Football's Worst Ever Cheating Divers

1. Rivaldo

A simple choice for the top spot, thanks to both how shameless the behaviour involved was, and how legendary the player. In 2002, Brazil had a team filled with talent, from the experienced Cafu and Rivaldo through to volatile talents like Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, and they were probably the best team at the World Cup. But their progress to the final wasn't as clean-cut as some might have expected - against England they required a flukey (or genius) goal from Ronaldinho to win and even earlier, against comparative minnows Turkey, they partly relied on a red card that should never have been awarded.

During the Turkey game, as he waited to take a corner, Rivaldo was hit by a ball in the leg, and rather than brushing it off as a natural part of the game, he decided he wanted to make a big deal of the Turkish player's apparent intent to hurt him. So he fell to the floor, clutching his head and remained prone for some time, feigning injury, despite the fact that footballers head the ball every game, without needing hospital treatment.

Rivaldo was subsequently fined £5,180 by Fifa, but he never apologised, appearing unrepentant when asked about the incident:

"I'm calm about the punishment, and I am not sorry about anything. I was both the victim and the person who got fined. Obviously the ball didn't hit me in the face, but I was still the victim."