Dribbling is an art form in football, feet dancing on grass, the pitch turning into a canvas. The best dribblers can give the impression that the ball does not stay bound by gravity or physics but moves through defenders with graceful agility like a ballet dancer.
Dribblers are the game’s creators, those who single-handedly can bend the momentum of a match with a slalom turn or a shift in speed and step-overs.
In a game where much of the time precision overshadows flair, dribblers are the rebels—the artists who don’t color inside the lines.
In a game searching for those moments of magic that will get a stadium on its feet and send shivers down the spine of any defender, such maestros are worth their weight in gold.
Here, we list 10 of the greatest dribblers in football history.
1. Garrincha
The Brazilian football sensation was born with a unique gift: his legs were bent in, forming the shape of two right-hand brackets, which should have been a difficulty but ended up as the key to unparalleled dribbling skills.
Garrincha played magic, unscripted, unbridled, spellbinding football. He danced across the pitch very easily, leaving opponents in his wake.
This two-time World Cup winner was a character with a flair for drama, inspiring hundreds of poems and stories. He was probably more popular in Brazil than his contemporaneous colleague Pelé because he never lost faith in his commitment to pleasing the audience.
Creativity was unparalleled on the part of this player, although statistics may not be available to prove it; the anecdotes abound.
Who could forget the referee who threatened to send him off for tormenting a defender all game, or the manager who tried to rein in his dribbling, only to give up in awe of his talent?
2. Diego Maradona
The name Maradona brings to mind genius, creativity, and soccer sorcery.
A highlight once played in my memory of six desperate Belgian footballers trying to wrest the ball away from him during the World Cup 1986 semifinal.
That was Maradona’s touch: drawing them in before sliding away, leaving them bewildered and lost.
The stats are outrageous—fouled over 50 times in one single World Cup—not only that, but he did the same again. Only the very greatest defenders could get anywhere near him in an attempt to stop him from making an influence.
Then there was his mesmerizing ability to dribble a football—53 times he left opponents in his wake during the 1986 World Cup, which would put to shame any of the top teams.
Not only do figures speak for themselves, but it’s memories that themselves are recalled just as he dashed past half of the English team before slotting in that powerful second goal in the quarters.
The Argentina commentator Victor Hugo Morales had it spot-on: “Cosmic kite! What planet are you from?”
3. Lionel Messi
From a dazzling young dribbler, Messi grew into the commanding maestro of the game.
He used to ghost past defenders with an average of 8.4 mesmerizing dribbles per game in his early days, still an unmatched record.
As he grew older, Messi learned to tame his game and revered efficiency and precision under the guidance of Pep Guardiola.
Guardiola rhapsodized how Messi forged all the fancy embellishments and concentrated on one thing: how to be as effective as possible. “He’s a player who plays with zero adornments,” he said.
Even the notoriously hard-to-please Jose Mourinho admitted that to try to mark Messi man-for-man is futile.
Jerome Boateng, ensnared in the 2015 Champions League semi-final by Messi’s signature body feint, said, “Defending Messi one-on-one is just simply impossible.”
Perhaps Hristo Stoichkov said it best: “They used to say you needed a pistol to stop me, but now you need a machine gun to stop him.”
The evolution of Messi into a footballing phenomenon has left the footballing world aghast, with his name minted into history among the all-time greats.
4. Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho did not have his mesmerizing skills given to him by the gods. He developed it through many hours of ball playing in the streets with whoever would play and even his dedicated dog, Bombom.
That training ground would soon turn out to be perfect preparation for the beautiful game.
Indeed, if Ronaldinho is to be believed, he said, “When I faced European defenders, I was reminded of Bombom: unpredictable and fierce.”
As much as Ronaldinho can be called the personification of Brazilian flair, he comes from Rio Grande do Sul, a region known for its rugged, physical-style play roots. Still, he would not be conformed and instead set his wild creativity free on the field.
One even told him that he would never make it as a footballer, playing in the way that he did. But he never listened, and he went on to make a name in football.
Here’s a player with a cabinet of the World Cup, Copa America, the Champions League, and more.
5. Jay-Jay Okocha
When talking about dribbling in football, the only name one can think of is Jay-Jay Okocha.
He had collected a cabinet full of prestigious honors: a Football League Cup runner-up medal, a Goal of the Year award in Germany, and made it into the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. Okocha was a powerhouse on the field.
Okocha was magic: he made the ball leave the defenders bewildered with the dazzles and trickeries of his flair.
He also had his technique and close control second to none, which helped in beating opponents with a certain trademark, the “Okocha stepover,” which certainly left one mesmerized.
Although none of this was due to his brilliance, the Nigerian was also one of the very finest playmakers in the game—capable of creating scoring opportunities for a colleague with his pin-point passing or even long throw-ins.
No wonder Okocha would be hailed as arguably the greatest, most dazzling dribbler of all time. Truly, many enjoyed the belief that he could have won the Ballon d’Or if only his era had carried on a bit longer.
No wonder he had the nickname “so good they named him twice”, an epithet enshrined in a terrace chant during his time at Bolton Wanderers.
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6. George Best
Best was a force to be reckoned with on the pitch—leaving most defenders bewildered and befuddled in his wake.
To this effect, his teammate at Manchester United, Paddy Crerand, described in his own words how Best left all his opponents with “twisted blood”.
No wonder again, for before age 22, Best had already pulled off an unbelievable amount of success: winning the European Cup and two First Division titles.
His talent burst into full bloom under the legendary leadership of Sir Matt Busby.
“He was able to use either foot – sometimes he seemed to have six,” marveled Busby about Best.
He was so unpredictable he was a nightmare for any defender to deal with. He was able to nutmeg two Dutch legends, Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens, in the same game while playing for Northern Ireland in 1976.
His teammate, Sammy McIlroy, exploded in laughter after being asked about that kind of performance from Best. He just said, “That was Bestie”.
7. Johan Cruyff
The Dutch master honed his incredible skills on the cobblestone streets of Amsterdam and never had any intention of humiliating his opponents.
He concentrated on effectiveness, only putting these moves on when they could create the most direct, quickest route to the goal. Even those who became victims of his brilliance, like Sweden’s Jan Olsson, could only admire his genius.
Olsson was the first to be caught cold by the iconic “Cruyff turn” during the 1974 World Cup, flailing in the air as Cruyff sped past him in a blur of orange.
But Olsson couldn’t bring himself to mind: “I loved every part of this ” From that same game, Cruyff did a then-impressive 12 dribbles; only two players in World Cup history have done more.
8. Sir Stanley Matthews
The masterly exponent of the beautiful game was the legendary English winger.
He was asked to demonstrate the famous body swerve he used so well, and he chuckled as he replied, “I’m sorry, but I can’t do it in cold blood.”
That very humble reply concealed the magic he used to bring to the field; he waltzed past opposing defenders as he went by, making himself the “Wizard of the Dribble”.
Mathews’ contribution to English football could not be measured in the number of goals he scored; he only reached double figures in one of his 29 league seasons. But boy, did he bring joy to the game.
His finest moment came in 1953, leading Blackpool to an epic 4-3 FA Cup final triumph over Bolton.
Although teammate Stan Mortensen scored a hat trick, the game was forever known as the “Matthews Final”—in testament to Matthews’ mesmerizing wing play.
In fact, even the great Pele said, “He’s the man who taught us how football should be played.” No doubt, Matthew’s legacy is still so inspiring.
9. Ronaldo Nazario
Ronaldo does enter history as one of the greatest strikers ever.
He was a force of nature known through time as ‘Il Fenomeno’, having power, speed, and technique enough to make defenses out of several other people in the world shiver.
His movement was immaculate, and his finishing was clear as day. He was just as good with his weaker foot as with his stronger foot.
The way he moved on the ball was just mesmerizing.
What set him apart from most others was that he did not necessarily need to be operating inside the penalty area because he would pick up speed and steam as he bore down on goal.
He was an attack on his own, beating many players with the quickness of his feet. And once he put himself in one-on-one situations, he became virtually unstoppable.
The story of Ronaldo is one of tragedy as much as triumph.
Hitting a devastating injury, he could have easily fallen into self-destructive habits and given up, but instead, he chose to fight. He gave every bead of sweat and blood left in him to rehab, and out came a World Cup winner’s medal, with some more years of European football.
The old Ronaldo was a delight (1993-98): stronger, faster, and more committed than even Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo today.
10. Neymar
The mention of the name alone conjures up a thousand different emotions.
But ask Robinho, his fellow Santos youth teammate, and he will sum it up in just one line: “Neymar is a synonym for showtime.”
And what a show it has been. Neymar, in a career spanning continents and individual honors, has never failed to thrill with unpredictable brilliance.
The Al Hilal forward dares to be different in an era where team discipline normally trumps individual flair. He weaves in a shade of nutmegs, flicks, and breathtaking skill that leaves the defender bewildered and the fans enchanted.
He can be mercurial in his displays, but when Neymar is on fire, unimaginable results are brought out.
He is the first man since Alfredo Di Stéfano to have won continental champions in both Europe and South America and has even outclassed the legendary Pele to become Brazil’s all-time leading goal scorer.
Love him or hate him, Neymar is a true artist; the pitch is his canvas. It is showmanship that has represented the new frontier for the beautiful game, just reminding everyone that sometimes it is okay to show off.
