THE most iconic international football partnerships have been revealed.
Euro 2024 kicks off on Friday, with fans across the continent hope their country has a deadly duo in front of goal or two tough-tackling centre-backs in defence.
But will any partnerships form a duo as good as France pair Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane?
The Arsenal hero and his legendary Real Madrid team-mate fired Les Bleus to World Cup glory in 1998 and Euros success two years later.
Zidane’s technical skill on the ball saw him named in the team of the tournament for both events as Henry netted six goals.
Two thousand football fans voted for that iconic duo as the best of all-time in a poll ran by Domino’s in partnership with BrewDog as they launched The Perfect Match IPA beer.
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Henry and Zidane pipped two Brazil pairings in Ronaldo and Rivaldo, as well as Pele and Garrincha to top spot.
Spain’s sensational midfield of Andres Iniesta and Xavi came fourth, with the Dutch’s Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit in fifth.
England failed to bring football home with their Golden Generation in 2006 – but the duo of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are still loved by supporters as they came sixth.
Three Lions fans also loved the big and little combination of Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe, who came 12th.
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TOP 20 INTERNATIONAL DUOS OF ALL-TIME:
1. Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry – France
2. Ronaldo and Rivaldo – Brazil
3. Pele and Garrincha – Brazil
4. Xavi and Andres Iniesta – Spain
5. Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit – The Netherlands
6. Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard – England
7. Gary Lineker and Peter Beardsley – England
8. Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes – Portugal
9. Diego Maradona and Jorge Valdano – Argentina
10. Patrick Kluivert and Dennis Bergkamp – Netherlands
11. Roberto Baggio and Gianfranco Zola – Italy
12. Peter Crouch & Jermaine Defoe – England
13. Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice – England
14. Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe – France
15. Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini – Italy
16. Kevin De Bruyne & Romelu Lukaku – Belgium
17. Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey – Wales
18. Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro – Italy
19. Gerard Pique and Carlos Puyol – Spain
20. Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic – Croatia
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The ex-Portsmouth and Tottenham pair surprisingly came above Italy stalwarts Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro.
And they were higher than Wales heroes Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey after they carried their nation to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
