Top Soccer Cards

[aljurgela]

Originally Posted by Bored5000

I am interested in reading this thread. Nearly my entire collection consists of non-sports cards or at least cards from outside the big four U.S. sports. I always love reading about some of the iconic cards from outside the big four U.S. sports. I am familiar with the various 1958-59 Pele cards and some of the sport's other major cards, but I would be interested in reading what four cards knowledgeable soccer collectors would put on a Mt. Rushmore of soccer cards.

This is tough and I am sure that most key countries could have their "own", and it gets even more complicated when you break down by country, position, etc.

So I guess, if you wanted to see who appears at the highest level of pretty much every poll (for what that is worth), I would likely have:

Pele (IFFHS:1, World Soccer:1, Top End: 1, 1-20 FIFA Internet: 2, FIFA Mag & Grand Jury: 1)

Maradona (IFFHS:5, World Soccer:2, Top End: 2, 1-20 FIFA Internet: 1, FIFA Mag & Grand Jury: 3)

Franz Beckenbauer (IFFHS:3, World Soccer:4, Top End: 4, 1-20 FIFA Internet: 8, FIFA Mag & Grand Jury: 4)

Johan Cruyff (IFFHS:2, World Soccer:3, Top End: 3, 1-20 FIFA Internet: 13, FIFA Mag & Grand Jury: 5)

Michel Platini (IFFHS:7, World Soccer:5, Top End: 5, 1-20 FIFA Internet: 15, FIFA Mag & Grand Jury: 6)

Alfredo Di Stefano (IFFHS:4, World Soccer:6, Top End: 6, 1-20 FIFA Internet: 14, FIFA Mag & Grand Jury: 2)

So, I guess we start with the players and then we look at the cards. This does not mean, however, that these would be the most valuable of all cards. But If I were only going to pick a Mt. Rushmore, I guess that you would have to start with the best players of all time. Of course, I think that we should discuss Messi and Ronaldo as they are truly in the conversation, but I will try and steer away from more "modern" issues.