Image: Wiki Commons by Granada
About This Quiz
Throughout the 1980s, there had been lots of talk of creating a "super league" in England. At the time, the best soccer teams were competing in the English Football League. Hoping to create a new association with the top clubs – headlined by the "Big Five" of Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – 22 of the best teams in England broke away from the EFL to start the Premier League in 1992.
The new league also famously helped one of England's modern cable fixtures, Sky Sports, grow to relevancy. Beating out BBC and ITV, Sky Sports became the exclusive broadcast partner of Premier League. Allegedly, founder Rupert Murdoch personally ordered his network to outbid every competitor to win the rights by any means necessary.
But besides one of England's largest cable conglomerates, the Premier League has also helped launch the successful careers of dozens of football stars. Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez are just a few of the massive names who played in the Premier League to help their star rise. Think you are a master of English football? See how many Premier League legends you can name when presented with their picture and a few hints about their accomplishments on the pitch. Game on!
Zinedine Zidane
David Garrard
Thierry Henry
Henry was also on the French international team that won the World Cup in 1998, though he was a backup who didn't enter the match. With Arsenal, he was named FWA Footballer of the Year in the 2002-2003, 2003-2004, and 2005-2006 Premier League seasons--his three awards are still the most by any individual.
Paul Pogba
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Cristiano Ronaldo
"Ronaldo," as he is commonly known, is one of the most decorated footballers in history. He was FWA Footballer of the Year with Manchester United for two seasons in a row from 2006 to 2008. With his star power, Man. U won the Premier League every year from 2007 til 2009.
Ronaldinho
Pele
Andre Silva
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Dwight Yorke
Yorke is one of the few players to win the treble, three championships in the same year: in 1999 with Manchester United, he won the Premier League championship, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League title. Yorke scored over 70 goals in 232 appearances with Aston Villa.
Cordell Cato
Jozy Altidore
Raheem Sterling
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Ronaldinho
Kolo Toure
Ricardo Gardner
Didier Drogba
Drogba won 4 Premier League championships with Chelsea in 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2015. He also won African Footballer of the Year in 2006 and 2009. He is now Vice President of Peace and Sport, an international organization that uses sports as a way to promote peace in foreign relations.
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Carlos Tevez
Thierry Henry
Robert Pires
Pires also won the Football Writer Association's Footballer of the Year award in the 2001-2002 season and helped France win the 2000 UEFA Championship. He also played for the French team at the 1996 Olympics.
Didier Deschamps
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John Terry
Harry Kane
In 2018, the rising star Kane hitched himself to Tottenham for the long haul, signing a six-year deal that keeps him on the team through 2024 and could pay him over 62 million pounds, or about $78 million.
Wayne Rooney
Frank Lampart
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Dennis Bergkamp
Virgil van Dijk
van Dijk also won Premier League Player of the Season in 2018-2019. He joins Vincent Kompany of Belgium and Nemanja Vidic of Serbia as the only defenders to win the award since its inception in 1994.
Frank de Boer
David Beckham
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Landon Donovan
Wayne Rooney
In 2018, Rooney left the Premier club Everton and signed with D.C. United, ending a decorated English football career. He is second only to Alan Shearer for goals scored in the Premier League.
Bobby Charlton
Alan Shearer
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Frank Lampard
Lampard's decorated career ended in 2017 when he retired with a long sheet of honors including 3 Premier League titles, 2 English League Cup titles, and one Europa League championship, all with Chelsea FC.
Alex Ferguson
David Beckham
Steven Gerrard
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Gareth Bale
Besides his longstanding run in the Premier League, Bale has also appeared for the Welsh national team more than 70 times. He has received the Welsh Footballer of the Year Award six times, far more than any other player.
Harry Kane
Jesse Lindgard
Luke Shaw
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Alan Shearer
Although he had some problems with injuries that interrupted his career, Shearer had brilliant seasons with both Newcastle United and the Blackburn Rovers. In the 1993-1994 season, he scored 31 goals, earning him a nod as the Football Writers Association's Best Footballer of the Year.
Wayne Rooney
Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi
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Jordan Rhodes
Rhodes now plays for Sheffield Wednesday, a Championship league team. He has also represented Scotland in international competition since 2011, with 14 caps (appearances) for the Scottish national team.
Jozy Altidore
Harry Maguire
Cristiano Ronaldo
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David Brooks
Ryan Giggs
Giggs is one of the sport's most decorated--in addition to his baker's dozen Premier League titles, he also has 4 English FA cup titles and 2 Champions League titles to his name. He now manages the Wales national team.
Gareth Bales
James Chester
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Vincent Kompany
Kompany's defensive talents helped Manchester City win its first-ever championship, in the 2011-2012 season. Kompany also played on the Belgian national team that came third in 2018's FIFA World Cup, the country's best finish since it began participating in 1930.
Eden Hazard
Dries Mertens
Thorgan Hazard
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Thierry Henry
Nicolas Anelka
Anelka also represented France in international play, but his career ended poorly: after a verbal dispute with coach Raymond Domenech, he was sent home from the 2010 French World Cup team and banned for 18 games. Anelka never served the ban, claiming he had already decided to retire from international play.
Zinedine Zidane
Lucas Hernandez
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Thierry Henry
Ian Wright
Wright was a big part of Arsenal's dominance in the '90s – he also helped the club win the English FA Cup in 1993 & 1998 and a Football League Cup in 1993. He also has 33 caps for the English national team.
Raheem Sterling
Andros Townsend
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Frank Lampard
Harry Kane
Wayne Rooney
David Beckham
Beckham is also famously married to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham (known by the stage name "Posh Spice") and has been a sex symbol for quite some time – in 2015 he was named People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive.
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Graeme Sharp
Sharp earned 12 caps with the Scotland national team from 1985 to 1988, but never had as much success as he enjoyed in the Premier League. He has the second-most goals in Everton FC history, with 159.
Jim Baxter
Alan Hansen
Jim Leighton
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Mohamed Salah
Salah's 32 goals scored in 2017-2018 set a Premier League record for most goals scored in a season – the last person to top his count was Alan Shearer, but in those days the Premier League season had four extra games.
Ahmed Mahgoub
Sardar Azmoun
Yacine Brahimi
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Michy Batshuayi
Vincent Kompany
Romelu Lukaku
Lukaku also has over 80 caps with the Belgium national team and has scored 48 goals in those appearances, making him the all-time leader in goals scored for Belgium. The previous benchmark (30) was set back in 1972.
Divock Origi
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Sergio Ramos
David Silva
Silva is one of the football stars who has had success on both the club and international stages, winning a FIFA World Cup with the Spanish national team in 2010 and a UEFA European Championship in 2012.
Lionel Messi
Fernando Torres
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N'Golo Kante
Kante also played a key role in France's victory at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, appearing in 16 games during the team's championship run. He has a total of 38 caps for the France national team since 2016.
Blaise Matuidi
Paul Pogba
Olivier Giroud
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Leroy Sane
Though he is still in his early 20s, Sane is already putting up impressive statistics. He has racked up 21 caps with Germany since 2015, scoring 5 goals and helping lead his team to the 2016 EUFA Euro semifinals.
Marco Reus
Antonio Rudiger
Julian Brandt
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Steven Gerrard
Michael Owen
Owen also tied the record for most goals scored in the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 Premier League seasons, receiving the league's Golden Boot award. Off the field, he is interested in horse racing and breeding.
David Beckham
Frank Lampard
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Carlos Tevez
Lionel Messi
Luis Suarez
Suarez is a decorated player on the international stage, with 111 total caps including three FIFA World Cup appearances for the Uruguay national team. He is also the country's all-time leading goal scorer.
Diego Costa
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Ronaldinho
Rivaldo
Fabinho
Prior to playing in the Premier League (outside of a loan to Real Madrid), Fabinho was best known for success with the AS Monaco FC club in Ligue 1 – he scored 31 goals and helped the team win the league in 2017.
David Villa
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Ruud van Nistelrooy
Van Nistelrooy won the league championship with Manchester United in 2003, along with an English FA Cup in 2004 and an English League Cup in 2006. He also has 70 caps and 35 goals for the Netherlands national team.
Ryan Babel
Virgil van Dijk
Frenkie de Jong
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Jesse Lingard
Michael Carrick
Carrick also played for the England national team in two different FIFA World Cups in 2006 and 2010, acquiring 34 caps. After retiring in 2018, he joined the Manchester United coaching staff.
David Beckham
Jordan Pickford
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Eden Hazard
Although he now plays for Real Madrid, Hazard won the Premier League with Chelsea twice: once in 2017 and once in 2015. He also has over 100 appearances with the Belgium national team and is tied for second-most goals in team history with 30.
Dries Mertens
Yannick Carrasco
Didier Drogba
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Nemanja Vidic
After joining the club in 2006, Vidic became part of a dominant Manchester United team that won the Premier League three times in a row in 2007, 2008 and 2009. He now plays for the Serie A Italian powerhouse Inter Milan.
Dusan Tadic
Luka Jovic
Aleksandar Mitrovic
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Raheem Sterling
Marcus Rashford
Andy Cole
In addition to his Premier League success, Cole has won an FA Cup and UEFA Champions League title attacking with Manchester United. He also led the league in assists in the 1993-1994 season.
Thierry Henry
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Paul Scholes
Scholes also has the distinct honor of being named the best player in Premier League history by the legendary striker Thierry Henry, who was asked the question by a reporter in a 2015 interview.
Ryan Giggs
Wayne Rooney
Roy Keane
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Ian Wright
Patrick Vieira
Vieira also had an accomplished international career, with over 100 caps including an important role with the France national team that captured the 1998 FIFA World Cup in the team's home country.
Thierry Henry
Jozy Altidore
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Alexis Sanchez
Sanchez is not only a massive star in the Premier League, but he has also been successful on the international stage: With 130 caps and 43 goals, he has the most goals and appearances in the history of the Chile national team.
Lionel Messi
Luis Suarez
Sergio Ramos
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Iker Casillas
David de Gea
de Gea has won the Premier League, FA Cup, and EFL Cup with Manchester United. For the 2017-2018 season, he was awarded the Premier League Golden Glove, given to the goalie with the most shutouts.
David Villa
Jorge Campos
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David Beckham
Rio Ferdinand
In the summer of 2002, Ferdinand set the British record for most expensive player transfer. He signed to Manchester United for £30m. After retiring in 2015, he briefly pursued a career in boxing, but gave up the sport after being denied a license.
John Terry
Frank Lampard
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Mesut Ozil
Before joining Arsenal, Ozil had successful seasons with the La Liga club Real Madrid, including a 2011-2012 year where he was a finalist for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award. He retired from international competition in 2018 after accusing the German national team of "disrespect and racism."
Thomas Muller
Mats Hummels
Miroslav Klose
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Mark Schwarzer
David de Gea
Petr Cech
With four of the annual trophies given to outstanding goalies--three with Chelsea, one with Arsenal--Cech is tied with Joe Hart for the most Premier League Golden Glove awards in league history.
Brad Friedel
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Riyad Mahrez
Mahrez is also a decorated player on the Algerian national team, choosing to represent his family lineage despite being born in France. Mahrez has 53 caps for Algeria and helped the team win the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Andy Delort
Yacine Brahimi
Islam Slimani
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David de Gea
Jordan Pickford
Joe Hart
Hart has over 100 clean sheets to his name and over 70 caps with the England national team, putting him in the running to be one of the most decorated goalkeepers in the history of English football.
Peter Shilton
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