Mario Kempes, Zico and Nuno Gomes were part of a 225-strong voting panel as we compiled our list of the best male footballers on the planet

For our seventh male top 100 list we have assembled a voting panel of 225 judges from 69 countries, led by legendary players such as Zico, Mario Kempes and Nuno Gomes.

They are backed up by a global selection of coaches, broadcasters, reporters, correspondents and editors, as well as other former players such as Javier Zanetti, Tugay Kerimoglu and Eyal Berkovic.

The 100 best female footballers in the world 2018 Read more

The 34 current and former professionals have won a combined total of 1,909 international caps.

Our 225 judges are drawn from around the world as follows: Africa 19, Asia 20, Europe 140, North and Central America 11, South America 35.

The countdown begins on Tuesday 18 December with Nos 100-71. On Wednesday we will reveal Nos 70-41, on Thursday Nos 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.

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Players

Márcio Amoroso Former Brazil international with 19 caps

Patrik Andersson Former Sweden international who won 96 caps and played at the 1994 and 2002 World Cups

Roman Berezovsky Former Armenia international who won 94 caps between 1996 and 2016

Eyal Berkovic Former Israel international with 78 caps

Rune Bratseth Former Norway international with 60 caps who captained his country at the 1994 World Cup

Júlio César Former Brazil international who won 87 caps and played at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups

Gilles De Bilde Former Belgium international with 25 caps

Erik Edman Former Sweden international with 57 caps who played at the 2006 World Cup

Jan Åge Fjørtoft Former Norway international with 71 caps who played at the 1994 World Cup

Quinton Fortune Former South Africa international with 46 caps

Stelios Giannakopoulos Former Greece international with 77 caps who was part of the team that won Euro 2004

Nuno Gomes Former Portugal international with 79 caps who played at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups

Senol Günes Former Turkey international who led the country to third at the 2002 World Cup as a manager

Nihat Kahveci Former Turkey international with 79 caps who was part of the team that finished third in 2002

Mario Kempes Former Argentina international who played at three World Cups, winning the tournament in 1978

Tugay Kerimoglu Former Turkey international with 94 caps who was part of the team that finished third in 2002

Sergey Kiryakov Former Russian international who won 38 caps for USSR, CIS and Russia and played at the 1992 and 1996 European Championships

Emily Lima Former Portugal international with 12 caps. Now Santos Women coach

Lubomir Moravcik Former Czechoslovakia international with 80 caps for Czechoslovakia and Slovakia who played at the 1990 World Cup

Youri Mulder Former Netherlands international with nine caps

Szilard Nemeth Former Slovakia international with 58 caps

Armen Petikyan Former Armenia international with five caps

Lutz Pfannenstiel Former goalkeeper and the first player to have played professionally in all six Fifa confederations

Mart Poom Former Estonia international with 120 caps

Brent Sancho Former Trinidad and Tobago international with 43 caps who played at the 2006 World Cup and is a former Minister of Sports of Trinidad and Tobago

Mark Schwarzer Former Australia international with 109 caps who played at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups

Aleksey Smertin Former Russia international with 55 caps who played at the 2002 World Cup

Kazuyuki Toda Former Japan international who played for Tottenham Hotspur during the 2002-03 season

Julio César Uribe Former Peru international with 39 caps

Stanislav Varga Former Slovakia international with 54 caps

Frédéric Waseige Won the Belgian Cup and League Cup with FC Liège and is now a TV pundit

Jonny Williams Crystal Palace midfielder with 17 caps for Wales

Javier Zanetti Former Argentina international who played at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups

Zico Former Brazil international with 71 caps who played at the 1978, 1982 and 1986 World Cups

Coaches and technical staff

Steve Darby Laos General Manager, Asian football consultant

Mattar M’boge Assistant manager of Gambia

Alisher Nikimbaev Technical expert, competitions and players affairs, Qatar Football Association

Journalists

Ed Aarons Deputy news editor, the Guardian

Ahmed Adala Journalist at Radio IFM Tunisie and Coaching Foot in Tunisia

Aanu Adeoye Journalist working for CNN Africa bureau in Lagos, Nigeria

Omar Al Raisi Founder of Dantani, Inc. and Editor-in-Chief of The Sports Journal in the UAE

Tobias Altschäffl Chief footballer reporter at Sport-Bild in Germany

Nick Ames Football writer, the Guardian

David Amoyal Writer for the Athletic and host of the Calcioland podcast

Juan Arango TV commentator/Contributor Aficion Central (Ecuador), Sportsmax (Caribbean) and Al-Jazeera

Philippe Auclair Senior writer, France Football

Gregg Bakowski Football writer, the Guardian

Paolo Bandini Italian football correspondent, the Guardian

Marcelo Barreto Sports journalist and Presenter at Sportv in Brazil

John Bennett Broadcaster, BBC World Service & BBC 5 Live

Mina Finstad Berg Pundit and football expert at TV 2 in Norway

William Bi Football writer based in China

Christoph Biermann Football writer for 11Freunde in Germany

Andreas Böni Head of football at Blick in Switzerland

Anne-Laure Bonnet Journalist and presenter beIN Sports

Mareike Boysen Reporter at Ballesterer magazine in Austria

Andy Brassell European football writer/broadcaster

Costas Bratsos Football writer at Sport24.gr in Greece

Rodrigo Bueno Football journalist and FOX commentator in Brazil

Gevorg Burnuchyan Editor-in-chief of football365.am in Armenia

Mariana Cabral Football writer for Expresso and Sporting U-19 women’s team coach

Pedro Canelo Journalist at El Comercio in Peru

Lédio Carmona Football journalist and SporTV commentator in Brazil

Antonio Casale Host of En La Jugada at RCN Radio and presents a TV show on Winsports in Colombia

Khachik Chakhoyan Uefa Media representer in Armenia

Martin Charquero Uruguayan football journalist on Tenfield, Teledoce and Radio Sport890

Ivaylo Chilev Football journalist and Champions League broadcast producer at bTV Media Group in Bulgaria

Marcus Christenson Football editor, the Guardian

Solace Chukwu Football Writer for the Africa Desk of goal.com

Paulo Vinicius Coelho Football writer and Fox commentator in Brazil

Junior Coimbra CEO of Jogo das Estrelas, Host of Rap77 Podcast and Ambassador of the Adventure of Humanity Project in Brazil

James Corbett Sports writer and principal of deCoubertin Books

Joe Crann Soccer Laduma journalist in South Africa. Part-time TV and Radio analyst

James Dart Sports editor, theguardian.com

Kirill Dementyev Channel One commentator in Russia

Salif Diallo Journalist at Agence de Presse Sénégelaise

Paul Doyle Football writer, the Guardian

John Duerden Asian Football Correspondent for the Guardian

Vincent Duluc Senior reporter at L’Equipe

Magnús Már Einarsson Editor of fotbolti.net in Iceland

Claudia Ekai Kwese Sports Correspondent in Kenya

Mohamed Amine Elamri Sports journalist at Le Matin in Morocco

Kasper Elissaar Editor-in-chief at Soccernet in Estonia

Muhannad El Shennawy Online journalist at Sky News Arabia in the UAE

Rodrigo Errasti Sports editor in chief of the Agencia Colpisa-Vocento in Spain

Alejandro Etcheverry Journalist working for Espn Deportes Radio in Egypt

Amr Fahmy Journalist working for beIN Sports in Egypt

Christian Falk Head of football at Sport-Bild in Germany

Eric Faria Football journalist at TV Globo in Brazil

Mohammed Fayad Editor of www.ahdaaf.me, based in Australia

Dominic Fifield Football writer, the Guardian

Ben Fisher Football writer, the Guardian

Solomon Fowowe Football journalist at the Guardian in Nigeria

Johanna Frändén European football correspondent for Swedish paper Aftonbladet

Jesús Garrido Spanish football journalist

Jonas Giaever Norwegian football journalist

Barry Glendenning Football writer and Guardian Football Weekly regular

Mélisande Gomez Football reporter at L’Equipe

Cristian Grosso Sports editor of La Nación in Argentina

Andreas Hagenauer Football journalist at Der Standard

Thomas Lund Hansen Football writer at Jyllands-Posten in Denmark

Pavel Hartman Czech football writer at Sport daily

Gudmundur Hilmarsson Sport journalist at Morgunbladid and mbl.is in Iceland

Johannes Hofer Presenter at Sky Sport Austria

Andy Hunter Football writer, the Guardian

David Hytner Football writer, the Guardian

Sasa Ibrulj Bosnian football writer

Wael Jabir Editor Ahdaaf.me, Dubai

Jamie Jackson Football writer, the Guardian

Behnam Jafarzadeh Deputy editor at Varzesh3.com, Iran

Paulius Jakelis Lithuania’s most well-known TV football commentator

Stuart James Football writer, the Guardian

Ott Järvela Football journalist and chairman of Estonian Sports Press Association

Nicholas John Snr Asst Vice President, Sports Production , Astro Sports, Malaysia

Kristján Jónsson Sport journalist for Morgunblaðið/mbl.is in Iceland

Boris Jovanovic Editor in Chief Sportske.net

Eduard Kalantaryan Head of Armenia TV sport

Ugur Karakullukcu A Sport pundit and Sabah journalist in Turkey

Celestine Karoney Kenyan sports journalist

Hideki Kasuya Japanese football journalist, commentator and broadcaster

Ali Khaled Editor of FourFourTwo Arabia

Shinya Kizaki Japanese journalist; video analyst for the Cambodia national team

Pavle Knezevic Reporter at Sportske.net

Freddhy Koula Football writer at TDA/Canal+Afrique

Charbel Krayem Presenter at the Golden Ball football show, commentator on MTV Lebanon and head of sport Al Akhbar newspaper

Ermal Kuka Sports journalist at vipsport.al in Albania

Cecilia Lagos European football columnist at La Tercera, contributor at The Tactical Room and cecilialagos.com

Steven Lavon Sports journalist and editor-in-chief of africatopsports.com in Lomé, Togo

Amy Lawrence Football writer, the Guardian

Sergio Levinsky Journalist working for Infobae and Jornada in Argentina as well as Kicker in Germany

Gianluca Lia Sports journalist at Times of Malta

Pablo Londinsky Uruguayan football journalist at Tenfield

Sid Lowe Spanish football correspondent for the Guardian

Olof Lundh Swedish football writer for Fotbollskanalen and Dagens Industri, pundit for TV4 and C More and author

Ben Lyttleton Football author and consultant

Ben Mabley Japan-based television commentator for J Sports, SkyPerfecTV, and DAZN

Jaime F. Macias Football analyst at BeIN Sports USA

Paul MacInnes Sports writer, the Guardian

Hatem Maher Senior Sports Editor at Ahram Online in Egypt

Carlos Eduardo Mansur Football writer for O Globo in Brazil

Luca Marchetti Chief Editor of Sky Sport Italia

Milos Markovic Football writer, Sportske.net

Gergely Marosi Freelance sports journalist and football writer in Hungary

Everaldo Marques Football journalist and ESPN broadcaster in Brazil

Tom Marshall Football writer based in Mexico

Ana Thaís Matos Brazilian journalist and SporTV commentator

Martin Mazur Argentinian football journalist for El Gráfico, FourFourTwo and La Gazzetta dello Sport

Ugur Meleke Football columnist at Hürriyet Daily. Also a pundit for CNN Turk and Radyospor

Renata Mendonça Journalist and UOL columnist in Brazil

Maher Mezahi Freelance journalist covering North African football

Janusz Michallik Former US international and ESPN football analyst

Nick Miller Football writer, the Guardian

Luo Ming Sports Editor, Titan Sports, China

Adriana Monsalve Broadcaster and journalist for Univision Deportes in Venezuela

Tomasz Mortimer Hungarian football writer

Elena Mpountou Football writer at sdna.gr

Hassanin Mubarak Football writer

Hirofumi Nakano Journalist and radio show host in Japan

Sachin Nakrani Football writer, the Guardian

Christian Nourry Editor-in-chief, Get French Football News

Vladimir Novak Freelance journalist and producer based in Belgrade, Serbia working for various international media such as World Soccer and World Soccer Digest

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 ESPN commentator in Brazil

Ichiro Ozawa Japanese football journalist, commentator, and broadcaster

Fernando Palomo ESPN commentator and the voice of FIFA 17 in Latin America

Juan Carlos Pasman Argentinian journalist who presents his own shows on DirecTV Sports and Radio La Red

Mauro Cezar Pereira Football journalist and ESPN commentator in Brazil

Artur Petrosyan Russian football journalist and uefa.com reporter

Thiago Rabelo Brazilian football journalist at Sagres 730 and Guardian contributor

Andrey Raychtock Sports reporter at Rede Globo in Brazil

Melissa Reddy Senior football correspondent at FootballJOE

Aysha Ridzuan Social Media Manager SEA at Dugout Limited, Singapore

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

Jorge Luiz Rodrigues Football journalist and SporTV Head of production in Brazil

José Armando Rodríguez Editor-in-chief, Deporte Total USA

Fabrizio Romano Sky Sport Italy journalist and Guardian contributor

Barney Ronay Senior sports writer, the Guardian

Gonzalo Ronchi Journalist at Radio Sport890

Emanuel Rosu Romanian football writer at Sport.ro

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 Presenter of the Guardian Football Weekly and The Warm-up Show on Talksport

Arlind Sadiku Sports journalist and commentator at Digitalb/Supersport Kosova

Marwan Saeed Operations manager of KingFut.com

José Luis Sánchez Journalist for La Sexta TV in Spain

Emre Sarigul Editor and founder of turkishfootball.com

Santiago Segurola Football writer for El País/AS

Hyungwook Seo MBC Football pundit, Footballist Editor

Cagdas Sevinc Journalist at Futbol Arena in Turkey

Metodi Shumanov Bulgarian football writer

Vidir Sigurdsson Sports editor of Morgunbladid and mbl.is and author of the Icelandic Football Yearbook

Mojmir Stasko Football writer for Dennik Sport in Slovakia

Jacob Steinberg Football writer, the Guardian

Vladimir Stognienko Russian football expert and VGTRK commentator

Julia Stuart TV presenter at SuperSport in South Africa

Saku-Pekka Sundelin Football journalist at Ilta-Sanomat

Aet Süvari Estonian football reporter

Agris Suveizda Reporter for Sportacentrs.com in Latvia

Sindri Sverrisson Sports journalist at Morgunbladid and mbl.is in Iceland

Nuno Travassos Portuguese football writer at Maisfutebol

Duc Truong Sports reporter, Zing.vn, Saigon, Vietnam

Mihalis Tsohos Gazzetta.gr director, commentator on Cosmote TV and host of a radio show on sport-fm.gr

Vaios Tsoutsikas Director at sport-fm.gr with his own daily show on the radio station

Darren Tulett Presenter at beIN Sports in France

Will Unwin Football writer, the Guardian

Patrick Urbini Football writer for France Football

Andres Vaher Football writer for Postimees in Estonia

Lari Vesander Journalist at Urheilulehti in Finland

Bart Vlietstra Dutch football journalist working for de Volkskrant and SANTOS magazine

Lukas Vrablik Slovakian freelance football writer

Ville Väänänen Finnish football reporter at Ilta-Sanomat

Ola Wenström TV presenter at Viasat in Sweden

Greg Wilcox Sports Editor Arab News

Tomasz Wlodarczyk Chief football writer, Przeglad Sportowy

Carl Worswick Football writer based in Colombia

Michael Yokhin European football writer

Ahmad Yousef Egyptian football journalist and editor at KingFut.com in London

Víctor Zaferson Football scout & consultant, Diario de un Scout magazine in Peru

Federico Zanon Italian football journalist working for Sky Sport and Eurosport

Tim Zinoviev Chief Editor of Football.by in Belarus

Volodymyr Zverov Ukrainian TV presenter with his own football show

How they made their choices

• Our judges were sent a longlist of more than 500 footballers drawn from leagues on every continent and asked one simple question: who have been the best male players in the world in 2018?

• We asked our judges to choose 40 names each, and rank their selection in order from 1-40, No1 being their choice of the best male player in the world this year.

How the voting works

• The No 1 choice of each judge was awarded 40pts, 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.



• A player needed to receive votes from at least five judges to qualify for the list.

• If players are level on points in the scoring, the number of individual votes cast is used as a tie-breaker.

• The individual voting breakdown will be published when the full list has been revealed.

Voting disclosure

• 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 whatsoever to the alphabetical list of judges’ names presented above.

• This article was amended on 18 December 2018. An earlier version gave the incorrect role of sports reporter Duc Truong and misnamed the news organisation. Both of these errors have been corrected