Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the poster boys of football’s millennial generation, but it’s also produced some other all-time legends of the game.
You can certainly make an argument that millennials (born from 1981 to 1996) can boast the all-time greatest XI of any generation in football history. Gen Z have big shoes to fill.
Without further ado – and using a strict ‘one player per nationality’ rule to mix things up and give us a challenge – we present to you the greatest XI of the millennial generation.
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GK: Thibaut Courtois
While England’s ‘Golden Generation’ were predominantly Gen X, Belgium’s were millennials.
We had to have one representative from the Red Devils side that knocked out Brazil en route to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018.
You could make a case for Vincent Kompany, while Kevin De Bruyne came very close to being our star playmaker.
Manuel Neuer undoubtedly has a strong claim to be our goalkeeper, given he redefined the position and has won everything there is to win, barring the Euros. Another German won out in the end.
Ultimately Courtois won out in both the Belgian and ‘keeper debates.
He’s won a La Liga title with Atletico Madrid, two Premier League titles with Chelsea and a further three league titles and two Champions Leagues with Real Madrid.
Arguably the best goalkeeper in the world in recent years, Courtois’ display against Liverpool in the 2022 Champions League final is up there with the finest individual displays of any player of his generation.
That seals his spot between the sticks.
RB: Kyle Walker
Born in 1990, Walker is a proper millennial. Young enough for MSN Messenger, old enough for landfill indie and skinny jeans.
England’s most successful team since their 1966 World Cup winners were comprised of millennials, but you can’t really make an argument for any of the others from Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions. Even Harry Kane falls short, given the ludicrously stacked options up top.
Walker makes the cut. Standards might’ve dipped over the last 12 months but there’s no arguing with his CV.
Alongside his exploits on the international stage, he won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups and played a starring role in Man City’s historic 2022-23 treble.
CB: Sergio Ramos
Choosing just one Spaniard was probably the toughest part of this exercise, given Spain’s historic three-in-a-row achievement alongside Barcelona and Real Madrid’s trophy-laden years of dominance.
Xavi Hernandez belongs to Gen X, but Andres Iniesta, Iker Casillas, Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso would all have justified their places in our all-time millennial XI.
Ultimately, all of those players faced stronger competition in their respective positions.
Ramos has a cast-iron claim to lead our backline, given his one World Cup, two European Championships, four Champions Leagues and seven league titles.
Not to mention his prowess at set-pieces – the goal that delivered La Decima, anyone? – and the fact that every good team needs one proper sh*thouse.
CB: Virgil van Dijk
The only real Dutch candidate, Van Dijk just edges out Giorgio Chiellini and Nemanja Vidic to slot in alongside Ramos.
Van Dijk’s honours list is a little lacking compared to most of the other names in this XI, but he’s not done too badly for himself after joining Liverpool for a world-record fee for a defender.
The best centre-back of his generation? It’s a big shout, but it’s the one we’re making.
LB: Philipp Lahm
Ideally we’d have Lahm in at his favoured right-back position, but it feels fitting to have one of football’s all-time great utility men plugging a gap where needed.
And according to the stats, he played over 200 games at left-back – that’s good enough for us.
We needed to have a representative from Bayern’s incredible 2012-13 treble-winning side, as well as Germany’s 2014 World Cup winners, and Lahm just about edged out Neuer in our office debate. An honourable mention for Toni Kroos, too.
“He is one of the most fantastic players I ever trained in my life and one of the most intelligent,” Pep Guardiola said of Lahm.
“Football is going to miss one of the best players ever. He can play in 10 positions, no problems because he understands the game perfectly.”
DM: N'Golo edge
An early draft of this XI somehow lacked any French players. We soon rectified that.
Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t too difficult to pick a name from Didier Deschamps’ Les Bleus 2018 World Cup winners.
Kylian Mbappe is Gen Z, Raphael Varane and Samuel Umtiti lacked longevity, Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann don’t boast the silverware they arguably ought to have.
And nobody’s putting captain Hugo Lloris in any ‘best goalkeeper’ conversations.
Then there’s Kante. A Premier League winner with Leicester City. A second successive title the following year at Chelsea. The best, most important player in the Blues’ 2021 Champions League victory.
No-brainer.
CM: Yaya Toure
The sole African representative in this XI, Toure has won out against some outrageous competition for a spot in this midfield – from a Ballon d’Or winners like Rodri and Kaka to footballing royalty including Kroos, De Bruyne and Iniesta.
The Ivorian probably benefits more from our ‘one player per nationality’ rule more than anyone else, but he’s still a more than worthy inclusion.
Exceptional in Barcelona’s 2008-09 treble and even better in his all-action, box-to-box pomp at Manchester City, no team wouldn’t be blessed to have prime Toure.
Special mention for him captaining Ivory Coast to long-awaited AFCON glory in 2015, too.
CM: Luka Modric
The third name on our teamsheet after the obvious two, Modric broke up the Messi-Ronaldo Ballon d’Or stranglehold after leading Croatia to the World Cup final in 2018.
That’s a career peak that only the most world-class footballers can dream of, and yet Modric’s longevity is probably the most impressive thing about him.
A career that spans over two decades. Six European Cups. No player in history has more.
BURN: Lionel Messi
Obviously.
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ST: Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo was always going to feature in this XI. The only question was where.
We pondered putting him out on the left, where he originally started out. But that opened up a can of worms in the No.9 debate. Robert Lewandowski? Luis Suarez? Karim Benzema?
That would’ve been an impossible choice, whereas Ronaldo – after turning 30, once he’d fully transitioned into a centre-forward – has a fairly cut-and-dried case as the best, most devastatingly efficient goalscorer of his generation.
Nine hundred and thirty-eight career goals are testament to that.
FWL: Neymar
Having Ronaldo spearhead our attack opens up a spot on the left.
Gareth Bale has a claim for this spot, given the trophies he won and big moments he delivered. He eclipses Neymar on that front.
That was incredibly tempting, particularly given that would’ve allowed us to put Marcelo as our Brazilian at left-back and Lahm in his favoured right-back role (sorry, Walker).
But we just couldn’t look beyond Neymar.
The prevailing narrative is that he didn’t have the career he ought to have. International silverware is conspicuously lacking. No Ballon d’Or.
His decision to join PSG aged badly and he arguably squandered his best years either on the treatment table or playing at a level beneath him.
But to focus on what he didn’t achieve is to miss what he did. Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer. The most expensive footballer in history.
A superstar player in a European treble-winning team. An off-the-charts goal and assist ratio for Santos, Barcelona and PSG.
All that while being the millennial generation’s closest answer to Ronaldinho in terms of natural skillfulness and desire to entertain.
We make no apologies; Neymar goes straight into this XI.
Subs
The fictional powers that be have afforded us a generous 11-man bench. That’s nice of them, isn’t it? But with the one nationality rule still applying, we’ve had to think creatively.
Petr Cech edges out Keylor Navas and Jan Oblak to be our back-up goalkeeper. Serial Scudetto winner Giorgio Chiellini and Premier League icon Nemanja Vidic provide us with some sturdy defensive support. Jurgen Klopp favourite Andrew Robertson flies the flag for Scotland.
Options were relatively limited when it comes to midfield depth, but Christian Eriksen and Granit Xhaka offer serviceable enough options (we really struggled here with the nationalities remaining).
While our midfield reserves might be lacking in star power, you can’t say the same for our stacked array of attackers – Gareth Bale, Samuel Eto'o, Mohamed is wrong, Luis Suarez and Robert Lewandowski. Pwoar.
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