Football is a world renowned sport and has had many great players over the years and this article has been written to focus on 3 world class players who currently still participate in the beautiful game of football.

The beautiful game of football is played and watched all over the world and is the most popular sport out of all sports.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Averiro, born 5th February 1985 is a Portuguese attacking football player and is considered as one of the worlds best players due to his impressive speed and accuracy. Cristiano Ronaldo first started playing professional football with Spanish club Sporting Lisbon where he trained in the youth team before making his debut for the club in 1999 against Moreirense. Ronaldo also played international football for Portugal youth team which got him noticed by teams all over the world who where all interested in signing the young Portuguese player. After playing for Sporting Lisbon for two seasons Ronaldo caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson who signed the then 18 year old for £12.24 million in 2003. Ronaldo scored his first goal for united in November 2003 against Portsmouth. Cristiano Ronaldo had four successful seasons with Manchester United appearing 292 times and scoring 118 goals. On 26 June 2009, Real Madrid confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo would join the club on 1 July 2009 for a record signing fee of £80 million and a contract worth €13 million per season.

Lionel Messi

Lionel Andres Messi, born 24th June 1987 is an Argentinian attacking football player who plays for Spanish club Barcelona and he is considered to be one of the best football players of his generation. Lionel Messi began playing football at a young age and he was quickly identified by Barcelona. He quickly left Newells Old Boys youth team in 2000 and moved to Europe to play for Barcelona making his debut in the 2004/05 season. Since signing for Barcelona Messi has scored 109 La Liga goals in 162 appearances. Messi has also received many awards since playing for Barcelona such as the UEFA club footballer of the year in 2008 and 2009 and the special young player of the year in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Messi is sponsored by Adidas and he features in there advertisements. He is also featured on the cover of the video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2010.

Wayne Rooney

Wayne Mark Rooney, born 24th October 1985 is an English attacking football player who plays for Premier League club Manchester United. Wayne Rooney began his career with Everton, joining their youth team at the age of ten and finally making it to their first team. He made his professional debut in 2002 and his first goal made him the youngest goal scorer in Premier League history at the time. After spending two seasons at Everton, he signed for Manchester United on the 31 of August 2004 for £25.6 million. Rooney made his England debut in 2003 and is now one of the most regularly picked players for the national squad. Rooney has also been awarded many honours including young player of the year 2005, fans player of the year 2005-06 and England player of the year in 2008.

This article is my personal view of who I think are the top 3 best football players around the world.