This story’s a bit old, but considering we’re getting close to the Golden Ball award and the fact there’s a variety of similar rankings popping up every day (see the ‘Association of Football Statisticians’ Top 100 Ever Fooballers article), it’s worth the mention now.
One of UK’s top soccer magazines (our should I say, football magazines), the always popular FourFourTwo, has published last month its October 2007 issue which features a list of the Top 100 Football (Soccer) Players currently in activity. As all lists of this kind, it is highly subjective and it will probably be impossible to find a single person that agrees with it 100%, but it is nonetheless fun to comment on it.
The list uses last season’s performances as a yardstick for the top players in general, but as they say “form is temporary, while class is permanent” therefore players who may have flopped or underperformed in recent seasons are still included because of previous seasons.
Here is the full list, along with statistics by club, league, nation, and continent (thanks to supersewelly of the BigSoccer forums for that). The Serie A players are marked in bold. Also, for discussions and rants about the validity, accuracy, and Euro-bias of the list (as well as any missing players), you can refer to the BigSoccer forum thread.
As for myself, I will only say this: based on last season’s performance, I completely agree with the top 5 (with the exception of Ronaldinho, who didn’t have one of his best seasons IMHO), while the top 2 (Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká) are without a doubt the prime candidates for the Golden Ball award this year. The order of the remaining 95 doesn’t really matter
.
| 100. | Shunsuke Nakamura | (Celtic) |
| Alexandre Pato | (AC Milan) | |
| Maicon | (Inter Milan) | |
| Jamie Carragher | (Liverpool) | |
| Sergio Agüero | (Atletico Madrid) | |
| Nery Castillo | (Shakhtar Donetsk) | |
| Javier Mascherano | (Liverpool) | |
| Adrian Mutu | (Fiorentina) | |
| Kim Kallström | (Lyon) | |
| Filippo Inzaghi | (AC Milan) | |
| Javier Zanetti | (Inter Milan) | |
| Eduardo Da Silva | (Arsenal) | |
| Fabio Quagliarella | (Udinese) | |
| Diego Milito | (Real Zaragoza) | |
| Gabriel Milito | (Barcelona) | |
| Gary Neville | (Manchester United) | |
| Juninho Pernambucano | (Lyon) | |
| Rafael van der Vaart | (Hamburg) | |
| Robin Van Persie | (Arsenal) | |
| Samir Nasri | (Marseille) | |
| Ricardo Quaresma | (Porto) | |
| Carlos Puyol | (Barcelona) | |
| Nemanja Vidic | (Manchester United) | |
| Maxi Rodríguez | (Atletico Madrid) | |
| Philipp Lahm | (Bayern Munich) | |
| Gianluca Zambrotta | (Barcelona) | |
| Torsten Frings | (Werder Bremen) | |
| Pavel Nedved | (Juventus) | |
| Frédéric Kanouté | (Sevilla) | |
| Kolo Touré | (Arsenal) | |
| Vicente | (Valencia) | |
| Diego Forlán | (Atletico Madrid) | |
| Michael Owen | (Newcastle United) | |
| William Gallas | (Arsenal) | |
| Zé Roberto | (Bayern Munich) | |
| Frank Ribéry | (Bayern Munich) | |
| Andriy Shevchenko | (Chelsea) | |
| Patrick Vieira | (Inter Milan) | |
| Diego | (Werder Bremen) | |
| Simão Sabrosa | (Atletico Madrid) | |
| Arjen Robben | (Chelsea) | |
| Robinho | (Real Madrid) | |
| Joe Cole | (Chelsea) | |
| Miroslav Klose | (Bayern Munich) | |
| Sergio Ramos | (Real Madrid) | |
| Luca Toni | (Bayern Munich) | |
| Alex | (Chelsea) | |
| Hernán Crespo | (Inter Milan) | |
| Owen Hargreaves | (Manchester United) | |
| Wesley Sneijder | (Real Madrid) | |
| Ronaldo | (AC Milan) | |
| David Silva | (Valencia) | |
| Andrés Iniesta | (Barcelona) | |
| Dejan Stankovic | (Inter Milan) | |
| Clarence Seedorf | (AC Milan) | |
| Florent Malouda | (Chelsea) | |
| Carlos Tévez | (Manchester United) | |
| David Beckham | (Los Angeles Galaxy) | |
| Daniele De Rossi | (AS Roma) | |
| Michael Ballack | (Chelsea) | |
| Lucio | (Bayern Munich) | |
| David Suazo | (Inter Milan) | |
| Dimitar Berbatov | (Tottenham Hotspur) | |
| David Albelda | (Valencia) | |
| Alessandro Nesta | (AC Milan) | |
| Ricardo Carvalho | (Chelsea) | |
| Fernando Torres | (Liverpool) | |
| Cesc Fàbregas | (Arsenal) | |
| Xavi | (Barcelona) | |
| Juan Román Riquelme | (Villareal) | |
| Iker Casillas | (Real Madrid) | |
| Ryan Giggs | (Manchester United) | |
| Paolo Maldini | (AC Milan) | |
| Ashley Cole | (Chelsea) | |
| Gennaro Gattuso | (AC Milan) | |
| Frank Lampard | (Chelsea) | |
| Rio Ferdinand | (Manchester United) | |
| Deco | (Barcelona) | |
| John Terry | (Chelsea) | |
| Zlatan Ibrahimović | (Inter Milan) | |
| Michael Essien | (Chelsea) | |
| David Villa | (David Villa) | |
| Francesco Totti | (Roma) | |
| Paul Scholes | (Manchester United) | |
| Roberto Ayala | (Real Zaragoza) | |
| Ruud van Nistelrooy | (Real | |
| Andrea Pirlo | (AC Milan) | |
| Didier Drogba | (Chelsea) | |
| Daniel Alves | (Sevilla) | |
| Petr Cech | (Chelsea) | |
| Fabio Cannavaro | (Real Madrid) | |
| Gianluigi Buffon | (Juventus) | |
| Wayne Rooney | (Manchester United) | |
| Samuel Eto’o | (Barcelona) | |
| Steven Gerrard | (Liverpool) | |
| Lionel Messi | (Barcelona) | |
| Thierry Henry | (Barcelona) | |
| Ronaldinho | (Barcelona) | |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | (Manchester United) | |
| Kaká | (AC Milan) |
.
.
| Clubs | Nations | |
| Chelsea – 13 | England - 13 | |
| Barcelona – 10 | Brazil - 12 | |
| Manchester United – 9 | Italy - 12 | |
| AC Milan – 9 | Spain - 11 | |
| Inter Milan – 7 | Argentina - 11 | |
| Real Madrid – 6 | France - 6 | |
| Bayern Munich – 5 | Holland - 6 | |
| Arsenal – 5 | Portugal - 5 | |
| Liverpool – 4 | Germany - 4 | |
| Atletico Madrid – 4 | Serbia - 2 | |
| Valencia – 4 | Czech Republic - 2 | |
| Juventus – 3 | Sweden - 2 | |
| Lyon – 2 | Ivory Coast - 2 | |
| Roma – 2 | Mexico - 1 | |
| Real Zaragoza – 2 | Japan - 1 | |
| Werder Bremen – 2 | Romania - 1 | |
| Sevilla – 2 | Croatia - 1 | |
| Fiorentina – 1 | Mali - 1 | |
| Celtic – 1 | Uruguay - 1 | |
| Newcastle United – 1 | Ukraine - 1 | |
| Shaktar Donetzk – 1 | Honduras - 1 | |
| Udinese – 1 | Bulgaria - 1 | |
| Hamburg – 1 | Wales - 1 | |
| Villareal – 1 | Ghana - 1 | |
| Spurs – 1 | Cameroon - 1 | |
| Marseille – 1 | ||
| Porto – 1 | Continents | |
| L.A. Galaxy – 1 | Europe - 68 | |
| South America - 24 | ||
| Leagues | Africa - 5 | |
| EPL – 33 | North America - 2 | |
| La Liga – 29 | Asia - 1 | |
| Serie A – 23 | ||
| Bundesliga – 8 | ||
| Ligue 1 – 3 | ||
| Superliga – 1 | ||
| UKP – 1 | ||
| MLS – 1 | ||
| SPL – 1 |
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Posted in World News |
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Robinho 59?? I don’t think so!
Currently Robinho is the best player on the Brazilian National Team. A team that has Ronaldinho Gaucho and Kaka’. How can Robinho be 59???
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Ronaldo is without a doubt th best player inthe world.Who is kaka than him?
There is no F***ing way that Beckham is 43rd. More like 430th.
robinho sould be well ahead of beckham and wanye rooney
vampersie 82 he should be way ahead of beckham and berbatov
i agree on beckham butt not on rooney p.s. im a arsenal fan
you are right 100 prasent
kaka is the best player..he is key 4 milan n brasil squad….but what c.ronaldo can do 4 portugal?????nothing he can do…rught???
you right….bcoz fabregas better than rooney…rooney is undribble player…n play just like shit…….
kaka everything better than c.ronaldo….either 4 brasil or milan…what ronaldo can do during semi final match at san siro?????but kaka ????i think kaka the player althought im inter n ars fans….
Ronaldinho should be the best 2. C.Ronaldo 3.Kaka
Luca Toni is the best, most dominating, player on the planet. No doubt in my mind.
Theres no way that steven gerrad 6. he could own c. ronadlo
eto’o fricken rockz he would like kick the crap out of messi
ENGLAND OWNS
NETHERLANDS OWNS
SPAIN OWNS
DROGBA CANT BE 13 HE SUCKS DECO AND ROBINHO AND ESSIEN
ARE WAY BETTER OH YA SO IS DAVID HEALY
ronaldino could own kaka and c ronaldoin one on one.
ronaldinho is the best in the world.
beckham shouldnt be 43rd. the only good thing bout beckham is his free kick. its proubably the best.
no way that eto’o could beat messi.
messi is way better.
There is no Del Piero, he led the Serie A in scoring with 21 goals at the age of 33. This list is absolutly ridiculus, thierri henry has done nothing in the last year and shouldn’t even be in the top 15 same with ronaldinho. Steven gerrard and wayne rooney are way to high and what is gattuso doing at number 26 that is crazy, how could a soli defensive player with little skill at all be in the top 50 let alone 26, I love the guy and milan is my favorite team but COME ON. The biggest problem is Luca Toni he won the golden boot in 06 and led the german league with over 30 goals, he is without a doubt the best target forward in the world now and is in great form at an old age.
Great blog. I see potential here.
Dirceu, no doubt that Robinho is the Best player on the Brazilian team.. He got his skills playing for Santos FC ………..
gerrard and torres are very good and they are the best and i am the popular
1 GERRARD 2 RONALDO 3 MESSI 4 KAKA 5 ROBINHO 6 TORRES 7 PIRLO
8 THE WORST ITALY 9 NASRI 10 
BUFFON
the new realistic man city team buffon
richards carvallho lucio evra
j cole fabregas essien messi
kaka robinho
Torres 34 wat the heck but ronaldo and kaka r in the rite place
and pato is 99 his 50 somethin
So apparently Barcelona has 3 of the top 5, 5 of the top 7, and 10 of the top 100 players in the world. So they haven’t lost or drawn a single game this year.. right? OBV this is wrong.
Where is Daniel Guiza?
wers benzema???
ok this list is way off. lets start from the top field players:
.F. Malouda(FRA)
.M. Owen(ENG)
.M. Materazzi(ITA)
.L. Podolski(GER)
.D. Beckham(ENG)
.K. Benzema(FRA)
.R. Giggs(WHA)
.P. Scholes(ENG)
.M. Klose(GER)
.F. Cannavaro(ITA)
.D. Alves(BRA)
.A. Pato(BRA)
.M. Ballack(GER)
.G. Zambrottta(ITA)
.A. Pirlo(ITA)
.C. Tevez(ARG)
.D. Villa(ESP)
.Ronaldinho Gaucho(BRA)
.F. Lampard(ENG)
.R. Kaka(BRA)
.D. Drogba(IVO)
.S. Gerrard(ENG)
.F. Totti(ITA)
.A. Del Piero(ITA)
.S. Eto’o(CAM)
.J. Terry(ENG)
.F. Torres(ESP)
.J. Riquelme(ARG)
.T. Henry(FRA)
.C. Puyol(ESP)
.W. Rooney(ENG)
.Z. Ibrahimovic(SWE)
.Xavi Hernandez(ESP)
.C. Ronaldo(POR)
.L. Messi(ARG)
THE TOP 5 IS BULLS*IT
THIS SHOULD BE THE TOP 5
1.C.RONALDO
2.KAKA
3.MESSI
4.RONALDINHO
5.ROONEY
AND HOW IS SCHOLES 17 I’M A MAN U FAN BUT NO WAY IS HE 17 THERE ARE LOADS OF WORLD CLASS PLAYERS BEHIND HIM SUCH AS
DAVID VILLA,FRANCESCO TOTTI,FRANK LAMPARD,RIO FERDINAND,ZLATEN IBRAHIMOVIC AND JOHN TERRY
1. kaká
2. messi
3. thierry henry
4. zlatan
5. gerrard
6. buffon
7. rooney
8. nistelrooy
9. deco
10. drogba
assholes
why u think fabregas is not good enough to be top 5?
1.Kaka
2.Thierry Henry
3.C.Ronaldo
4.Fabregas
5.Messi
6.Eto’o
7.Ronaldinho
8.Puyol
9.Robinho
10.D.Villa
1. C. Ronaldo
2.Kaka
3.Sergio Ramos
4.Cesc Fabregas
5.Tierry Henry
6.Messi
7.Zlatan Ibrahimović
8. Frank Lampard
9. Pepe
10.Robinho
THERES NO WAY, GIGGS,VIERA,SCHOLES,OR BECKHAM SHOULD BE IN THE TOP 100! Fabregas should be way…..more up! Top 10! Casillas is also, maybe not but I think better than buffon.
Every one is keeping quite about Torres he is the best in the universe
If anyone thinks Fernando Torres is 33 places off of top spot then they have absolutely no idea what football is. Did EA create this list or something?
ok Obviously none of you have seen Messi play he is the best!!
And this should be the top 10
1.Lionel Messi
2.Kaka
3.Christiano Ronoldo
4.Frank Ribbery
5.Ronoldiniho
6.David villa
7.Wayne Rooney
8.John Terry
9.Cesc Fabregas
10.Carlos Puyol
1.messi
2.ronaldo
3.henry
4.kaka
5.torres
6.ibrahimovic
7.robinho
8david villa
9.eto’o
10.xavi
1.Ronaldo
2.Messi
3.Ronaldiho
4.Torres
5.Ibrhamovich
6.Henry
7.David villa
8.Drogba
9.Moulda
10.xavi
1.c.ronaldo
2.ronadihno
3.drogba
4.lampard
5.kaka
6.robinho
7.eto’o
8.henry
9.xavi
10.messi
1. C.Ronaldo
2. Ronaldinho
3. L.Messi
4. Eto
5. Drogba
6. W. Rooney
7. Kaka
8. Henry
9. Torres
10. Lampard
That is easliy closer
EXCUSE ME?!!
KAka and Christiano like Ronaldinho’s socks in football
i dont think four four two has ever watched Ronaldinho play!!!!!!
HES the BEst!!!
and WHERES MARADONA,PELE,Romario,VAn BASTEN,Platini,Socrates,
rivaldo,ronaldo luis!!!
U should be careful mister!
Top 10
1-Ronaldinho
2-Maradona
3-Pele
4-Platini
5-Zidane
6-Ronaldo luis
7-Rivaldo
8-Romario
9-Messi
10-C.Ronaldo
Why is not Nani listed here??