History's Best-Dressed Football Players

A footballer’s sense of style falls into two categories: how they look on the pitch, and how they dress off it. Here, we’ve focused on the latter and chosen three of the best-dressed players of all time.

Text: Martin Johansson
Photo: Getty Images & Alamy

Published 2025-07-22

Throughout the sport’s history, many have dazzled the world with their skills on the pitch. Fewer have managed to draw the same attention away from it – and only a rare few have succeeded in doing both. It’s from this final group that we’ve chosen our players.

Andrea Pirlo

No list of stylish footballers would be complete without Andrea Pirlo. Now a manager, he’s widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, known for his exceptional vision, passing ability and composure on the ball. Off the pitch, Pirlo has long been a standard-bearer for Italian style, looking equally at ease in a finely tailored suit as he does in a knitted jumper and jeans. His approach to fashion is all about combining simple, well-fitted garments to create a striking overall look. In the photo, we see a perfect example of this: what might seem like a basic outfit at first glance is elevated by a perfectly knotted tie and a slipover with near-tailored precision.

Jubilee Steel Quartz 40mm Gold Bezel White/Steel

George Best

As famous for his antics off the pitch as for his brilliance on it, George Best earned the nickname “the fifth Beatle” and was one of English football’s first true superstars, constantly attracting attention wherever he went. His sense of style drew heavily from the music scene and the mod fashion sweeping across England during the 1960s. With a mix of suede jackets, polo necks, jeans and boots, he crafted a look that was relaxed yet fashion-forward – much of which wouldn’t look out of place today.

Franz Beckenbauer

Equally sharp in a suit or an Adidas tracksuit, Franz Beckenbauer is a footballing legend – one of only three people to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager. On the pitch, his commanding presence earned him the nickname Der Kaiser, or The Emperor, for his leadership and dominant style of play. When it comes to fashion, he famously helped Adidas launch its now-iconic tracksuits, with one model even named after him: the Beckenbauer. Away from the training ground, he dressed with ease and confidence, blending laid-back 1970s touches with razor-sharp tailoring.