Three World Cups, six different Champions League winners and countless memorable matches and performances. The 2010s have been a decade littered with footballing brilliance.
As the decade comes to a close, Sportsmail asked our team of reporters: who have been their players of the 2010s? The results, formed of 27 responses tallied up to make up a top 50 players, will be published over the next five days.
Can Cristiano Ronaldo's four European Cup wins and international success propel him above the mercurial brilliance of Lionel Messi? Which Premier League stars will mix it with the best from La Liga? And where will the World Cup winners rank compared to the stars of the Champions League?
On Friday we navigated through names 50-49, but 40-31 features two current world champions and five men who have starred in the Premier League. Keep checking back on MailOnline across the last five days of the decade for the full list.
40. Franck Ribery - Bayern Munich, Fiorentina, France
Ribery is another victim of the outstanding consistency of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and would surely have won a Ballon d'Or had it not been for their excellence.
Alongside Arjen Robben, the former France international formed one half of 'Robbery', one of the most feared wide pairings in world football.
Ribery spent 12 years at Bayern between 2007 and 2019 and amassed an incredible haul of 124 goals in 425 goals, as well as 182 assists, most of which came in the last decade.
The 36-year-old's attacking exploits also helped Bayern to Champions League glory in 2013, as well as nine Bundesliga titles and six German Cups. He is now on the books at Fiorentina in Serie A - albeit sitting out with a long-term injury.
39. Jamie Vardy - FC Halifax Town, Fleetwood Town, Leicester City, England
At the start of the decade, Jamie Vardy was a non-league footballer scoring goals for Stocksbridge Park Steels before his incredible rise through the divisions.
His prolific goalscoring record saw him snapped up by FC Halifax Town in 2010 before he moved on to Fleetwood Town a year later and then Leicester City in 2012.
Since joining the Foxes seven years ago, Vardy has developed into one of the best strikers in Europe and is now the 29th highest goalscorer in Premier League history with 97 top flight goals.
The 32-year-old was also one of the key men behind the Foxes' incredible Premier League title-winning success in 2015 and has fired the club to second in the table this term.
38. Diego Godin - Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Uruguay
Over the past decade, technically gifted centre-backs have become sought after commodities in world football - but Diego Godin is a throwback to a simpler time.
The Uruguayan is a traditional, blood and guts defender who was the leader of one of the best defences in European football at Atletico Madrid between 2010 and 2019.
Godin won La Liga, the Europa League and the Spanish Super Cup in his nine years at Atletico and the Copa America with Uruguay to rubber stamp his reputation as one of the game's top defenders.
The 33-year-old eventually left Atletico last summer and is now playing his football in Serie A with Inter Milan, where has helped them to an impressive start to the season as they look to end Juventus' dominance.
37. Xabi Alonso - Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Spain
Looking back, Rafa Benitez's pursuit of Gareth Barry as an upgrade on Xabi Alonso at Liverpool seems closer to a work of fiction than reality.
That prolonged (and ultimately failed chase) prompted Alonso to join Real Madrid in 2008 and he went on to spend the first four years of the last decade winning trophies in Spain.
Alonso won the Champions League, La Liga and the Copa del Rey twice in his time at the Bernabeu before departing for another trophy-laden spell at Bayern Munich.
The midfielder, who may well be the best passer in our Top 50, also enjoyed international success with Spain, winning the 2010 World Cup and European Championship in 2012.
36. Kevin De Bruyne - Genk, Chelsea, Wolfsburg, Manchester City, Belgium
Jose Mourinho must still have sleepless nights over his decision to sell Kevin De Bruyne to Wolfsburg in 2014 after making just three appearances for the Blues.
De Bruyne became an instant hit in the Bundesliga and made a swift return to the Premier League when he joined Manchester City in 2015.
Over the past four years, De Bruyne has been the club's star performer, blossoming as a winger before being converted to a ball playing midfielder by Pep Guardiola.
His staggering range of passing and appetite for spectacular goals has helped City to two Premier League titles, three League Cups and one FA Cup success.
It's also established his reputation as one of the best midfielders in Premier League history, with only the timing of his emergence preventing him from featuring further up our list.
35. Angel Di Maria - Real Madrid, Manchester United, PSG, Argentina
While he is regularly derided on the British Isles for his forgettable spell at Manchester United, Angel Di Maria has had a decade worthy of a place in this list of top stars.
The Argentina international is showing no signs of decline as he brings to a close 2019 but it is worth remembering his achievements in the last 10 years.
He was Man of the Match in the 2014 Champions League final for Real Madrid and reached a World Cup final in the same year, narrowly losing out to Germany in extra-time in Brazil.
In Spain, Di Maria went on to lift La Liga, two Copa del Rey titles, the Spanish Super Cup, one Champions League and one UEFA Super Cup, before being shown the door.
But this tricky, talented winger continues to be feared and even with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar leading the line, Di Maria is the one unpicking the lock for PSG.
34. Raheem Sterling - Liverpool, Manchester City, England
At 25, Raheem Sterling is one of the youngest players in our top 50 but already one of the most influential.
Sterling made his first team debut for Liverpool in 2012 but made the controversial decision to leave Anfield for Manchester City in 2015.
The winger was accused of joining City for money but the mass of silverware he has since acquired has more than justified his move.
Sterling has won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and three League Cups, and has since emerged as England's talisman.
With his peak years still some way off, there is every chance Sterling could feature high up this list 10 years from now.
33. Andrea Pirlo - AC Milan, Juventus, New York City, Italy
Despite retiring in 2017 and spending the last two years of his career plying his trade in MLS with New York City, Andrea Pirlo simply had to feature in our list.
Pirlo's best years were thought to be behind him when he left AC Milan on a free transfer in 2011 but Juventus thought otherwise and secured one of the best deals in football history.
The Italian rewarded Juve's belief with four of the best years of his career as he provided the brains and elegance behind one of the decade's finest midfield trios alongside Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba.
Pirlo lifted four consecutive Serie A titles and almost rounded off a sensational stay at Juve with Champions League glory, only to be defeated by Barcelona in the 2015 final.
32. Virgil van Dijk - Groningen, Celtic, Southampton, Liverpool, Holland
Virgil van Dijk has enjoyed a steep rise to prominence since joining Liverpool in 2017 but his impact has been so great that he already ranks highly in our top 50.
Van Dijk was linked with big money moves to a host of Europe's biggest clubs throughout his three years at Southampton before he joined the Reds in a £75million deal in January 2017.
Critics questioned the size of the fee - which was then a world record for a defender prior to Harry Maguire's move to Manchester United - but Van Dijk has transformed Liverpool's once shaky back four into one of the most watertight in Europe.
The Holland international even went a staggering 65 games without an opponent dribbling past him until Gabriel Jesus got the better of him in the Community Shield defeat to Manchester City.
Van Dijk was part of the Liverpool team who won last season's Champions League and he looks on course to win his first Premier League title this season. If he starts the next decade as he finished the last he could go down as an all-time defensive great.
31. Vincent Kompany - Manchester City, Anderlecht, Belgium
The importance of a player is often heightened in their absence and that has been the case since Vincent Kompany left Manchester City in the summer.
Kompany spent 11 years at the Etihad between 2008 and 2019 before joining Anderlecht as player-coach - and City haven't been the same without him.
After marking his final season at City with his fourth Premier League title, to go alongside two FA Cups and four League Cups, Kompany left a 6'4 sized hole in his wake.
City have conceded 23 goals in 19 Premier League games and have sorely missed the leadership qualities that saw him captain the side for much of his 11-year stay.
