The Best 11 Left-Footed Footballers in the World in 2025
- Think Football Ideas
- Jul 30
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 4
The Magical Left: Football's Top 11 Left-Footed Stars of 2025
There’s a certain guile you often recognise when a left-footed player wraps their foot around the ball. It’s not merely technique, it’s rhythm, instinct, and poetry in motion.
For generations, football has celebrated the artistry that lives in a well-placed left foot, from curling free-kicks that defy logic to slaloming dribbles that slice through defences. There’s something innately captivating about players who dominate from the side fewer are born to favour.
In 2025, that allure hasn’t faded, rather, it has transformed. Across leagues and continents, left-footed talents are making more than an impression; they're leading revolutions on the pitch.
Some are fearless newcomers rewriting expectations, others are seasoned greats extending legacies, players raising the bar with their extraordinary left boots.
Below Are The Top 10 Left-Footed Footballers in the World in 2025
1. Lamine Yamal – Barcelona
Every so often, a player doesn’t just meet expectations, they completely reimagine them. That’s what Lamine Yamal has accomplished so far. Emerging from Barcelona’s youth system as a whisper of promise, he’s become a storm of excellence at only 18 years old.
His footballing intelligence and creativity operate on another frequency, with a left foot that seems more like a conductor’s baton than a body part. Yamal has already led Spain to Euro 2024 glory and Barcelona to a domestic treble.
Whether threading impossible passes or scoring curlers from impossible angles, he plays like someone destined to be spoken of in the same breath as football’s immortals.
2. Mohamed Salah – Liverpool
Mohamed Salah continues to set the benchmark for excellence. Nearly ten years into his Liverpool tenure, he remains one of the sport’s most devastating attackers. His precision, pace, and hunger haven’t waned, they’ve become more refined.
Despite a managerial transition from Jurgen Klopp to Arne Slot at Anfield, Salah’s performances never dipped as he notched 29 goals and registered 18 assists in 29 matches for the 2024-25 league campaign.
With two Premier League titles, top scorer accolades, and an ever-growing reel of memorable moments, he has solidified his legacy as one of Liverpool's best forwards of all-time.
His left foot has been responsible for over half of his 300+ career goals, which is evidence of its ruthless consistency. Watching him cut in from the right and deliver another missile into the top corner still feels like an event.
3. Ousmane Dembele – Paris Saint-Germain
Ousmane Dembele’s path has been unpredictable, but 2025 finds him at the peak of his powers. His move to PSG became more than a reset, as it marked the rebirth of a player always loaded with potential.
Now playing with confidence and clarity under Luis Enrique, Dembele has paired his trademark flair with decisive contributions.
Goals, assists, and critical performances in Europe have made him indispensable in PSG’s triumphant season. Though ambidextrous, it's his left foot that provides the brilliance, the subtle passes, the thunderous finishes, and the unforgettable moments.
4. Raphinha – Barcelona
From his days igniting Elland Road to becoming a force in Catalonia, Raphinha’s journey has been built on work ethic, flair, and that surgical left foot. Once doubted by some, he’s now central to one of the most dynamic teams in Europe.
In 2024/25, Raphinha didn’t simply perform, he dominated. With 59 goal contributions across competitions, he became a spark plug for Barça’s treble run under Hansi Flick's guidance.
Whether lofting inch-perfect crosses or hammering home from distance, he brought relentless energy and creativity to every La Liga match in the 2024-25 campaign, scoring 18 goals in 36 matches with an 0.50 goal per match accuracy.
5. Erling Haaland – Manchester City
Erling Haaland doesn’t fit traditional moulds. Towering in stature yet deceptively agile, he continues to score goals in ways that make fans shake their heads in disbelief. His left foot, in particular, is a weapon of clinical destruction.
Even as his goal-scoring rate slightly tapered from the astronomical figures of previous seasons, largely due to injury, Haaland remains unmatched in raw firepower. He scored 22 goals and registered three assists in 31 matches in the 2025-25 Premier League season, still an impressive return for any player who missed 11 games.
Over 50% of his goals have come off his left foot, quick, instinctive finishes that remind defenders why marking him is an exercise in futility.
6. Lionel Messi – Inter Miami
Lionel Messi in Major League Soccer still feels surreal. At 38, he remains a master craftsman on the pitch, and his left foot is as spellbinding as ever. Though age has slowed him physically, his mind and technique are as sharp as they’ve ever been.
Since arriving in Miami, Messi has not only elevated a team, he's redefined a league. Inter Miami have gone from struggling to serial contenders, thanks to his vision, leadership, and game-changing moments.
Watching him play is still like witnessing art in motion. Yes, it's MLS. But come on, it's Messi. He’s still pure magic.
7. Bukayo Saka – Arsenal
Bukayo Saka plays with a blend of determination and grace that feels effortless. He’s not the loudest presence on the field, but he’s often the most influential. There’s an undeniable confidence in the way he carries the ball, as if defenders are obstacles he's already solved in his mind.
Still only 23, the England international, Saka, has grown into one of Arsenal’s most reliable stars. His balance of goals and assists shows how complete his game has become. And that silky left foot, it is delivering curlers, through-balls, and calm finishes, which has earned him a place among the elite.
8. Martin Ødegaard
Martin Ødegaard has firmly established himself as one of the finest left-footed playmakers in world football.
From his prodigious rise in Norway to captaining Arsenal in the Premier League, Ødegaard's technical brilliance, spatial awareness, and elegant control with his left foot have made him a standout midfielder.
His ability to dictate tempo, thread incisive passes, and contribute goals, often with pinpoint accuracy from distance, has elevated Arsenal’s attacking play, helping them compete for the Premier League title in recent seasons.
As both creator and leader, Ødegaard's intelligence and craft from the left side of midfield make him a modern maestro and a key figure among the game's elite left-footed talents.
9. Cole Palmer – Chelsea
Cole Palmer’s transfer to Chelsea wasn’t a headline at first, but eventually it became a turning point. Since leaving Manchester City, he has transformed into one of the Premier League’s most creative and composed attacking midfielders.
Whether scoring four goals in a single game or threading impossible passes under pressure, Palmer has made Stamford Bridge his canvas. His left foot is elegant, accurate, and imaginative, everything Chelsea fans now rely on to spark their attack. With 15 goals and 8 assists in 37 league games, that’s a standout season for a young player still honing his craft.
He played a pivotal role in Chelsea’s top-four finish in the 2024–25 Premier League, their UEFA Conference League victory, and the Club World Cup triumph in the U.S. Talk about making your mark. He didn’t miss a beat…
10. Nuno Mendes – Paris Saint-Germain
Defenders don’t usually make lists like these. But Nuno Mendes is no ordinary defender. The Portuguese left-back has emerged as one of the fiercest 1v1 stoppers in world football, and a dangerous threat going forward.
His standout moment? Silencing Mohamed Salah over two legs in the Champions League knockouts. Tackles, interceptions, overlapping runs, he did it all, helping PSG to a historic treble in the process.
His left foot is for crosses, yes, but it’s a defensive weapon, a positional anchor, and increasingly, a key part of PSG’s attacking blueprint with Luis Enrique in charge.
11. Michael Olise – Bayern Munich
Michael Olise moves like he’s painting something. His game isn’t rushed or chaotic, it’s measured, graceful, and unpredictable. Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich knew exactly what they were getting when they signed him: a creative force with the capacity to flip a match in a second.
And that’s what Olise has done, becoming one of the Bundesliga’s standout playmakers. With 12 goals and 15 assists, his debut season in Germany has been a spectacle.
His left foot doesn’t just deliver, it also dazzles. Expect even more from him as he matures into one of Europe’s premier attacking threats.
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