Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi might have dominated the 2010s with their goalscoring, but there were still plenty of other forwards who brought their finishing brilliance to the decade.
Now that we’re marauding into the brave new world of the 2020s in which Ronaldo and Messi are gradually winding down, there’s an oh-my-god-I-feel-old nostalgia that will quickly take hold of the 2010s.
Don’t worry, we’re still only a couple years away from that cosy and cushy past, so there’s still a long way to go before it becomes truly retro, but we’re already looking back on it with an element of yearning.
A decade of amazing forwards
Not only was it a decade in football that, like any, was littered with iconic moments, but the sheer depth of top-class strikers really is outrageous once you look past the Messi and Ronaldo-dominated headlines.
It’s easy to forget in an epoch where the two living legends dominated the Ballon d’Or that the 2010s was jam-packed with players who would easily have lifted the golden football had they lived in different eras.
And in celebration of all the brilliant forwards that terrorised defences between 2010 and 2020, the team over at COPA90 decided to draw up a top 50 ranking that we couldn’t resist sinking our teeth into.
Revealing the forwards who placed between 50th and 11th in ten-man segments each day on Instagram, they eventually allowed the fans to decide how the top ten would be ordered in what made for an intriguing result.
“Erik ten Hag agrees to join Man Utd” (Football Terrace)
Top 50 forwards of the 2010s
So, be sure to see if you agree or disagree with the final rankings by checking out COPA90’s top 50 forwards of the 2010s in all its glory down below:
50. Roberto Firmino
49. Hulk
48. Kevin Gameiro
47. Burak Yilmaz
46. Bas Dost
45. Mario Mandzukic
44. Alvaro Morata
43. Mauro Icardi
42. Mario Gomez
41. Carlos Bacca
50-41 summary
As we ease our way into a list stacked with lethal finishers, it’s perhaps inevitable that the periphery segment is dominated by cult heroes such as Hulk, Yilmaz, Dost and Bacca.
However, you’ll forgive us for thinking that Firmino has been hard done by when you consider his impact on Liverpool‘s Champions League and Premier League triumphs as a man who redefined the number nine position.
40. Diego Costa
39. Alexis Sanchez
38. Andre-Pierre Gignac
37. Riyad Mahrez
36. Antonio Di Natale
35. Paulo Dybala
34. Marco Reus
33. Dries Mertens
32. Ciro Immobile
31. Radamel Falcao
40-31 summary
Now we’re talking. The middle sections of the list feature more than a few forwards who enjoyed dazzling years and seasons at the highest level without being able to sustain it across the entire decade.
Mahrez was simply electric in Leicester City’s Premier League-winning campaign, Falcao was arguably the world’s best number nine in 2012 and Immobile romped his way to the European Golden Shoe in 2019/20.
30. Olivier Giroud
29. Fernando Torres
28. Arjen Robben
27. Robin van Persie
26. Romelu Lukaku
25. Sadio Mane
24. Eden Hazard
23. David Villa
22. Carlos Tevez
21. Wayne Rooney
30-21 summary
Legends, legends everywhere. From the World Cup-winning and forever-underrated Giroud to the record-breaking Rooney for both Manchester United and England, there’s plenty to enjoy here.
It’s nice to see Lukaku getting due praise for reaching the Premier League’s 100-goal club at a very young age, while Hazard and Mane aren’t held back by producing their goods from out wide.
20. Gonzalo Higuain
19. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
18. Edinson Cavani
17. Raheem Sterling
16. Antoine Griezmann
15. Harry Kane
14. Edin Dzeko
13. Jamie Vardy
12. Gareth Bale
11. Mohamed Salah
20-11 summary
Is there an element of English bias going on here? Maybe we’re reading too much into things, but it’s hard not to feel as though Vardy and Sterling are placing quite generously amongst all these icons.
Nevertheless, it’s good that Kane hasn’t been penalised for his lack of trophies and that Griezmann’s Ballon d’Or-contending form in the middle of the decade hasn’t been forgotten.
France’s Antoine Griezmann celebrates scoring their second goal
REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
Livepic
10. Kylian Mbappe
9. Neymar
8. Sergio Aguero
7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
6. Thomas Muller
5. Luis Suarez
4. Karim Benzema
3. Robert Lewandowski
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
- Lionel Messi
Top ten summary
So, the biggest question itself – Ronaldo or Messi? – has been answered. Truth be told, you could order them either way without too much controversy because both two superstars are in a league of their own.
However, you’ll forgive us for agreeing with the thoughts of the people when you consider that Messi won no less than five Ballon d’Or trophies across the decade with a staggering 91 goals in 2012 alone.
What changes would you make?
Got enough to debate and chat about there? You’re damn right.
When you walk your way through a list stacked with so much quality that your eyes water and spine tingles, it’s inevitable that trying to rank them from best to worst was going to be a thankless task.
Should Dzeko be above Kane? Should Rooney be below Sterling? Should Lukaku be get the better of Robben? Should Aguero be outdone by Muller?
We could go on and on, but the moral of the story is that football is such a subjective sport that you could sit down 100 fans, ask them to order the same 50 forwards and no two rankings would be the same.
And a massive reason behind that is the sheer quality of forwards in the 2010s… what an era.
