Serie A titles, and multiple other honors, once said of him: “Yes, he doesn’t run a lot, but if I want good football, creativity, the art of turning a situation around from the first to the 90th minute, only Rivera can give me all of this."
“I wouldn’t want to exaggerate, because in the end, it’s only football, but Rivera in all of this is a genius," Rocco added.
6. Andrea Pirlo
One of the few to have played for AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Juventus, Andrea Pirlo is among the rare players in history who made soccer look effortless.
Seemingly untouched by pressure and never in a rush, the deep-lying Italian playmaker always appeared to have all the time in the world, using it to deliver his signature, perfectly weighted looping passes to teammates or slide the ball through seemingly invisible gaps in the opponent's defense.
The Italian, who retired in 2017 after a brief stint in Major League Soccer with New York City FC, was also lethal from dead-ball situations, capable of both scoring and creating chances from various angles. He remains tied for the most free-kick goals in Serie A history, alongside Siniša Mihajlović, with 28.
A six-time Serie A, two-time Champions League, and World Cup winner, Pirlo was, in the words of the legendary Johan Cruyff, a "genius."
5. Franco Baresi
AC Milan was the most dominant side in Italian, if not world, soccer during the late 1980s and '90s, winning five Serie A titles and three consecutive Champions Leagues.
While Marco Van Basten was the ethereally talented goalscorer and Ruud Gullit the enigmatic and versatile playmaker, Franco Baresi was the veteran rock at the heart of its unshakable three-man defense alongside Paolo Maldini and Mauro Tassotti.
Fast, strong, and surprisingly good in the air for a man of his height, Baresi’s greatest asset was his tactical nous. Acting as a sweeper, he anticipated problems before they arose, cleared them up when they did, played the offside trap to perfection, and carried and distributed the ball forward as well as most midfielders did at the time.
Often compared to Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer, the debate still rages on today about which of the two super-sweepers was better.
4. Gianluigi Buffon
In 2001, two seasons after helping Parma achieve an unlikely treble—winning the Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana, and UEFA Cup—Juventus made Gianluigi Buffon the most expensive goalkeeper in soccer history, paying Parma $56.7 million for his services.
Over the next two decades in Turin, Buffon proved to be worth every penny, with his unwavering performances in goal playing a pivotal role in helping Juventus win an incredible 10 Serie A titles and 11 other major honors.
A World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, Buffon retired at 45 in 2023 as both Serie A and Italy's most-capped player ever, ending his illustrious career back where it all began at Parma.
The only blemish on his incredible legacy is that he was never able to win the Champions League, having come out on the losing end in three separate finals. But nevertheless, he remains one of the game's greatest-ever between the sticks.
3. Giuseppe Meazza
Giuseppe Meazza was Italy's first soccer superstar.
Standing at just 5'7", the diminutive forward was rejected by AC Milan at age 14 because of his stature. However, rivals Inter Milan swooped in to rescue him, and their gamble paid off in ways they could never have imagined.
After breaking into Inter's first team at just 17, "The Little Boy" went on to make 408 appearances for the club over the next 13 years, scoring a club-record 284 goals and firing them to three Serie A titles. At the same time, he became a national hero for Italy, leading the Azzurri to back-to-back World Cup titles in 1934 and 1938.
Meazza did eventually join AC Milan in 1940, but by that point, injuries had taken their toll, and his best days were behind him, leaving the Rossoneri wondering what might have been if they'd signed him all those years ago.
Today, Inter and AC Milan’s shared stadium, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza—better known as the San Siro—is named in his honor.
2. Roberto Baggio
Before Pep Guardiola became the superstar manager we know today, he was an accomplished midfielder who shared the pitch with some of soccer's greatest-ever players—Ronaldo, Hristo Stoichkov, Luis Figo, Michael Laudrup, Rivaldo, Xavi, Raul, and Romario, to name just a few.
Yet, in Guardiola’s mind, there's no doubt about who the best player he ever played alongside was.
"I get emotional when talking about Baggio,” said Guardiola of his former Brescia teammate in 2024. “I got to know him at the end of his career when his knee was full of scars. He could barely move and still he was the best. I can only imagine what he was like during his best years."
We'll tell you, Pep: He was pretty darn good.
One of the most naturally gifted players of all time, “The Divine Ponytail” and 1993 Ballon d’Or winner was a creative mastermind. His lethal combination of unparalleled dribbling skills, an instinctive understanding of the game, and a deadly eye for goal made him a joy to watch.
From weaving through defenders with ease to executing insane first touches that left goalkeepers scrambling, Baggio did things others could only dream of.
1. Paolo Maldini
What makes Paolo Maldini Italy's greatest soccer player of all time?
Is it the fact that he's one of the most decorated players in Italian soccer history, with seven Serie A titles, five Champions League crowns, and countless other trophies? Perhaps.
Is it that he emerged from the shadow of AC Milan legend Franco Baresi to not only uphold the his one-club-man legacy but also elevate the Rossoneri to unprecedented heights under his leadership? Probably.
Is it because he is widely regarded as the greatest defender the sport has ever seen—revered by the game’s greatest strikers and so masterful at stopping opponents that he considered needing to make a tackle a mistake? Certainly.
Is it all of the above? Yes. Yes, it is.
Like Buffon and his missing Champions League medal, the only knock on Maldini’s otherwise flawless career is his lack of international silverware. He declined the chance to come out of retirement for Italy’s victorious 2006 World Cup campaign, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s a minor blemish on an otherwise impeccable résumé.
