For any side to be successful, you need all 11 players to at the very top of their game.

But you’re also relying on your very best players to produce moments of magic. Matches are won by a player scoring a wonder goal, going on an incredible run or executing a superb bit of defending.

So, GiveMeSport have ranked the 15 greatest individual performances in a single match of all-time.
To help us rank them in order, we’ve taken into account the opposition and the occasion, as well as the performance itself.

12. Jack Wilshere vs Barcelona | 2011
A 19-year-old Jack Wilshere bossed a Barcelona midfield consisting of Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta back in 2011. Arsenal beat Barca 2-1 that night and Wilshere played out of his skin, running rings around the legendary midfield trio. Four years after the match, Xavi still believed that Wilshere was a special player.

11. Mark Viduka vs Liverpool | 2000
One of the greatest Premier League matches ever. Leeds had a whole host of injuries and found themselves 2-0 down inside 18 minutes against Liverpool at Elland Road. Mark Viduka score 4 goals to win the match for Leeds 4-3

10. Gareth Bale vs Inter Milan | 2010
The night that Gareth Bale became an overnight superstar. A sensational second-half hat-trick not only restored some pride for his side but made everyone across the continent sit up and take notice.
The 21-year-old absolutely destroyed one of the best right-backs in Europe at the time, Maicon. Some say the Brazilian has never recovered from his two matches up against Bale.

9. Fabio Cannavaro v Germany | 2006
Despite only being 5’9”, the Italian dominated the physical Miroslav Klose in the air, while he produced blocks, interceptions, last-ditch tackles, perfect positioning and composure on the ball during the 120 minutes in which Italy won 2-0.

8. Ronaldo vs Manchester United | 2003
Before ‘Fat Ronaldo’ was a thing, Ronaldo Nazario was one of the greatest players in world football. And his greatest performance came at Old Trafford against Manchester United back in April 2003. United scored enough goals in the second leg to go through - four. But Ronaldo single-handedly sent them crashing out with an incredible hat-trick during the seven-goal thriller. When he was substituted off, he received a standing ovation from the Manchester United fans.

7. Cristiano Ronaldo vs Atletico Madrid | 2019
If there was a side you wouldn’t want to trail 2-0 against from the first leg of a Champions League last-16 tie, it’s Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. But if there’s a player you wouldn’t want to face in a Champions League knockout match, it’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to see Juve win 3-0 and progress to the quarter-finals in what was probably his greatest individual performance to date.

6. Steven Gerrard vs West Ham | 2006
The Steven Gerrard final. As far as performances in an FA Cup final go, this has got to be the greatest.

5. 5th. Xavi vs Real Madrid | 2009
Xavi is one of the best midfielders in football history and his performance during Barcelona’s 6-2 victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in 2009 is simply incredible.
He barely gave the ball away all match and registered four - yes four - assists.

4. Lionel Messi vs Arsenal | 2010
After a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the Champions League tie, it was all to play for at the Camp Nou. And when Nicklas Bendtner put Arsenal ahead in Spain, Barca were really up against it. It turned out they were simply poking the bear - the bear being Lionel Messi.
The equaliser came within minutes. Messi inadvertently played a one-two with Mikael Silvestre and, despite being surrounded by four Arsenal defender, struck a fierce shot past Manuel Almunia. Messi scored 4 goals that night

3. Roy Keane vs Juventus | 1999
The night Manchester United captain, Roy Keane, became a club legend. United were looking to reach the final of the European Cup for the first time since 1968 but after a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their semi-final vs Juventus, that seemed unlikely. It seemed even more unlikely after they found themselves 2-0 down inside 11 minutes.
United went on to win 3-2 with Keane winning his midfield battle against the likes of Zidane, Edgar Davids and Didier Deschamps.

2. Ronaldinho vs Real Madrid | 2005
When you receive a standing ovation from the opposite set of fans in an El Clasico, you know you’ve played pretty well. That’s what happened to Ronaldinho at the Bernabeu after his masterclass.
“It was a perfect game,” Ronaldinho later reflected. “I will never forget this because it is very rare for any footballer to be applauded in this way by the opposition fans.”

1. 1st. Zinedine Zidane vs Brazil | 2006

The greatest individual performance of all-time.

The 2006 World Cup quarter-final between France and Brazil was one of Zinedine Zidane’s last ever matches - and he saved his best performance for it.

It wasn’t because he scored a hat-trick - like many of the incredible performances in this list. Zidane didn’t even score. (Although he did grab an assist for the only goal of the game). It was just his general care-free performance on the biggest stage of them all against the most successful nation in World Cup history.

He also played a large role in the only goal of the game as his floated free-kick found Thierry Henry at the backpost.

It capped off a quite sensational individual display by one of the greatest players to have played the game.


Honourable mentions
1. Nwankwo Kanu against Brazil 1996
2. Ronaldo against Spain 2018
3. Lewandowski against Madrid 2013
4. Andre Ashavin against Liverpool 2009
5. Maradona against England 1986 (hand of God )

Nice

This list is too subjective and is riddled with recency bias. Shame this is coming from Give me sport.

So Pele, Cryuff, Maradona, Romario, Baggio etc did not have all time great performances? All time great performances only started from 1999?? What a farce!

nice list bt u forgot some shaa