The year is drawing to a close and as always we have reached out to a wide array of former players, coaches and journalists around the world to rank the best male footballers of the year.
It has been another momentous year. Argentina won the Copa América, Spain triumphed at the Euros while Botafogo, Real Madrid and Al Ahly calimed the biggest regional club competitions.
This year we could call on football luminaries such as Leonardo Bonucci, Demetrio Albertini, Siem De Jong, Philipp Lahm and Thomas Hitzlsperger to take part in the voting. From South America Bebeto, Walter Casagrande, Lucas Leiva and Juninho Pernambucano among others who joined a selection of coaches, broadcasters, reporters, correspondents and editors from around the world to form a knowledgable and truly global jury. The 23 former professionals have won a combined 982 international caps.
The countdown begins at on Tuesday 17 December with numbers 100-71. On Wednesday we will reveal Nos 70-41, on Thursday 40-11 before the top 10 on Friday completes this year’s list.
The top 100 rules are explained beneath the list of judges. The judges are listed in alphabetical order by category.
Demetrio Albertini Former Italy international with 79 caps who played at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups
Björn Andersson Former Sweden international with 25 caps who played at the 1974 World Cup
Martin Åslund Former Sweden international with four caps
Bebeto Former Brazil international with 75 caps who won the 1994 World Cup
Leonardo Bonucci Former Italy international with 121 caps who played at the 2014 World Cup and won Euro 2020
Rune Bratseth Former Norway international with 60 caps who captained his country at the 1994 World Cup
Walter Casagrande Former Brazil international with 19 caps who played at the 1986 World Cup
Gilles De Bilde Former Belgium international with 25 caps
Siem De Jong Former Netherlands international with six caps
Erik Edman Former Sweden international with 57 caps who played at the 2006 World Cup
Elano Former Brazil international with 50 caps who played at the 2010 World Cup
Thomas Hitzlsperger Former Germany international with 52 aps who played at the 2006 World Cup
Kléberson Former Brazil international with 32 caps who played at the 2002 and 2010 World Cups
Philipp Lahm Former Germany international with 113 caps who won the 2014 World Cup as captain
Lucas Leiva Former Brazil international with 24 caps who played for Liverpool for 10 years between 2007 and 2017
Janusz Michallik Former US international with 44 caps who is now an ESPN football analyst
Miranda Former Brazil international with 58 caps who played at the 2018 World Cup
Juninho Pernambucano Former Brazil international with 40 caps who played at the 2006 World Cup
Caio Ribeiro Former Brazil international with four caps who is now an analyst on TV
Ricardo Rocha Former Brazil international with 38 caps who won the 1994 World Cup
Aymen Tahar Algerian midfielder who played for Boavista among others
Frédéric Waseige Former midfielder who won the Belgian Cup and League Cup with FC Liège and is now a TV pundit
Okan Buruk Galatasaray manager and former Turkey international
Magnús Már Einarsson Head coach of top-flight side Afturelding in Iceland
Cléber Xavier Brazil assistant coach at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups
Ed Aarons Football writer, the Guardian
Amir Abd Elhalim TV host at SSC Sports
Ahmed Adala Journalist at Radio Mosaïque FM, Tunisia
Nuhu Adams African football specialist, managing editor of AfricaSoccer.com and writer for GHANAsoccernet.com
Omar Al Raisi Founder of Dantani, Inc. and editor-in-chief of the Sports Journal in the UAE
Davit Alaverdyan Chief editor, Mediamax Media Company, Armenia
Nick Ames European sport correspondent, the Guardian
Juan Arango Football commentator at AFA Play and correspondent for Al Jazeera
Thiago Arantes Movistar+ commentator and UOL columnist
José Armando Rodríguez Editor-in-chief, Deporte Total USA
Emanuele Atturo Chief editor of ultimouomo.com and contributor to the Fenomeno podcast
Philippe Auclair Contributor to Josimar and the Guardian, England correspondent for Eurosport, France Football and RTS, and biographer of Juan Mata, Thierry Henry and Eric Cantona
Nicky Bandini Italian football correspondent, the Guardian
Jorge Baravalle ESPN journalist. European Football Analyst
John Bennett Broadcaster, BBC World Service & BBC 5 Live
Luca Bianchin Football writer, La Gazzetta dello Sport
Christoph Biermann Chief reporter at 11FREUNDE magazine in Germany and author of many football books
Eduardo Biscayart Commentator on European football at Fox Sports Mexico and Telemundo (USA)
Andy Brassell European football writer/broadcaster
Feargal Brennan Staff writer, Football España
John Brewin Football writer, the Guardian
Rodrigo Bueno Commentator for ESPN Brasil and contributor to World Soccer Digest
Javier Cáceres Football writer, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Massimo Callegari Italian and international football commentator and presenter of Pressing at Mediaset Italy
Lassana Camara Sports journalist at Mauritania Football and PAF France and contributor for Sport News Africa and Africa 24
Susy Campanale Staff writer, Football Italia
Pedro Canelo Journalist at El Comercio in Peru
Felipe Cárdenas Football writer at the Athletic, covering MLS as well as football in Mexico and Conmebol
Juan Carlos Pasman Argentinian journalist who presents his own shows on DirecTV Sports and Radio La Red
Antonio Casale Sports journalist with more than 25 years of experience who is the sports director at RCN Radio who also works for ESPN and the El Espectador newspaper
Carolina Castellanos Sports journalist at RCN Radio and La Titular, reporting and commentating on multiple sports
Hernán Castillo The sports editor of Continental Radio and producer of the films Muchachos and Cierren los ojos
Ivaylo Chilev Football journalist and Champions League broadcast producer at bTV Media Group in Bulgaria
Rodolfo Chisleanschi Sports journalist for La Nación (Argentina)
Marcus Christenson Football special projects editor, the Guardian
Solace Chukwu Editor at Afrik-Foot NG
Santiago Cordera Head of strategy and projects at Tikitaka
Alfredo Coronis Journalist at Hot 94.1 FM/Conexión Goleadora
Haresh Deol Editor and co-founder of TwentyTwo13 in Malaysia
Tran Duc Truong Sports journalist, ZingNews, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
John Duerden Asian football correspondent for the Guardian
Amine El Amri Chief editor for Le 360 Sports
Adam Elder US magazine editor and freelance writer
Kasper Elissaar Estonian football journalist and commentator, board member of Soccernet.ee
Jeroen Elshoff Football commentator NOS Dutch national television
Luke Entwistle Nice-based French football writer, editor-in-chief at Get French Football News
Rodrigo Errasti Founder of Imagosport Comunication and former sports chief editor of the Agencia Colpisa-Vocento in Spain
Jaime F. Macias Football analyst for MLS Apple TV and Telemundo/NBC Universal
Amr Fahmy Journalist working for beIN Sports in Egypt
Christian Falk Head of football at Sport-Bild in Germany
Ryan Fenix TV commentator, Philippines
Martín Fernandez Senior football writer at Globoesporte in Brazil
Ezequiel Fernández Moores Columnist at La Nación who has covered nine World Cups
Barak Fever ESPN football commentator
Oliver Fritsch Sports editor of Zeit Online
Alex Frosio Football editor at La Gazzetta dello Sport
Jonas Giaever Norwegian football journalist and co-founder of the football app fcQuiz
Barry Glendenning Football writer and Guardian Football Weekly regular
Fabián Godoy Argentinian/Spanish commentator and tactical analyst at Directv Sports, TNT Sports and CNN Radio. Argentina correspondent for Cadena Cope (Spain)
Andreas Hagenauer Football journalist at Der Standard
Arafat Hamrouni Sports reporter for Foot24 and Sports24 in Tunisia
Kevin Hatchard Commentator for Bundesliga world feed, Uefa and talkSPORT
Gustavo Hofman Football journalist and ESPN commentator in Brazil
David Hytner Chief football correspondent, the Guardian
Iacopo Iandiorio Deputy editor in chief of international football at La Gazzetta dello Sport
Sasa Ibrulj Bosnian football writer
Kristian Jack VP, Canadian Premier League. TV/ radio host, reporter, writer
Behnam Jafarzadeh Deputy editor at Varzesh3.com, Iran
Ott Järvela Head of sports at Estonian daily Postimees
Boris Jovanovic Editor in Chief Sportske.net
Raphaël Jucobin French football and rugby writer
Celestine Karoney Kenyan sports journalist
Jamie Kemble Valencia-based football journalist at National World publications
Ali Khaled Sports editor at Arab News
Ermal Kuka. Sports journalist at Panorama Sport in Albania
Samindra Kunti Freelance football journalist
Steven Lavon Writer and communication manager of Togo FA
Sergio Levinsky Journalist working for Infobae and Jornada in Argentina as well as Kicker in Germany
Gianluca Lia Sports journalist at Times of Malta
Fabio Licari Head of international department at Gazzetta delo Sport
Jonathan Liew Sports writer, the Guardian
Mansour Loum Editor-in-chief at Sport News Africa
Sid Lowe Spanish football correspondent for the Guardian
Alexandre Lozetti Commentator and writer for Globo
Olof Lundh Swedish football writer for Fotbollskanalen and Dagens Industri, pundit for TV4 and author
Ben Lyttleton Football author and consultant
Ben Mabley Japan-based television commentator
Robin-Duke Madlala Senior writer for Sportswire.co.za and BBC contributor
Luca Marchetti Editor in chief at Sky Sport Italia and transfer market team coordinator
Nebojsa Markovic Sports journalist at RT Balkan
Gergely Marosi Freelance sports journalist and football writer in Hungary, writing for Sport24
Everaldo Marques Brazilian football broadcaster
Pierre Maturana Director of french publication SoFoot.com and lifestyle media Dégaine by So Foot
Martin Mazur Argentinian football correspondent for La Gazzetta dello Sport, FourFourTwo and 11Freunde. Director of AIPS Sport Media Awards
Ugur Meleke Hurriyet columnist and BeinSports pundit
Maher Mezahi Journalist mostly covering sport in (North) Africa
Colin Millar Football writer/journalist at the Athletic
Filip Mishov Freelance sports journalist and football writer from Macedonia
Marcela Mora y Araujo Argentinian football writer
Matteo Moretto Relevo journalist
Tomasz Mortimer Hungarian football writer
Dmitriy Mostovoy Commentator at Setanta Sports in Kazakhstan
Vinicius Moura Sports broadcaster for Espn Brazil
Rasim Movsumzadeh Has written for Kicker and the European Football Yearbook and has been Azerbaijan’s juror on the Ballon d’Or since 2000
Hassanin Mubarak Football writer and author of Far from War and Politics: the story of Iraq’s 2007 Asian Cup victory
Daniel Mundim International football journalist at TV Globo
Ricardo Murguía Champions League commentator for TNT Sports México
Ewan Murray Scottish football correspondent, the Guardian
Hirofumi Nakano Journalist and radio show host in Japan
Sachin Nakrani Deputy football editor, the Guardian
Hernan O’Donnell Journalist working for Universo Deportivo who has previously written for El Gráfico and La Nación
Antonis Oikonomidis Greek freelance football writer
Oluwashina Okeleji Reporter for BBC Sport, World Soccer and Al Jazeera online
Collins Okinyo African football journalist and managing editor of soka25east.com
Rafael Oliveira Football journalist and Amazon Prime Video commentator in Brazil
Joseph Owino Founder, Kawowo Sports
Juan Pablo Romero Sports journalist at El País in Uruguay
Álex Pareja Sports journalist at ESPN
Artur Petrosyan Football journalist based in Paris
Kieran Quaile Writer at Get Spanish Football News
Thiago Rabelo Brazilian journalist and Guardian contributor
Derek Rae ESPN commentator Bundesliga & La Liga and the Fifa 22 video game
Marion Reimers Journalist and broadcaster/commentator for TNT Sports. Founder and president of Versus
Roberto Rivera Sports commentator and producer with his own company, Gol Dreams Films. Also presenter of a show on WAO (radio) and Gol Magazine (TV) in Panama
Tom Robinson Senior content producer at Hudl and South American football writer, podcaster and scout.
Roberto Rojas Associate Editor at ESPN FC
Fabrizio Romano Sky Sport Italy journalist and Guardian contributor
Barney Ronay Chief sports writer, the Guardian
Emanuel Rosu Editor at Digi Sport in Romania
Stephan Roth Reporter at Swiss daily Blick
Guillermo Rubio “Gumi” Freelance sports journalist working for, among others, Fox Sports Argentina and Onda Cero in Spain
Jeff Rueter Football writer for the Athletic
Max Rushden Guardian Football Weekly host
Mina Rzouki Writer, presenter & football pundit contributing to BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sportsworld, Sky Sports, CNN, ESPN & TRT World
Marwan Saeed Manager of KingFut.com
Emre Sarigul Editor and founder of turkish-football.com
Josué Seixas Brazilian football journalist who contributes for the Guardian, Daily Mail and Folha de S. Paulo
Metodi Shumanov Bulgarian football writer
Vidir Sigurdsson Sports editor of Morgunbladid and mbl.is and author of the Icelandic Football Yearbook
Nacho Silván Co-founder of Imagosport and professional football analyst
Miguel Simón International football expert at ESPN Latín America
Matt Spiro French football writer/broadcaster
Manos Staramopoulos Chief editor of Discoveryfootball.com, Demokratia and Foxssportstories and contributor to SportPress24.com and Overfm 104,9
Mojmir Stasko Football writer for Dennik Sport in Slovakia
Jacob Steinberg Football writer, Guardian
Nikos Stratis Sports writer/international football analyst/TV presenter/Radio producer at Kingsport.gr
Aet Süvari Estonian football reporter
Agris Suveizda Reporter for Sportacentrs.com in Latvia
Jonathan Tannenwald Football journalist at Philadelphia Inquirer
Paolo Tomaselli Football reporter for Corriere Della Sera (since 2002), based in Milan and following the Champions League as well as the national team and Inter
Mihovil Topic Chief football writer at Telesport in Croatia
Nuno Travassos Executive editor at A Bola
Darren Tulett Presenter at beIN Sports in France
Will Unwin Football writer, the Guardian
Felipe Valderrama Writer, content creator, researcher and football historian
Petter Veland Norwegian TV commentator and La Liga expert for Viasat
Manuel Veth North America area manager at Transfermarkt and founder of the Gegenpressing Podcast and Newsletter
Raúl Vilchis Mexican sports journalist based in New York
Paulo Vinicius Coelho Football writer and Fox commentator in Brazil
Ari Virtanen Sports journalist at Helsingin Sanomat in Finland
Bart Vlietstra Dutch football journalist working for de Volkskrant and SANTOS magazine
Lukas Vrablik Slovakian football expert
Alejandro Wall Argentinian football writer working for Tiempo Argentino, Radio Con Vos and Fox Sports
Ola Wenström Freelance football journalist and producer
Dan Wighton Covers Bundesliga and other German sports for AFP
Greg Wilcox Freelance sports journalist and football writer
Tomasz Wlodarczyk Football journalist, Meczyki.pl
Carl Worswick Football writer based in Colombia
Michael Yokhin European football writer
Bi Yuan Chinese football journalist at Titan Sports, Beijing
Victor Zaferson Mendoza Football scout & analyst based in Peru
Miran Zore Chief editor of Nogomania in Slovenia
The No 1 choice of each judge was awarded 40 points, No 2 given 39pts, down to 1pt for their No 40 choice. All the votes were added together to give a raw score. To minimise the influence of outliers in the list, the highest score awarded to a player was then deducted to give a final score.
If players are level on points in the scoring, the number of individual votes cast is used as a tie-breaker. If they are still level the decider will be the highest individual vote. The voting breakdown will be published when the full list has been revealed.
We are very grateful to our judges for taking part, and none have been paid for participating in this project.
To allow our judges the freedom to express their opinions without fear or favour, individual voting records will be anonymised in the full breakdown of scores.
Voters are identified only by their category and a number chosen at random. The judges’ numbers bear no relation to the alphabetical list of judges’ names presented above.