- Miroslav Klose (Germany). Klose may not rank among the very best players of all time at club level, where he was a very good forward rather than a great one, though he remains something of a legend at Lazio. At international level he was a different player: an unselfish striker who still scored freely, with 71 goals in 137 appearances for Germany and 16 of those coming at World Cup finals. He the Golden Boot at the 2006 World Cup and later usurped Ronaldo as the tournament's all-time leading goalscorer at Brazil 2014. Klose took outright possession of that record during Germany's 7-1 demolition of Brazil in Belo Horizonte on the same evening he became the first man to play in four consecutive World Cup semi-finals. He bowed out after helping Germany beat Argentina in the 2014 final. Lionel Messi has since equalled that historic tally, and Klose has described himself as a "big fan" of the Argentine "genius" with no issue about the shared mark. As Gary Lineker pointed out, Klose was incredible in the air, including five headed goals at the 2002 World Cup alone, and a supreme "poacher" who nearly always delivered for his country. Germany never lost a match in which Klose scored.
- Zinedine Zidane (France). Zidane stands as one of the most compelling characters in football history: elegant and volatile, a flawed genius whose World Cup story captured that duality. His finals debut in 1998 was nearly cut short by a senseless red card in the group stage for stamping on Saudi Arabia's Fuad Anwar, but France reached the quarter-finals without him and he went on to effectively win the World Cup for the hosts with two goals in the final rout of Brazil. Les Bleus fell at the first hurdle four years later in Japan and South Korea, and Zidane had to be talked out of international retirement to join the 2006 campaign in Germany. Ahead of that tournament, Thierry Henry said:
What I am going to say may sound over the top, but it's the truth: God exists and he has returned to the France team.
Zidane's performances in 2006 were dominant as he led France to the final with one show of effortless excellence after another. In Berlin, the red mist returned when he was sent off for a headbutt on Marco Materazzi, who had insulted the Frenchman's sister. Zidane later explained:
My passion, temper and blood made me react.
His vision, finesse and decisiveness still made him a central figure in World Cup history at No. 9 on the list.
