1aAdolfo Pedernera (ARG)
1939 Argos Cigarrillos.
“The best player I saw in my life was Adolfo Pedernera. Undoubtedly Maradona was exceptional, fantastic. The best for years. One can also not ignore Pelé. For heaven's sake, although it is difficult to make comparisons, Pedernera was a very complete player who can play in the whole pitch." – Alfredo Di Stefano. Pedernera member of its celebrated “La Máquina” (“The Machine”) attack, considered by many as the best attacking line in the history of South American club football. La Máquina, consisted of Pedernera, JM Moreno, Ángel Labruna, Felix Loustau and JC Muñoz, and was known as much for their intricate passing style and beautiful football as for their victories. River won five Argentine titles and two Copa Américas with Pedernera.
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1bTelmo Zarra (SPA)
1941 Editorial Valenciana.
Telmo Zarra was a prolific scorer, winning the Pichichi Trophy (league scoring title) six times, holding the career record for most La Liga goals (251) until Lionel Messi passed him in 2014 and still holding the all-time record of 81 Copa del Rey goals. His legacy lives on as the Zarra Trophy is now awarded to the top scoring Spaniard in La Liga.
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1cPepi Bican (AUS/CZE)
1933 Idis Fussball-Schokolade.
Josef "Pepi" Bican was the most prolific scorer in history with about 800 goals in all competitive matches, not including friendly games. He was the season's highest scorer in any European league in 5 separate seasons. A member of the Wunderteam, Bican shot with both feet. He was very fast, able to run the 100-meter dash in 10.8 seconds, as fast as many top sprinters at the time. The International Federation of Football History & Statistics awarded Bican the “Golden Ball” as the greatest goal scorer of the 20th Century.
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1dJose Manuel Moreno (ARG)
1946 Figuritas Olimpia.
JM Moreno was the biggest star on the dominant River Plate team of the 1940s, “La Máquina”, and is widely considered the best Argentine footballer before Maradona’s arrival. He was the first footballer to win first-tier league titles in four different countries. In 1999, Moreno was ranked among the 25 best players in the world in the 20th century and among the five best in South America, through a poll by the IFFHS.
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1eZizinho (BRA)
1950 Tinghälls.
Acquired by Flamengo at age 18. The attacking midfielder Zizinho was originally mentored by the legendary Leonidas. After his mentor’s departure in 1940, Zizinho led the club to three consecutive state championships in 1942, 1943 and 1944. He would go on to be Brazil’s best player during the decade.
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1fObdulio Varela (URU)
1950 Tinghälls.
Known for his leadership and tenacity as well as his defense, Obdulio Varela won six league titles with Peñarol. And he was, of course, the captain of the Uruguay national team when it pulled one of the biggest upsets in 1950 World Cup history, one that still gives Brazilians nightmares. Brazil was heavily favored and it was 0-0 at halftime in the 1950 World Cup finals, with Uruguay needing the win. Uruguay’s coach told his players that their best chance against Brazil was in the second half was to play defensively. After the coach left the room, Varela addressed his teammates: “Juan is a good man, but if we do defend ourselves then we will suffer the same fate as Sweden and Spain. The game is played on the pitch, when you come out to the pitch, don't look to the crowd, those on the outside are of wood.” Varela and his teammates tuned out the world and beat the Brazilian favorites 2-1.
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1gStanley Matthews (ENG)
1932 Anonymous Transfer.
“The Wizard of Dribble” as he was known, Sir Stanley Matthews played at the top level until the age of 50! Matthews won Second Division titles with Stoke City 30 years apart, in 1933 and in 1963. Playing the England, Matthews won 9 British Home Championship titles. He is the only footballer knighted while still playing. Playing the England, Matthew won 9 British Home Championship titles.
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1hValentino Mazzola (ITA)
1942 Il Balilla.
Considered one of the best footballers of all-time, Valentino Mazzola led Torino to a record five consecutive league titles from 1945 to 1949. The streak might have continued if not for the fateful night in 1949 when the team’s plane crashed, killing Mazzola and most of his teammates. Mazzola was just 30. He was widely regarded as the first complete footballer even before Cruyff, in fact he was known as the Italian version of Di Stefano. With great stamina, Mazzola would track back and helped the team to defend. But with the ball, he was the team's playmaker and scorer.
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1iPietro Rava (ITA)
1930s Edizioni Il Balilla.
Pietro Rava already had an impressive resume coming into the 40s, having been part of Italy’s 1936 gold medal- and 1938 World Cup-winning teams. Juventus' captain from 1947 to 1950, Rava led the team to a Serie A title in 1949. In all, Rava played 352 Serie A matches, won two league titles and two Italian Cups.
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1jCarlos Sosa (ARG)
1942 Chocolatines Pirania.
Carlos Sosa was a phenomenal defender, and helped Boca Juniors win Argentina league titles in 1943 and 1944, unseating River Plate's famous “La Máquina”. He was also instrumental in Argentina winning Copa Américas in 1945 and 1946. Sosa is generally considered Argentina’s best right back of all-time (no offense to Javier Zanetti).
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1kJulien Darui (FRA)
1938 La Pie Qui Chante.
Elected best French goalkeeper of the 20th Century, Julien Darui won the Coupe de France in 1942 with Red Star Olympique and Ligue 1 in 1947 with CO Roubaix-Tourcoing. He was capped 25 times by the French national team between 1939 and 1951.
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1lManager: Guillermo Stábile (ARG)
1926 Cigarrillos Dolar.
Guillermo Stábile set records both as a player and as a manger. He coached the Argentina national team during its Golden Era, winning 83 of 123 matches, making him one of only a handful of managers with more than 100 international matches. During that time, Argentina won six South American Championships. While he was manager of Racing Club, the team won three consecutive league titles between 1949 and 1951. As a player, Stábile is most famous for winning the Golden Boot in the 1930 World Cup with 8 goals. He also won two league titles with Huracán.
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2aÁngel Labruna (ARG)
1950 Starostas.
A member of the dominant “La Máquina,” Ángel Labruna played for River Plate for 20 seasons, wining 9 league titles and leading the league in scoring on two occasions. He is the second highest career scorer in Argentina league with 293 goals. Labruna scored 17 goals for the national team in 37 appearances.
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2bFernando Peyroteo (POR)
1938 Union König.
Fernando Peyroteo is ranked as the 12th all-time goal scorer with 544 career goals (including friendlies). He won five Portuguese league titles with Sporting CP and was the league’s top scorer for six seasons.
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2cAdemir de Menezes (BRA)
1950 Tinghälls.
Ademir is regarded as one of the best center forwards in the history of the Brazil national team. Playing for Vasco da Gama, he scored 301 times in 429 appearances and won five Rio State League Championships. Ademir won the Golden Boot with 8 goals in the 1950 World Cup.
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2dFerenc Szusza (HUN)
1947 Nannina.
At the time of his death, Ferenc Szusza was the all-time scorer in Hungary's top division with 393 league goals and the 12th highest all-time scorer among all top division players in the world. He won 4 Hungarian league titles with Újpest FC and according, to the statistics of IFFHS, Szusza scored the most league goals in football history while with one club. Szuza scored 18 times in 24 appearances for the Hungarian national team an early incarnation of the "Magical Magyars."
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2eNorberto Mendez (ARG)
1940s Monte Cudine.
A staple on the 1940s Argentine national team at left inside forward, Norberto Mendez helped win three consecutive Copa Américas from 1945 to 1947. He is famous for being the all-time top scorer in the history of the Copa América with 17 goals. Mendez also won three consecutive Argentina league titles with Racing Club between 1949 and 1950.
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2fJair Rosa Pinto (BRA)
1951 Balas.
One of Brazil’s leading players in the 1940s and 50s, Jair was an offensive midfielder who still holds a share of the record for goals in a single Copa América with his nine goals in the 1949 tournament. With the trio of Jair, Zizinho and Ademir, Brazil was heavily favored to win the 1950 World Cup but disappointed fans by losing to Uruguay in the final match.
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2gNéstor Rossi (ARG)
1946 Olimpia.
Argentine defensive midfielder Nestor Rossi won a lot of hardware, winning five league titles in Argentina with River Plate and four league titles in Colombia with Millonarios. Rossi played for the Argentina national football team during the 1958 FIFA World Cup, as well as in the Copa América in several occasion, winning the 1947 and 1957 tournaments.
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2hFelix Loustau (ARG)
1940s Monte Cudine.
Considered to be one of Argentina's greatest wingers, Félix Loustau played outside left for River Plate’s famed “La Maquina,” considered to be one of the best teams ever assembled. With River, Loustau won eight national championships between 1942 and 1957 and three consecutive Copa Américas from 1945 to 1947.
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2iBranko Stanković (YUG)
1958 Port Chocolates.
Capped 61 times for Yugoslavia, Branko Stanković won silver medals with the national team at both the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games. He was nicknamed “Ambassador” due to his elegant playing style. Ambassador won four national championships and three national cup titles with Red Star Belgrade.
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2jJosè Salomon (ARG)
1942 Chocolatin Laponia.
Capped 41 times between 1939 and 1946, Josè Salomón helped the Argentina national team win three Copa Américas in 1941, 1945 and 1946 as well as two Copas Lipton. His career was ended in the 1946 Copa América by a Jair da Rosa Pinto tackle which broke Salomon’s tibia and fibula, causing fans to riot and storm the field and fueling the Argentina and Brazil football rivalry.
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2kRoque Maspoli (URU)
1950 Tinghälls.
The goalkeeper of Uruguay’s 1950 World Cup team, Roque Máspoli won six league titles with Peñarol. He would later coach Peñarol, with which he won five national championships. In 1997, Máspoli managed the Uruguay national team, making him the oldest manager ever of any national football team at the age of 80.
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3aRinaldo Martino (ARG/ITA)
1942 Titán.
An Italian-Argentine forward who played for both the Argentina and Italy national teams, Martino won two Copa Americas with Argentina. At the club level, Martino won one league title in Argentina for San Lorenzo, one title in Italy with Juventus and two titles in Uruguay with Nacional.
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3bRené Pontoni (ARG)
1940s Monte Cudine.
Argentine center forward René Pontoni had great success with the national team, scoring 19 goals in 19 games for Argentina and helping them to become South American champions in 1945, 1946 and 1947. He also won a league title with San Lorenzo in 1944.
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3cSeverino Varela (URU)
1940s Monte Cudine.
In the late 1930s, the Uruguayan striker Severino Varela led Peñarol to four consecutive league titles. In the 1940s, Varela became a legend for Boca Juniors which unseated River Plate’s famous “La Máquina” by winning the Argentina league title in 1943 and 1944. He scored 24 goals and 21 goals in 1943 and 1944, respectively, as a well-rounded forward who was powerful in the air and had a fiery attitude on the pitch. Varela was a member of the Uruguay national side that decisively won the 1942 South American championship. He was known for wearing a white beret.
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3dGunnar Gren (SWE)
1944 Dänemark Familie Journalens.
One of the first Swedish players to make a significant impact on the global game, inside right Gunnar Gren formed a fearsome trio with fellow Swedish countrymen Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm known as “Gre-No-Li” during their time together at AC Milan. An intelligent playmaker, he was an important member of both the Swedish gold medal winning team at the 1948 Olympic Games and the team which reached the World Cup final on home soil ten years later.
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3eEnrique Garcia (ARG)
1945 Colección Starosta.
Enrique Garcia was one of the finest left-sided players in the history of Argentine football. Capped 35 times for his country, he was instrumental in Argentina winning Copa Américas in 1936 and 1944.
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3fLarbi Benbarek (MOR/FRA)
1948 Chicles Tabay.
Larbi Benbarek was the first successful black football player in Europe. He was discovered by Olympique Marseille while playing in his home country, French-occupied Morocco. Following WWII, Helenio Herrera recruited Benbarek to Atlético Madrid where he would help the team win league titles in 1950 and 1951. Benbarek was known as the “Black Pearl,” a nickname later adopted by Pelé who would famously declare, “If I am the King of Football, then Larbi Benbarek is the God of it.”
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3gErnst Stojaspal (AUS)
1947 Nannina
Attacking midfielder Ernst Stojaspal won 3 league titles and 2 domestic cups, playing with Austria Wien. He scored 15 goals in 32 appearances for Austria and helped the team to its third-place finish in the 1954 World Cup.
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3hSune Andersson (SWE)
1950 Tinghälls.
Swedish midfielder Sune Andersson possessed outstanding technique and ball control combined with phenomenal long-distance passing which regularly broke the defense and led to goals. He was nicknamed “Mona-Lisa” because of his stoic facial expression while playing. Capped 28 times for the Swedish national team, Andersson was a member of the squads that won the gold medal in the 1948 Olympics and placed third in the 1950 World Cup.
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3iSchubert Gambetta (URU)
1950 Tinghälls.
Between 1940 and 1956, Schubert Gambetta played for Nacional with which he won the Uruguayan championship ten times and captained the team. He also earned 36 caps and scored three goals for the Uruguay national football team from 1941 to 1952. He was part of Uruguay's championship team at the 1950 FIFA World Cup and helped defend against Zizinho and Ademir in the final match of the tournament.
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3jErik Nilsson (SWE)
1948 Sparbanken.
Erik Nilsson spent his entire career with Malmö FF with whom he won 5 Swedish league titles and 5 Swedish Cups. Capped 57 times by the Swedish national team, Nilsson helped his country finish fourth in the 1938 World Cup, first in the 1948 Olympics, third in the 950 World Cup (in which Nilsson was named to the tournament’s all-star team) and third in the 1952 Olympics. Nilsson is one of only two players to participate in World Cup tournaments both before and after World War II.
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3kFrank Swift (ENG)
1934 J. A. Pattreiouex.
Frank Swift is a Manchester City legend and was one of the top goalkeepers of the 1940. He was nicknamed “Frying Pan Hands” due to his 29.8cm-wide hands that made the goal look small to opposing forwards. Although he lost some of his prime years to WWII, he was still capped 33 times by England. After retirement, Swift become a football correspondent and was killed in 1958 in the “Munich air disaster” while traveling with Manchester United.
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4aAmedeo Biavati (ITA)
1935 Figurina Sportiva Ballila.
An extremely fast player with excellent dribbling skills, Amedeo Biavati is largely remembered for popularizing the use of notable feints in Italian football, in particular the step over. He won three Serie A titles with Bologna between 1937 and 1941. Capped 18 times by the Italian national team, Biavati was a member of the squad that won the 1938 World Cup.
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4bAgustin Gainza (SPA)
1941 Editorial Valenciana.
Agustin Gainza spent his entire career with Athletic Bilbao and led the club to two league titles and seven Copas del Ray (known in those years as “Copas del Generalísimo”). His appearance in nine Copas del Rey is a record.
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4cRoberto Porta (URU)
1934 Zaini.
Winner of five consecutive Uruguay championships with Nacional between 1939 and 1943, Roberto Porta was the club’s primary creator and scorer. For Uruguay, Porta scored 5 goals in the 1942 South American championship and 12 goals overall in the South American championships between 1939 and 1945.
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4dAleksei Khomich (RUS)
1944 Dynamo Moscow Postcard (Top Row, Far Left).
Best known as Lev Yashin’s mentor, Aleksei Khomich was also one of the best goalkeepers of the 1940s. With Dynamo Moscow, he won Soviet championships in 1945 and 1949 and was league runner-up on four other occasions. When the club toured England in 1945, Khomich received the nickname “Tiger” for his energetic play and quick reflexes.
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4eJack Rowley (ENG)
1947-50 Barratt.
One of only four plyers to score over 200 goals for Manchester United, Jack Rowley was the star center-forward of the “Busby Babes.” With Man U, Rowley won the FA Cup in 1948 and English league title in 1952.
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4fFranco Ossola (ITA)
c1947 Editori Sconosciuti.
Franco Ossola was a member of the famous Torino side that dominated Italian football in the 1940s, winning 5 league titles in in 6 years. Tragically, Ossola was killed in the Superga air disaster along with the rest of his teammates.
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4gMario Boyé (ARG)
1940s Monte Cudine.
Striker Mario Boyé was a key member of the Argentine national side that won the South American championships in 1945, 1946 and 1947. With Boca Juniors, he won the Argentine Primera División in 1943 and 1944 and was the league’s top scorer in 1946 with 24 goals.
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4hSergio Livingstone (CHI)
1951 Knäpper Fussball.
A legend in the South American Championships, goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone debuted for the Chilean national team during the 1941 tournament and was considered the best player in the tournament. He won Chilean national championships with Universidad Católica in 1949 and 1954.
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4iAbe Lenstra (NED)
1947 Smith. Abe Lenstra scored an amazing 636 career goals, though for the majority of his career the Netherlands dometic league was divided into 6 regional leagues. In a ten-year span between 1941 and 1951, he led his club to ten Northern Division (regional) championships. Lenstra scored 33 goals for the national team in 47 appearances.
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4jVirgilio Maroso (ITA)
1945 Fidass.
A key member of the Torino side that won four consecutive Serie A titles between 1945 and 1949, Virgilio Maroso was one of the best defenders of the 1940s. Maroso died in the Superga air disaster along with the entire Torino squad.
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4kJohn Hansen (DEN)
1948 Edizioni AVE “Concorso Grandi Campioni”. Danish forward John Hansen enjoyed a great seven seasons in Italy, scoring 124 goals in 187 appearances for Juventus, leading the club to two Serie A championships, and being the 1949-50 top scorer in the league. He was a key member of the Danish national team that won a bronze medal at the 1948 Olympics.
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4lIstván Nyers (HUN)
1948 BEA.
One of the strongest forwards in the history of Serie A, Hungarian István Nyers was the league’s top scorer in 1948 and scored 133 goals in 188 matches during his time with Inter Milan. He led the club to league titles in 1953 and 1954.
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4mDanilo Alvim (BRA)
1950 Commercial Bilbao.
One of the top center-halves of the 1940s, Danilo Alvim possessed great ball control and accurate long-range passing. With Vasco de Gama, he won the 1948 South American club championship, the first club tournament in South America. Alvim was a member of the 1950 Brazilian national side that lost to Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup.
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