A Look at the Best Soccer Players in Their 30s

Soccer is among the most popular sport enjoyed by many spectators around the world. Almost every country has its own leagues held annually. Some of these leagues are the most followed sports event worldwide.

The Premier League, La Liga, and Chinese Super Leagues are soccer events with millions of loyal audiences. These leagues have an illustrious history and have produced global soccer superstars. To mention these legends, let's have a rundown of the best 30-something soccer players of the current generation.

Kevin De Bruyne

The 31-year-old star soccer player was born in Drongen, Belgium. He has played as a midfielder for various clubs in Belgium, West London, Germany, and England.

He started his senior career in KRC Genk from 2008 to 2012, Werder Bremen from 2012 to 2013, VfL Wolfsburg from 2014 to 2015, and Manchester City in 2015.

De Bruyne then commenced his professional career with Belgium U18 from 2008 to 2009, Belgium U19 in 2009, and Belgium U21 in 2011, and started playing for Belgium National Football Team in 2010.

He currently plays for Manchester City and contributes to the indisputable popularity of the club as a soccer powerhouse. To know more about his team’s standing in the Premier League, visit https://betway.com/en/sports/cat/soccer.

In 2015, De Bruyne was the Footballer of the Year in Germany. He was also awarded the Belgian Sportsman of the Year in the same year. He also earned the following individual awards: Premier League Playmaker of the Season (2017-2018) (2019-2020), Premier League Player of the Season (2019-2020) (2021-2022), PFA Players' Player of the Year (2019-2020) (2020-2021), and Ballon d'Or 3rd place in 2022, among many other accolades under his belt.

Robert Lewandowski

At 34, Robert Lewandowski has achieved more than anyone his age can. The 6’1 tall Polish soccer professional player was a star striker born in Warsaw. Lewandowski is now playing for La Liga. He was also the team captain of the Poland National Team. The Polish star player looks up to Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero, and Thierry Henry. He was once an unregistered player at the Partyzant Leszno in Leszno, Warsaw West County. Later, he signed up as a teen player at MKS Varsovia Warsaw and played for the team for seven years.

Lenwandowski also played for the Lech Poznań from 2008 to 2010. In June 2010, he joined Borussia Dortmund, a German soccer club. He then signed with Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund’s rival, in November 2013.

His contract lasted until 2022. With the long list of clubs he has played for, he finally got to join the popular Barcelona in 2022. Lewandowski is undoubtedly one of the hottest soccer players of his generation, making him a strong prospect for Barcelona.

Few of the notable individual awards he has earned include Polish Young Player of the Year in 2008, Globe Soccer Best Player of the Year in 2020, European Sportsperson of the Year in 2020, Footballer of the Year in Germany in 2021, and 2022, World Soccer Player of the Year in 2020 and 2021, and Ballon d'Or Striker of the Year 2021 and 2022.

Lionel Messi

Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina, Lionel Messi, also known as Leo Messi, was a prolific forward and attacking midfielder for Paris Saint-Germain based in Paris, France.

The 35-year-old start footballer has played for Grandoli from 1992 to 1995, Newell's Old Boys from 1995-2000, Barcelona C from 2003 to 2004, Barcelona B from 2004 to 2005, Barcelona from 2004 to 2021, and Paris Saint-Germain from 2021 until the present.

Regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of his time, Messi earned seven Ballon d'Or awards, the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2009, and the Best FIFA Men's Player in 2019 and 2022. For the record, he was the top-scorer for La Liga with 474 points. He has 14 in Supercopa de España, and 3 in UEFA Super Cup.

Messi also has the most number of assists, with 356 in total. More than all these, the Argentine star player was also the first and only player in the sport’s history to earn five and six European Golden Shoes.

Honorable Mentions

We still have a long list of soccer achievers to insert here, but we have limited space for everyone. Don’t worry! We’ve gathered the names of today’s best soccer players in their 30s. We might disagree on the additional list we have inserted below, but these names have surely made the headlines at least once in their careers.

• Cristiano Ronaldo
• N'Golo Kante
• Riyad Mahrez
• Virgil van Dijk
• Roberto Firmino
• Ilkay Gundogan
• Manuel Neuer

Takeaway

The best soccer players of today have surely hit their 30s. Most of them are in their early 30s, and they are still at the peak of their career. We have seen them grow and become more adept in their play. Like any other sport, soccer players become more proficient with age, and the soccer players we have included in our list exemplify this fact.