The Best in the World
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The best footballer in the world, from the Ballon d'Or, The Guardian's 100 best, IFFHS, FourFourTwo, Bleacher Report and Sports Illustrated.

The 2025 editions of 6 trusted rankings. The more rankings name an entry, the higher its place; entries named by the same number of rankings share the place. Inside a shared place, votes ($1.99) decide the order. Under each entry: its place in every ranking, with the link.

  1. =1Ousmane DembéléIn 6 of 6 rankings · average place 1.5 · FranceFrance Football / L'Équipe (No. 1) · IFFHS (No. 1) · The Guardian (No. 1) · Bleacher Report (No. 1) · Sports Illustrated (Español) (No. 1) · FourFourTwo (No. 4)0 votes
  2. =1Lamine YamalIn 6 of 6 rankings · average place 2.8 · SpainFourFourTwo (No. 1) · France Football / L'Équipe (No. 2) · IFFHS (No. 2) · The Guardian (No. 2) · Sports Illustrated (Español) (No. 3) · Bleacher Report (No. 7)0 votes
  3. =1Kylian MbappéIn 6 of 6 rankings · average place 4.3 · FranceBleacher Report (No. 2) · Sports Illustrated (Español) (No. 2) · The Guardian (No. 4) · FourFourTwo (No. 5) · IFFHS (No. 6) · France Football / L'Équipe (No. 7)0 votes
  4. =1RaphinhaIn 6 of 6 rankings · average place 6.2 · BrazilSports Illustrated (Español) (No. 4) · France Football / L'Équipe (No. 5) · Bleacher Report (No. 5) · FourFourTwo (No. 6) · The Guardian (No. 8) · IFFHS (No. 9)0 votes
  5. =2Harry KaneIn 5 of 6 rankings · average place 4.2 · Bayern Munich & EnglandIFFHS (No. 3) · FourFourTwo (No. 3) · Bleacher Report (No. 3) · The Guardian (No. 5) · Sports Illustrated (Español) (No. 7)0 votes
  6. =2Erling HaalandIn 5 of 6 rankings · average place 4.4 · NorwayFourFourTwo (No. 2) · IFFHS (No. 4) · Bleacher Report (No. 4) · The Guardian (No. 6) · Sports Illustrated (Español) (No. 6)0 votes
  7. =2VitinhaIn 5 of 6 rankings · average place 5 · PortugalFrance Football / L'Équipe (No. 3) · The Guardian (No. 3) · IFFHS (No. 5) · Sports Illustrated (Español) (No. 5) · Bleacher Report (No. 9)0 votes
  8. =3Achraf HakimiIn 4 of 6 rankings · average place 7.5 · MoroccoFrance Football / L'Équipe (No. 6) · IFFHS (No. 7) · The Guardian (No. 7) · Sports Illustrated (Español) (No. 10)0 votes
  9. =3PedriIn 4 of 6 rankings · average place 8.8 · Barcellona/SpagnaFourFourTwo (No. 7) · IFFHS (No. 8) · The Guardian (No. 10) · Bleacher Report (No. 10)0 votes
  10. 4Nuno MendesIn 3 of 6 rankings · average place 9 · PortugalBleacher Report (No. 8) · FourFourTwo (No. 9) · France Football / L'Équipe (No. 10)0 votes

Read more — books and guides on the best in the world

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Inverting the PyramidJonathan WilsonView on Amazon →SoccernomicsSimon Kuper, Stefan SzymanskiView on Amazon →Books on the Ballon d'Or and its winnersvariousView on Amazon →1,000 Places to See Before You DiePatricia SchultzView on Amazon →

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