Top 100 Eastern European Soccer Superstars of the 1980s Onwards – Stunning Legends Full Of Eastern Promise!

Outlined below is our top 100 Eastern European Soccer Superstars, in order from 100 down to our pick for number 1.

Many of these players are now retired, but a significant number are still playing, and some have even starred in Euro 2024 over the last few weeks.

In fact, you may well have bet on some of these big name players to be top goalscorer or player of the tournament with bet365 Sport at some point in the past!

Many people often ask who is the greatest? That may be in a debate about Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Or maybe Diego Maradona and Pele.

In this post, we check out the top 100 from all over Eastern Europe from 1980 onwards and picking number 1 was tricky!

What Counts as Eastern Europe?

In this article, we are turning our focus on the lesser known parts of European football, ostensibly the eastern part of Europe (including the Soviet Union/Russia).

We are focusing on players who play or played for countries in that region. Some under older names that are now no longer in use (such as Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Soviet Union etc).

For avoidance of doubt we are referring to the following countries in this article:

• Albania
• Armenia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Georgia
• Hungary
• Kosovo
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Moldova
• Montenegro
• North Macedonia
• Poland
• Romania
• Russia
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Turkey
• Ukraine

Why the Top 100 From The 1980s Only?

We have focused this top 100 article on players from the 1980s onwards for a number of reasons. Firstly, the list would likely be dominated by Hungarian players from their famous 1954 team, the Mighty Magyars, who should have won the World Cup in that year, only to lose the final to a German team they beat 8-3 in the Group Stages.

There is a strong argument that 8-10 of that team would occupy the top ten places in the list, or at least half of the spots in the top 20.

There’s also the fact that many readers may not be so familiar with teams from the 1970s and earlier due to a lack of coverage.

With that in mind, we have restricted this list to players from 1980 up to the modern day, including players that are playing currently for their national team.

But before we bring you our top 100 list, let’s first take a look at some of the Eastern European superstars that shone in world football from the early days of the game through to the end of the 1970s.

And see if the Mighty Magyars do indeed dominate our Top 20 from before the 1980s.

Top 20 Eastern European Footballing Superstars – Up to 1970

20. Andras Torocsik (Hungary) AC

19. Zdenek Nehoda (Czechoslovakia) AC

18. Stjepan Bobek (Yugoslavia) AC

17. Safet Susic (Yugoslavia) AML

16. Tibor Nyilasi (Hungary) MC

15. Josip Skoblar (Yugoslavia) AC

14. Andrzej Szarmach (Poland) AC

13. Ferenc Bene (Hungary) AC

12. Viktor Kolotov (Soviet Union) MC

11. Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia) MC

10. Lev Yashin (Soviet Union) GK

9. Antonin Panenka (Czechoslovakia) AMC

8. Oleg Blochin (Soviet Union) AMLC

7. Gyula Grosics (Hungary) GK

6. Dragan Dzajic (Yugoslavia) MC

5. Zoltan Czibor (Hungary) ML

4. Jozsef Bozsik (Hungary) DMC

3. Nandor Hidekguti (Hungary) AMC

2. Sandor Kocsis (Hungary) AC

1.Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) AC

The Top 100 Eastern European Football Stars – 1980 to Present Day

100. Laszlo Fazekas (Hungary) AMRC

99. Benjamin Sesko (Slovenia) AC

98. Merih Demiral (Turkey) DC

97. Yevgeny Konoplyanka (Ukraine) AMLC

96. Radu Dragusin (Romania) DC 

95. Ondrej Duda (Slovakia) MC

94. Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia) AC

93. Temuri Ketsbaia (Georgia) AMRC

92. Stanislav Lobotka (Slovakia) DMC

91. Zoltan Gera (Hungary) AMLC

90. Arda Guler (Turkey) AMR

89. Marcel Sabitzer (Austria) AMC

88. Oleg Salenko (Russia) AC

87. Patrick Schick (Czech Republic) AC

86. Marko Arnautovic (Austria) AMLC

85. Nicolae Stanciu (Romania) AMC

84. Andriy Yarmolenko (Ukraine) ALC

83. Darko Pancev (Yugoslavia) AC

82. Andreas Herzog (Austria) AMLC

81. Ivan Perisic (Croatia) DMAL

80. Josko Gvardiol (Croatia) DC

79. Dusan Vlahovic (Serbia) AC

78. Hasan Salihamidzic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) DML

77. Stevan Jovetic (Macedonia) AC

76. Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Armenia) MLC

75. Branislav Ivanovic (Serbia) DRLC

74. Walter Schachner (Austria) AC

73. Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia) MC

72. Jerzy Dudek (Poland) GK

71. Dorinel Munteanu (Romania) DMLC

70. Alexandre Civadze (Soviet Union) DRC

69. Ramon Shengalia (Soviet Union) AC

68. Vladimir Jugovic (Yugoslavia) MLC

67. Victor Onopko (Russia) DC

66. Slaven Bilic (Croatia) DC

65. Dan Petrescu (Romania) DR

64. Gennadiy Litovchenko (Russia) MC

63. Mateo Kovacic (Croatia) MC

62. Kvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia) AMLR

61. Toni Polster (Austria) AC

60. Alexander Hleb (Belarus) MC

59. Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey) MLC

58. Miroslav Pjanic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) DMC

57. Mario Mandzukic (Croatia) AC

56. Milan Baros (Czech Republic) AC

55. Christian Chivu (Romania) DLC

54. Alexander Mostovoi (Russia) AMLC

53. Georghi Popescu (Romania) DMC

52. Trifon Ivanov (Bulgaria) DC

51. Kerimoglu Tugay (Turkey) MC

50. Valeri Karpin (Russia) MRC

49. Bruno Pezzey (Austria) DC

48. Nemanja Vidic (Serbia) DC

47. Arda Turan (Turkey) AMR

46. Edin Dzeko (Bosnia & Herzegovina) AC

45. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Serbia) MC

44. Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary) MRC

43. Kazmierz Deyna (Poland) MC

42. Marek Jankulovski (Czech Republic) DML

41. Marius Lacatus (Romania) AMR

40. Rustu Recber (Turkey) GK

39. Oleg Protasov (CIS / Russia) AC

38. Emil Kostadinov (Bulgaria) AC

37. Florin Raducioui (Romania) AC

36. Hakan Sukur (Turkey) AC

35. Robert Jarni (Croatia) DML

34. Andre Arshavin (Russia) AMC

33. Karel Poborski (Czech Republic) AMR

32. Hans Krankl (Austria) AC

31. Tomas Rosicky (Czech Republic) MRC

30. Andrei Kanchelskis (Russia) AMR

29. Alexander Zavarov (Soviet Union) MC

28. Georgi Kinkladze (Georgia) MC

27. Lajos Detari (Hungary) MC

26. Igor Belanov (Soviet Union) AC

25. Yordan Lechkov (Bulgaria) AMC

24. Grzegorz Lato (Poland) AC

23. Krasimir Balakov (Bulgaria) MLC

22. Patrick Berger (Czech Republic) MLC

21. Milan Skriniar (Slovakia) DC

20. David Alaba (Austria) DMLC

19. Dejan Stankovic (Serbia) AMLC

18. Zlatko Zahovic (Slovenia) AC

17. Dimitar Berbatov (Bulgaria) AC

16. Robert Prosinecki (Croatia) MC

15. Petr Cech (Czech Republic) GK

14. Dragan Stojkovic (Yugoslavia) MC

13. Predrag Mijatovic (Yugoslavia) AC

12. Robert Lewandowski (Poland) AC

11. Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine) AC

10. Zvonimir Boban (Croatia) AMC

9. Dejan Savicevic (Yugoslavia) AMC

8. Rinat Dasaev (Russia) GK

7. Jan Oblak (Slovenia) GK

6. Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic) MLC

5. Luka Modric (Croatia) MC

4. Davor Suker (Croatia) AC

3. Zbigniew Boniek (Poland) AMC

2. Georghi Hagi (Romania) MLC

1. Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) AMLC

Who do you think should be in the top 100 Eastern European Football Stars since the 1980s onwards.  Do you agree with the number 1 pick?