We teamed up with The Offside Rule Podcast and asked 72 experts, including Joe Montemurro, Kelly Smith and Kathryn Markgraf, for their verdicts

Guardian to reveal the 100 best female footballers in the world in 2018

Guardian to reveal the 100 best female footballers in the world in 2018

The Guardian is pleased to introduce its inaugural list of the best 100 female footballers in the world. In association with The Offside Rule Podcast we have assembled a panel of 72 judges from around the world to rate the players who have stood out in 2018.

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The panel includes experts such as the former Arsenal and England forward Kelly Smith, former USA internationals Tiffeny Milbrett and Kathryn Markgraf as well as leading managers such as Mark Parsons (Portland Thorns), Olivier Echouafni (Paris Saint Germain), Joe Montemurro (Arsenal) and Laura Harvey (Utah Royals).

The Offside Rule has produced the list since 2016, but this is the first published in association with the Guardian.

The countdown begins on Tuesday 4 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.

Our 72 judges are drawn from around the world as follows: 34 from Europe, 14 from North and Central America, 11 from Asia, seven from South America, 11 from Asia, six from Africa.

The Top 100 rules are explained beneath the list of judges.

Players

Kelly Smith Former Arsenal and England international with over 100 caps; remains the top scorer for her country

Tiffeny Milbrett Former USA international with 206 caps and 100 goals; won two Olympic gold medals and the 1999 World Cup

Kathryn Markgraf Former USA international with 201 caps; won two Olympic gold medals and the 1999 World Cup

Annike Krahn Former Germany international with 137 caps; won two European Championships and the 2007 World Cup

Renee Slegers Former Netherlands with 55 caps

Sarah Gregorius New Zealand international with 69 caps; won the FA WSL with Liverpool in 2013

Melissa Ortiz Colombia international; represented her country at the 2012 Olympics

Kirsty Yallop Former New Zealand international with 90 caps

Jenny Ruiz Former Mexico international with 36 caps

Alison Forman Former Australia international with 77 caps; represented her country at the 1995 and 1999 World Cups

Lorena Soto Former Paraguay international

Jordan Angeli Former Boston Breakers, Washington Spirit and Western New York Flash player; current commentator and analyst for the NWSL

Khalida Popal Former Afghanistan international captain

Ana Cate Nicaragua international playing for Stjarnan in Iceland

Iona Rothfeld Former Chile international

Coaches

Stephan Lerch VfL Wolfsburg manager

Mark Parsons Portland Thorns manager

Olivier Echouafni PSG manager; former France head coach

Laura Harvey Utah Royals manager

Joe Montemurro Arsenal manager

Vlatko Andonovski Seattle Reign manager

Jose Luis Sanchez Atlético Madrid manager

Jayne Ludlow Wales national team head coach

Jonas Eidevall FC Rosengård manager

Martin Sjögren Norway national team head coach

Thomas Worle FC Bayern Munich manager

Nils Nielsen Switzerland national team head coach

Carolina Morace Milan manager

Lars Sondegaard Denmark national team head coach

Marc Skinner Birmingham City manager

Colin Bell Republic of Ireland national team head coach

Thomas Dennerby Nigeria national team head coach

Jeff Hopkins Melbourne Victory manager

Amelia Valverde Costa Rica national team head coach

Farid Benstiti Dalian Quanjian manager

Anna Signeul Finland national team head coach

Daniel Kraus SGS Essen manager

Benno Nihom Ajax manager

Desiree Ellis South Africa national team head coach

Vanessa Arauz Ecuador national team head coach

Carrie Kveton Fortuna Hjorring manager

Matt Ross Vittsjö GIK manager

Belinda Wilson Guam national team head coach

Journalists and broadcasters

Romain Balland Journalist and presenter, Eurosport in France

Suz anne Wrack Women’s football writer, the Guardian in England

Syanie Dalmat Football writer, L’Equipe in France

Jennifer Gordon Women’s football writer, Equalizer Soccer in the USA

Kieran Theivam Freelance women’s football writer in England

Jasmina Schweimler Women’s football writer, WAZ in Germany

Jen Cooper Presenter of the Keeper Notes women’s football podcast in the USA

Rich Laverty Freelance women’s football writer in England

Angela Bacic Content Creator, The Women’s Game in Australia

David Menayo Football writer, Marca in Spain

Carolina Garcia Creator of the first Women & Sport congress in Latin America

Mariana Cabral Football writer, Expresso in Portugal

Cintia Barlem Football writer, Globo Esporte in Brazil

Harjeet Johal Women’s football writer, Equalizer Soccer in Canada

Seraina Degen Football writer, SRF Sport in Switzerland

Sarah Groube Freelance women’s football writer in Australia

Pamela Del Olmo Freelance women’s football writer in Mexico

Annemarie Postma Women’s football writer and author in the Netherlands

Julia Wanjeri Women’s football writer; creator of JWSports in Africa

Sandra Prusina Women’s football writer, Sportsnet in Canada

Cheryl Downes Editor-in-Chief, The Women’s Game in Australia

Sophie Lawson Freelance women’s football writer in England, VAVEL editor

Javiera Court Arrau Women’s football writer in Chile

Jana Lange Women’s football writer, SID Sport News in Germany

Rainer Fussganger Freelance women’s football writer in Sweden

Akosua Amoo Football presenter and reporter in Ghana

Sven Beyrich Freelance women’s football writer in Germany, specialising in Thai football

Rachel Ugiagbe Writer and editor, Ultima Sportsnet in Nigeria

Gracey Chirumanzu Editor, The Sports Queen

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 female footballers in the world in 2018?

We asked our judges to choose 40 names each, and rank their selections in order from 1-40, No 1 being their choice of the best female player in the world this year.

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How the voting works

The No 1 choice of each judge was awarded 40 points, No 2 given 39 points, down to 1 point for their 40th choice. All the votes were added together to give the final score.

If players are level on points in the scoring, the number of individual votes is used as a tie-breaker. In the event individual votes were also level, the individual’s highest vote received is used as the next 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 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 a number chosen at random. The judges’ number bear no relation whatsoever to the ordered list of judges’ names presented above.