Throughout the majority of football history, Real Madrid have been one of the best teams in the world. Their excellence over the years is almost hard to believe as they've consistently adapted with the times and kept hold of their status as one of the biggest clubs on the planet.

It's easy to see how they've managed it, though, when you take a look at the sheer calibre of players who have played for Los Blancos throughout their history.

Some of the best footballers of all time have, at one point or another, called the Bernabeu their home.

Considering just how many greats there have been at the club over the years, coming up with a list of the 20 best Real Madrid players ever is a very difficult task.

Indeed, even in this current era, the likes of Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr will all be hoping of etching their name into folklore and joining some of the club's greatest ever players.

Ranking Factors

• Overall ability
• Trophies won and any individual achievements like winning the Ballon d'Or
• Longevity - how long were they at the top of their game at Real Madrid
• Importance and impact on the team

10 Luka Modric

2012-2025

Despite impressing at Tottenham Hotspur, few could have predicted the impact that Luka Modric would have at the Santiago Bernabeu. The Croatian arrived in Spain in 2012 and had a poor first campaign as he was infamously named La Liga's worst signing of the season.

He kept working hard and went on to prove his doubters wrong as he won an unprecedented amount of silverware with Los Blancos. Over the course of 597 games, Modric lifted 28 trophies and is the most decorated player in the club's history. Considering some of the figures that they've had on the books over the years, that's quite the achievement.

9 Ferenc Puskas

1958-1966

One of the most exceptional strikers the sport has ever seen. Puskas netted 242 goals in 262 games in a Real Madrid shirt, an average of 0.92 per appearance. He also won three European Cups and notably scored four goals in the 7-3 final victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960, the only time that feat has been achieved.

The forward even has an award named after him, the FIFA Puskas Award, given to the footballer who is deemed to have scored the most aesthetically pleasing goal over the course of 12 months. If that doesn't give you an indication of how special he was, not much would.

8 Paco Gento

1953-1971

A man who is in the conversation to be labelled the greatest left winger in history. As well as tormenting opposing defenders for fun in a Real Madrid shirt, Gento won six (yes, SIX) European Cups, which is still the most by any footballer. He spent 18 years at the La Liga club, and played over 500 games for them.

Gento also won 12 La Liga titles, another record. There's simply no denying just how impressive he was, and he played a huge role in making the Real Madrid side he was a part of, one of the best iterations in the club's illustrious career.

7 Santiago Bernabeu

1911-1920 & 1921-1926

The stadium is named after Bernabeu and without him, the club wouldn't be the same as it is today. He was a brilliant player in the 1920s and was then president for 35 years between 1943 and 1978, overseeing a ridiculous amount of on-pitch success. Arguably the most important figure in Real Madrid's illustrious history.

It stands to reason that the club wouldn't have grown into the behemoth that it did if it wasn't for Bernabeu's impact. Despite spending a year with the club's local rivals, Atletico Madrid, he's still regarded as an icon at Los Blancos and his legacy will never be forgotten, regardless of his limited appearances.

6 Raul Gonzalez

1994-2010

What a striker Raul was. He's Real Madrid's second-highest scorer with 323 goals and leads the way for appearances with an enormous 741. Raul brought an end to his incredible 16-year career at Los Blancos in 2010, with six La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues to boot.

He consistently put up absurd scoring numbers throughout the majority of his career in Spain, and there were just two years during his time at the Bernabeu that he didn't score in double figures. If it wasn't for a certain Portuguese superstar, he'd still possess the top-scoring records for Madrid in the league and in the Champions League.

5 Iker Casillas

1999-2015

San Iker could do it all between the sticks and rarely ever dropped a bad performance. He's still the youngest goalkeeper to appear in a Champions League final and holds the record for the most clean sheets in the competition's history. It's a real shame things turned slightly sour towards the end of his Real Madrid career, but the fact remains that he's an all-time great.

He spent 16 years in the club's senior team and was one of the best goalkeepers in the world during his prime at the Bernabeu. Casillas won just about everything there was to win with Madrid and played over 700 times along the way. Just a world-class goalkeeper.

4 Sergio Ramos

2005-2021

Probably the finest-ever Real Madrid captain. As well as leading the team marvellously for so many years and winning 22 trophies overall, Sergio Ramos scored a ridiculous number of goals for a centre-back. He left the Bernabeu with a collection totalling 101 across all competitions, a return worthy of a decent striker.

The 40-year-old Spaniard was still playing at a high level until 2025, a testament to just how incredible he's been and continues to be after all these years. It's just a shame his time in Madrid didn't end on the most positive of notes.

3 Zinedine Zidane

2001-2006

A world-class player for Real Madrid and an equally good manager. In his playing days, 'Zizou' scored an incredible volley to win the 2001 Champions League final, and he then guided the club to a famous 'three-peat' in the competition from the dugout. The word 'legend' doesn't really do him justice.

Zidane was a ferocious engine in the middle of the park for the club and regularly bossed the opposition midfielders. They didn't stand a chance. He might have only spent five years playing at the Bernabeu, but his time as Real Madrid manager also added to his incredible legacy too.

2 Alfredo Di Stefano

1953-1964

Two Ballon d'Ors, 308 goals in 396 games, eight La Liga titles, five Pichichis and five European Cups; that's what Di Stefano achieved in his 11-year stint at Real Madrid. He also scored in every single one of the five European Cup finals he played in. They don't make them quite like the 'Blond Arrow' anymore.

He spent over a decade with Madrid, and the impact he had during that time cannot be overstated. It would take someone special to outshine his legacy at the club. Unfortunately, one of the very best players ever also happened to play for them at one point.

1 Cristiano Ronaldo

2009-2018

Cristiano Ronaldo is Real Madrid's all-time record scorer with 450 goals, and he somehow achieved it in just 438 games. That return is absurd and will never be equalled by another player. Ronaldo also won four Champions Leagues at Real Madrid and scored 30 or more goals in every single season he was at the club. The 41-year-old really was a footballing cyborg in the Spanish capital.

He cost Madrid a world record transfer fee when he joined in 2009, and after nine incredible years, that saw him break all sorts of records and cement his status as one of the best players of all time, it's fair to say that he was still a bargain.