GOAL attempts the impossible by ranking the finest footballers of the past 25 yeas based on talent, trophies, impact and longevity…

Brace yourself, reader. Take a moment to prepare for what's coming. Because you're about to get very riled up.

GOAL has put together its list of the 25 greatest players of the 21st century so far – and there's zero doubt that a number of the rankings are going to annoy the hell out of you. You'll be even more upset when you realise that some of your favourite players have been excluded. Seriously, there are Ballon d'Or winners that haven't even made the cut!

So, sit down, take a breath and trawl through our rage-inducing selections, which are based on talent, trophies, longevity and impact… Oh, and don't forget, you can vent your fury in the comments section!

Getty25Kevin De Bruyne

A fully-fit and firing Kevin De Bruyne is a joy to behold, a wonderfully elegant footballer capable of pulling off passes that others can't even see – which helps explain why he's won the Premier League's Playmaker of the Year award on three occasions. The brilliant Belgian would have claimed even more had it not been regularly hindered by injury, but De Bruyne's CV is as impressive as his unstoppable mix of intensity and innovation. He has six Premier League titles to his name and been named in the Team of the Year five times.

Success at international level has thus far eluded De Bruyne and the other members of Belgium's 'Golden Generation', but his reputation as "The Godfather of attacking midfielders", as Joe Cole once put it, remains firmly intact.

AdvertisementGetty 24Wayne Rooney

When a 16-year-old Wayne Rooney ended Arsenal's 30-match unbeaten run with a stunning strike for Everton at Goodison Park on October 19, 2002, Arsene Wenger proclaimed the already fully-formed forward "the biggest English talent" he'd seen during his time in charge of the Gunners. Sir Alex Ferguson was just as smitten and signed the Scouse street-footballer for Manchester United just two years later for £25 million – which proved an absolute bargain.

Rooney won 16 trophies at Old Trafford, including five English titles and a Champions League, and went on to become United's record goal-scorer (208). Of course, when it comes to Rooney, there's always the nagging feeling that he could have achieved even more had he looked after himself better – he looked like a potential all-time great at Euro 2004 – but he was one of the most complete forwards of the modern era, as underlined by the fact that he ranks second for goals and fourth for assists in the all-time Premier League standings.

Getty23Kaka

When Carlo Ancelotti saw Kaka for the first time, he wasn't convinced. The Brazilian looked far too prim and proper; he reminded him of a clean-cut university student. "But then he stepped onto the field," the Italian wrote in his autobiography, "and the heavens opened!" Kaka really was a divine footballer, blessed with a celestial elegance and the quintessential deceptive turn of pace that made it look as if he were gliding rather than running by opponents.

The fresh-faced attacking midfielder helped AC Milan win the Scudetto in his first season at Milan, scored 104 goals in total for the Rossoneri and was unstoppable during the 2006-07 Champions League triumph. Kaka may have struggled for form and fitness after moving to Real Madrid in 2009 but, as Andrea Pirlo once said of his former team-mate, "For two or three seasons, he was the best player in the world."

AFP22Kylian Mbappe

At the time of writing, Kylian Mbappe is in crisis – and arguably for the first time in his career. Indeed, what makes the Frenchman's current struggles at Real Madrid so surprising is that Mbappe has been almost incessantly brilliant since bursting onto the scene at Monaco. Paris Saint-Germain’s all-time leading goal-scorer has already smashed a number of records in Ligue 1, the Champions League and, most impressively of all, the World Cup. This is a fearsome forward who provoked comparisons with Pele by scoring in the biggest game in football while still only a teenager.

At the last World Cup in Qatar, meanwhile, he became only the second player in tournament history to score a hat-trick in the final. Safe to say, then, that it shouldn't take too long for Mbappe to get back to his brilliant best and, given he’s still only 25, it’s inevitable that further records will fall in the future.