The world's best footballers: the top 100 list

Lionel Messi has taken the top spot in the Guardian's list of the world's top 100 footballers published today. See the full list and how it breaks down by nationality, club and position Get the data E plore the interacti!e of the top 100 More data "ournalis# and data !isualisations fro# the Guardian

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Lionel Messi has been na#ed the world's best footballer in the Guardian's top 100 footballers list published today. &hoto'raph( Lluis Gene)*+&)Getty ,#a'es -he Guardian's choice of the world's top 100 footballers has been un!eiled today with Lionel Messi toppin' the list at .o1. *n 11/stron' international panel of e perts were asked by Guardian Sport to na#e their top 00 players in action today and rank the# in order of preference. &layers were then scored on their rankin' by each panellist( a .o1 choice allocated 00pts, .o1 1$pts and so on down to selection .o00, 'i!en one point. So how did the Guardian top 100 co#e about2 Sports editor ,an &rior e plains( 3o#pilin' such a list re4uires a certain confidence, so#e #ay say arro'ance of "ud'#ent. Guilty, if so. .ot all #ay a'ree, but it is a personal belief that these pa'es are currently ho#e to perhaps the finest collecti!e of football writers and analysts in the En'lish lan'ua'e. +ro# 5aniel -aylor to Sid Lowe, 6onathan 7ilson to Michael 3o , 8ichard 7illia#s to 8aphael 9oni'stein, we are blessed with writers whose knowled'e co!ers not only the En'lish 'a#e but who offer a 'enuinely 'lobal perspecti!e.

-he rankin', which has slowly been re!ealed in a countdown fro# the 10 5ece#ber, is now published in full and the world's top 100 footballers are listed below for you to !iew. -he choice of Messi at .o1, beatin' 3ristiano 8onaldo into second place, is e plained below by Sid Lowe( -here was only one na#e and one position on which all 11 #e#bers of the panel were in unani#ous a'ree#ent: the world .o1, Lionel Messi. 9ow could we not choose hi#2 -he debate has #o!ed to another plane( it is not so #uch a 4uestion of whether Messi is the best player in the world ri'ht now, as whether Messi #i'ht "ust be the best player there has e!er been. ;a!i, *ndr<s ,niesta, =latan ,brahi#o!ic, 8ada#el +alcao, 8obin !an &ersie, *ndrea &irlo, >aya -our< and Edinson 3a!ani #ake up the rest of the top 10.

+our En'lish players #ake it onto the list: *shley 3ole ?00th@, 7ayne 8ooney ?01st@, 6oe 9art ?ABth@ and 6ohn -erry ?CA@. 5espite only a few En'lish players #akin' it onto the top 100, the &re#ier Lea'ue is the best represented with 1D players, followed by La Li'a with 10. -he chart abo!e shows the top fi!e lea'ues by the nu#ber of footballers appearin' in the list. Earcelona is the best represented club with 11 players on the list followed by Eayern Munich and 8eal Madrid with 10 each. 3helsea and Manchester 3ity each ha!e ei'ht players on the list. -he a!era'e a'e for the footballers appearin' on the list is 1A years old. Stephan El Shaarawy, a'ed 10, is the youn'est player in the top 100 whilst 6a!ier =anetti is the oldest at 0$ years old.

So how does the list break down by nationality2 1A of the players are Spanish, 11 EraFilian and 10 Ger#an. -here are C *r'entinian players on the list and both ,taly and +rance ha!e se!en footballers on the top 100. ,f you're wonderin' which position is the #ost co##on a#on'st the top 100 players then we'!e also broken that down too( 0A are #idfielders, 1$ forward, 1$ defenders. -he full breakdown by nationality, club and position can be found in the downloadable spreadsheet. -he full list of the world's top 100 footballers can be found below alon' with infor#ation on each players club, position, nationality and a'e. 3an you do so#ethin' interestin' with this data2

Data summary The world's top 100 best footballers

3lick headin' to sort table. 5ownload this data No Name Position Club Nationality Age at Dec 0 01 1B 1D 01 1C 01 1A 1$ 00 1D 1B 1% 01 10 1% 01 1C 1% 1A 1C 0% 1B 1A 1A 1B 1$ 1% 10

Source( Guardian Sport 1 Lionel Messi +orward Earcelona *r'entina 1 3ristiano 8onaldo +orward 8eal Madrid &ortu'al 0 ;a!i Midfielder Earcelona Spain % *ndres ,niesta Midfielder Earcelona Spain B =latan ,brahi#o!ic +orward &SG Sweden A 8ada#el +alcao +orward *tletico Madrid 3olo#bia D 8obin !an &ersie +orward Man Gtd .etherlands C *ndrea &irlo Midfielder 6u!entus ,taly $ >aya -oure Midfielder Man 3ity ,!ory 3oast 10 Edinson 3a!ani +orward .apoli Gru'uay 11 Ser'io *'uero +orward Man 3ity *r'entina 11 ,ker 3asillas Goalkeeper 8eal Madrid Spain 10 .ey#ar +orward Santos EraFil 1% Ser'io Eus4uets 5efender)#idfielderEarcelona Spain 1B ;abi *lonso Midfielder 8eal Madrid Spain 1A -hia'o Sil!a 5efender &SG EraFil 1D Mesut HFil Midfielder 8eal Madrid Ger#any 1C 5a!id Sil!a Midfielder)forward Man 3ity Spain 1$ Eastian Schweinstei'er Midfielder Eayern Munich Ger#any 10 Gianlui'i Euffon Goalkeeper 6u!entus ,taly 11 Luis SuareF +orward Li!erpool Gru'uay 11 Ser'io 8a#os 5efender 8eal Madrid Spain 10 Iincent Jo#pany 5efender Man 3ity Eel'iu# 1% Gerard &i4ue 5efender Earcelona Spain 1B &hilipp Lah# 5efender Eayern Munich Ger#any 1A 7illian Midfielder Shakhtar 5onetskEraFil Eorussia 1D Marco 8eus +orward Ger#any 5ort#und

The world's top 100 best footballers

3lick headin' to sort table. 5ownload this data No 1C 1$ 00 01 01 00 Name +ranck 8ibery Manuel .euer *shley 3ole 7ayne 8ooney 6uan Mata -ho#as Muller Position Midfielder Goalkeeper 5efender +orward Midfielder +orward Club Nationality Eayern Munich +rance Eayern Munich Ger#any 3helsea En'land Man Gtd En'land 3helsea Spain Eayern Munich Ger#any Eorussia 0% Mario GKtFe Midfielder)forward Ger#any 5ort#und 0B Jari# EenFe#a +orward 8eal Madrid +rance 0A 3esc +abre'as Midfielder Earcelona Spain 0D Hscar Midfielder 3helsea EraFil 0C +ernandinho Midfielder Shakhtar 5onetskEraFil 0$ 6a!ier Mascherano 5efender)#idfielderEarcelona *r'entina %0 Gareth Eale 5efender -ottenha# 7ales %1 6a!ier =anetti 5efender)#idfielder,nternaFionale *r'entina %1 5aniele 5e 8ossi Midfielder 8o#a ,taly %0 5ani *l!es 5efender Earcelona EraFil 3Fech %% &etr 3ech Goalkeeper 3helsea 8epublic Eorussia %B Mats 9u##els 5efender Ger#any 5ort#und %A 3arles &uyol 5efender Earcelona Spain %D *n'el 5i Maria Midfielder 8eal Madrid *r'entina %C 3arlos -e!eF +orward Man 3ity *r'entina Shan'hai %$ 5idier 5ro'ba +orward ,!ory 3oast Shenhua B0 Gior'io 3hiellini 5efender 6u!entus ,taly B1 Marcelo 5efender 8eal Madrid EraFil B1 Stephan El Shaarawy +orward Milan ,taly B0 -oni Jroos Midfielder Eayern Munich Ger#any *nFhi B% Sa#uel EtoLo +orward 3a#eroon Makhachkala BB 6ordi *lba 5efender)#idfielderEarcelona Spain BA Mario Go#eF +orward Eayern Munich Ger#any BD *rturo Iidal Midfielder 6u!entus 3hile BC Eden 9aFard Midfielder 3helsea Eel'iu# B$ 6a#es 8odri'ueF Midfielder &orto 3olo#bia A0 Marouane +ellaini Midfielder E!erton Eel'iu# A1 8a#ires Midfielder 3helsea EraFil A1 5a!id Iilla +orward Earcelona Spain A0 Jlaas 6an 9untelaar +orward Schalke .etherlands A% .e#an"a Iidic 5efender Man Gtd Serbia AB 6oe 9art Goalkeeper Man 3ity En'land AA *r"en 8obben Midfielder)forward Eayern Munich .etherlands AD Mario Ealotelli +orward Man 3ity ,taly Age at Dec 0 01 1$ 1A 01 1D 1% 10 10 1% 1B 11 1D 1C 10 0$ 1$ 1$ 00 1% 0% 1% 1C 0% 1C 1% 10 11 01 10 1D 1B 11 11 1B 1B 01 1$ 01 1B 1C 11

The world's top 100 best footballers

3lick headin' to sort table. 5ownload this data No Name Position Midfielder +orward Club Marseille St Etienne Nationality +rance Gabon AC Mathieu Ialbuena &ierre/E#erick A$ *uba#eyan' Age at Dec 0 01 1C 10 1% 1D 1B 1C 10 1D 1A 1A 01 1B 1D 11 10 1A 00 11 01 1% 1B 10 10 1B 1B 1B 10 1C 1$ 1B 1% 00 1%

Eorussia &oland 5ort#und D1 9ernanes Midfielder LaFio EraFil D1 &edro +orward Earcelona Spain D0 Santi 3aForla Midfielder *rsenal Spain D% 3hristian Eriksen Midfielder *"a 5en#ark DB EFe4uiel La!eFFi +orward &SG *r'entina DA 6oao Moutinho Midfielder &orto &ortu'al DD Mario MandMukiN +orward Eayern Munich 3roatian DC &atrice E!ra 5efender Man Gtd +rance D$ 5a!id LuiF 5efender 3helsea EraFil C0 Luka Modric Midfielder 8eal Madrid 3roatia C1 Iictor 7anya#a 5efender)#idfielder3eltic Jenya C1 Mapou >an'a/M'Eiwa 5efender Montpelier +rance =enit St C0 9ulk +orward EraFil &etersbur' C% 5ari"o Srna Midfielder Shakhtar 5onetsk3roatia CB E##anuel Mayuka +orward Southa#pton =a#bia CA 6ohn -erry 5efender 3helsea En'land CD Jwadwo *sa#oah Midfielder 6u!entus Ghana CC Leonardo Eonucci 5efender 6u!entus ,taly C$ 6a!ier &astore Midfielder &SG *r'entina $0 9enrikh Mkhitaryan Midfielder)forward Shakhtar 5onetsk*r#enia $1 Moussa 5e#bele Midfielder -ottenha# Eel'iu# $1 9ate# Een *rfa Midfielder)forward .ewcastle +rance $0 Sa#ir .asri Midfielder Man 3ity +rance $% Shin"i Ja'awa Midfielder Man Gtd 6apan $B 7esley Snei"der Midfielder ,nternaFionale .etherlands $A &epe 5efender 8eal Madrid &ortu'al $D Marek 9a#sik Midfielder .apoli Slo!akia $C 6a!i MartineF 5efender)#idfielderEayern Munich Spain $$ 5ie'o +orlan +orward ,nternacional Gru'uay 100&aulinho Midfielder 3orinthians EraFil D0 8obert Lewandowski +orward

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