10 Most 'Disrespected' Players in Football History [Ranked]

Key Takeaways

• Top footballers face increasing disrespect despite their achievements.

• Social media allows people to voice baseless opinions on players.

• Raheem Sterling, Harry Maguire, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are among the most disrespected footballers of all time.

Today, now more than ever, top level footballers are under an incredible amount of scrutiny, to the extent that excelling and sometimes even being one of the greatest of all time isn't enough to avoid criticism.

At times, it goes beyond criticism and veers off into blatant disrespect. When compiling the list of the 10 most disrespected players in football history, it means talking about some of the most successful players in history.

It is no surprise that the majority of players featured in the rankings are from the last 15 years, coinciding with the rise of social media, where a growing number of people are able to voice their opinion, no matter how unfounded it is. From Premier League champions to World Cup winners, here are the 10 most disrespected players in football history.

Ranking Factors

When assembling this list, the following ranking factors were taken into account:

• Scrutiny - the level of analysis a player is subjected to.

• Attention in the media - the level of analysis and social media attention focused upon a player.

• Defiance - how a player deals with disrespect and is defiant in the face of it.

10 Paul Pogba

Career span: 2011 to present

As talented as Paul Pogba is, he is still regarded as arguably the most frustrating player to ever play in the Premier League. While his career may not have taken off at Manchester United as much as he and many others would have hoped, he still showed flashes of brilliance.

This was very much the case in 2018, when the Frenchman inspired United to make a stunning comeback to beat Manchester City 3-2 after trailing 2-0. Of course, there was more than that. Pogba has been inspirational in a France shirt, particularly in 2018, when they won the World Cup. Yet that hasn't stopped a host of people being dismissive of him as a player.

9 Didier Deschamps

Career span: 1985 to 2001

Didier Deschamps has been a serial winner as both a manager and a player, where he captained France to victory at the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championships. He excelled in club football, winning a host of honours. Despite this, some were not convinced by him.

Eric Cantona has always been dismissive of him, more recently describing him as an accountant as opposed to a visionary, when it comes to his coaching ability for the national side. He was even more dismissive of Deschamps as a player, referring to him as a water carrier, someone who fetched the ball for the better, more capable players.

8 Dunga

Career span: 1980 to 2000

When going into the 1994 World Cup, Brazil had not won the trophy since 1970, when Pele and co inspired the world with their joyous football. There were high hopes that the 1994 squad could perhaps once again win the trophy, with Romario being such a talented player up front.

Dunga was targeted as the reason Brazil fared poorly in the 1990 World Cup. Many fans and those in the Brazilian media were less than thrilled to see Dunga become national team captain in the knock-out stages of the 1994 World Cup. They did not appreciate his defensive midfield capabilities, which led to Dunga aiming obscenities at them when he lifted the famous trophy.

7 Emile Heskey

Career span: 1994 to 2016

Humble and hard-working, Emile Heskey was an England regular under the tenure of Sven Goran Eriksson. He was also subjected to plenty of dismissive comments about his ability and whether or not he merited a place in England's starting eleven.

This sometimes even spilled into hatred, which seemed particularly disrespectful when the Liverpool cult hero was simply fulfilling a role given to him, to hold the ball up and bring midfielders into play. It's true, he wasn't prolific as a striker, with 154 goals in 742 club appearances, but he could not be accused of not giving his all for his teammates in those games.

6 Cristiano Ronaldo

Career span: 2002 to present

In more recent years, respect has been very important to Cristiano Ronaldo, as has him letting the world know about it. He allegedly sent former Italy international Antonio Cassano a voice note, informing him of his disrespect for not including Ronaldo in his top 10 players of all time.

Then, during Euro 2024, the BBC were accused of disrespect towards Ronaldo, by captioning his name Misstiano Penaldo after the Portuguese missed from the spot in Portugal's game with Slovenia. This is a man who is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time, who, despite close to 1000 career goals, is often still mocked.

5 Lionel Messi

Career span: 2003 to present

Having missed a penalty kick early on in World Cup 2022, it was in many ways Argentina's quarter-final with the Netherlands which kickstarted Lionel Messi's performances to guide his country to their first World Cup win for 36 years. Messi claims the Dutch manager Louis van Gaal disrespected him. Prior to the game, the manager suggested Messi did little to help his side when they were not in possession.

Additionally, for all his achievements and for what he did for Barcelona, it's believed the club disrespected Messi when they said they respected his decision to want to compete in a league with fewer demands. Yet it was the Argentine who so often excelled for La Blaugrana, winning the Ballon d'Or eight times. Even in that time, he was often disrespected when collecting the accolade, with some saying he was undeserving.

4 Gareth Bale

Career span: 2006 to 2023

Some sections of the Spanish media claimed Gareth Bale was disrespectful of Real Madrid, after he was photographed with his Welsh colleagues with a flag that read: Wales, Golf, Madrid, In That Order. But one cannot dismiss what Bale delivered while in a Real Madrid shirt. Many forget that while Madrid have a great recent record in Europe, after winning the competition in 1966, they didn't do so again for 32 years.

Bale had a heavy influence on Madrid's five Champions League wins between 2014 and 2022, with the Welshman scoring one of the best ever goals in a final with his instinctive overhead kick in the 2018 final against Liverpool. Considering the spotlight he found himself under, he is certainly a disrespected player.

3 Harry Maguire

Career span: 2011 to present

Seldom has a player been so openly lambasted as Harry Maguire. Perhaps it could be argued that playing for Manchester United, he had a high bar to maintain in terms of performance, but the vitriol sent his way by fans and pundits went beyond reasonable at times.

Maguire is a player who never let England down, who ironically fared better than Rio Ferdinand, a former Manchester United player, in an England shirt, scoring in England's quarter-final wins in the 2018 World Cup and the 2020 Euros, not to mention with arguably one of the greatest penalty kicks of all time in the sudden death shoot out defeat to Italy. Talk about showing up in the big moments.

2 Andy Cole

Career span: 1989 to 2008

Andy Cole had a wonderful spell at Manchester United, so it is somewhat ironic that he was disrespected by his United teammate Teddy Sheringham while the pair were on international duty. Yet the disrespect for the striker ran deeper. It was former England manager Glenn Hoddle who said that he needed too many opportunities to score his goals, effectively belittling his goalscoring feats, which were considerable, with 121 goals in 275 games in a United shirt.

When compared with Darwin Nunez, when the Liverpool striker had only just moved to England and was perhaps guilty of missing a few opportunities, Cole said: "Five Premier League titles, two FA cups, one League Cup, one Champions League, Golden Boot, Young Player of the Year, 187 Premier League goals, one penalty. Life is what you make it."

1 Raheem Sterling

Career span: 2012 to present

The disrespect aimed at Raheem Sterling transcended football. In 2018, tabloid newspapers suggested a tattoo on his leg glamourised gun culture, when in actual fact, the tattoo had a far deeper meaning, referring to his father who was shot dead when Sterling was only two.

Meanwhile, on the field, Sterling has excelled for club and country, being one of the driving forces for England reaching the final of Euro 2020. Yet the moment he didn't reach those heights, some have been quick to jump on Sterling, who at times, has been subject to racial abuse. When he does retire, it will be time for some to reassess Sterling's career and give him the respect his achievements deserve, considering how impactful he has been for both the Three Lions and Manchester City.