There are many different opinions when it comes to deciding who is the best footballer in the world. For many people, allegiance to a particular club or country has an effect on their judgement.
Bearing different viewpoints in mind, we compiled this list with the help of expert opinion and data from the site JustGamblers. This makes our list as fair and free from bias as possible. It also reflects a major change that has happened recently. The footballing landscape that has been dominated by star players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is now changing and other players are starting to dominate the headlines.
There are more than five billion football fans globally. They all have their own ideas about who the best players are. Our list is not going to please all of these fans, but it does reflect the position of traditionally powerful players as well as the influence upcoming stars are having.
10. Harry Kane
- Current Team: Tottenham Hotspur
- National Team: England (68 caps)
Achievements: Kane is yet to win any senior level trophies but has been English Premier League Golden Boot winner three times.
Arguably, Harry Kane is yet to fulfil his full potential as a player. There is no doubt that he has an impressive goal scoring record with a tally of 49 goals in 68 games for England. He has also won the Golden Boot in the English Premier League three times.
However, Kane is yet to win a senior trophy. This has more to do with the lack a lack of success for Tottenham as a team than his individual ability. It will be interesting to see if his fortunes change if he moves to pastures new.
9. Cristiano Ronaldo
- Current Team: Manchester United
- National Team: Portugal (186 caps)
Achievements: 5x Ballon d’Or/FIFA, Ballon d’Or winner, 32 senior trophies
Ronaldo has been one of the best ambassadors for world football for well over a decade. Any player who is a 5x Ballon d’Or winner has to be respected. His trophy haul is also impressive and includes seven league titles and five UEFA Champions League triumphs.
Success is alluding the Portuguese forward right now though. Having returned to Manchester United he has been involved with the club’s worst run of form in years. This is the reason why he only features at number nine in our list.
8. Karim Benzema
- Current Team: Real Madrid
- National Team: France (94 caps)
- Achievements: Three Footballer of the Year Awards, 36 senior trophies
Things are looking very bright for Karim Benzema right now as he celebrates his side Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League triumph. This is the fifth time he has achieved success in the competition with this club.
One attribute that Benzema is especially renowned for is his reliability. He has also just enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career, hence his number eight position in our list.
7. Virgil van Dijk
- Current Team: Liverpool
- National Team: Netherlands (46 caps)
- Achievements: One Player of the Year award. Eight senior trophies.
Virgil van Dijk has become something of a cult figure at Liverpool since his arrival in 2018. He has helped the club to victory in both the UEFA Champions League and the English Premier League since then.
The fans celebrate his cool defensive skills and the fact that he also contributes at the other end of the pitch. The Dutchman’s skills have also been recognised with the awarding of a Player of the Season award on one occasion.
6. Neymar
- Current Team: Paris Saint-Germain
- National Team: Brazil (117 caps)
- Achievements: One Footballer of the Year award, Over 20 senior trophies.
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (known as Neymar) is one of the most well-known figures in world sport. Currently playing for Paris Saint-Germain, he is in the top 10 of all time leading goal scorers for the club.
Neymar is also the second highest ever goal scorer for the Brazilian national team. This has led to him securing legendary status with many football fans.
5. Mohamed Salah
- Current Team: Liverpool
- National Team: Egypt (84 caps)
- Achievements: 2x African Footballer of the Year, Player of the Season in the Premier League, 10 senior trophies.
Mohamed Salah as been given the title Egyptian King by Liverpool fans. Little wonder, given that he has won the Premier League Golden Boot award three times.
Salah is seen as something of a talisman at Liverpool, although he is yet to agree a new contract and could potentially become a free agent at the end of next season. No matter how his Liverpool career progresses, Salah will always be a club legend.
4. Kylian Mbappe
- Current Team: Paris Saint-Germain
- National Team: France (54 caps)
- Achievements: One French Footballer of the Year award, 14 senior trophies
23-year-old Kylian Mbappe is one of the most promising young players in football right now. He is known and admired for his pace and finishing ability.
Mbappe recently upset Real Madrid by making a decision to remain at Paris Saint-Germain rather than join the Spanish giants. It remains to be seen what happens as a result of this decision, but most experts predict that he will be a star of world football for many years to come.
3. Lionel Messi
- Current Team: Paris Saint-Germain
- National Team: Argentina (160 caps)
- Achievements: Seven Ballon d’Or awards, 36 senior trophies
Lionel Messi is up there as one of the greatest footballers of all time. He is the only player to have won seven Ballon d’Ors. Most of his success has been achieved while playing at Barcelona which until recently was the one club he had played for.
The Argentinian superstar is now a Paris Saint-Germain player. It will be interesting to see what happens during this next stage in his career.
2. Kevin De Bruyne
- Current Team: Manchester City
- National Team: Belgium (88 caps)
- Achievements: One Footballer of the Year award in Germany, 16 senior trophies
There is no doubt that Kevin De Bruyne is one of the most complete footballers in world football right now. He has a wealth of technical ability together with physical and mental strength.
These attributes have led to him winning four English Premier League titles during his time at Manchester City as well as one FA Cup and five League Cups.
- Robert Lewandowski
- Current Team: Bayern Munich
- National Team: Poland (129 caps)
- Achievements: 2x Best FIFA Men’s Player, Once UEFA Best Player in Europe, 21 senior trophies
There is one main reason why Robert Lewandowski is our choice of best footballer in the world and that is his current form. You really cannot get better than the Bayern Munich forward right now.
Lewandowski has the perfect combination of strength, pace, and technical ability. His positional play is also always on-point. It’s amazing that he has yet to win a Ballon d’Or in his career but that has not stopped us from placing him at the top of our list as the best of the best.
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