100 Top Soccer Players 2018: The FULL Ranking

100 Top Soccer Players 2018: The FULL Ranking

With the best FIFA football awards just concluded, and with the winner announced, GoalBall set out to rank the 100 top soccer players for 2018 – both those who made it to the shortlist and those you’ll see on fields playing for their various clubs and country.

It was, intrinsically, a near-impossible mission creating this list of 100 top soccer players. There are no objective metrics for cross-position comparisons. There is no legally binding way to adjust for strength of competition or teammates.

SEE ALSO: 50 Top Football Players 2018: Messi's Position Will Shock You

Even so, we tried.

Brazil and Spain are the nation with the most players on the list with 16 players. France and Germany are level in third with 13 each. Belgium is fifth with nine.

Spain’s entire starting 11 at the 2018 World Cup makes the top 50.

Twenty different nations are represented in the 100 top soccer players 2018. The best team not represented is Mexico.

Nine different countries are represented in the top 10 football players in 2018.

European reigning champion, Portugal has just two players in the top 100.

Even with Leroy Sane left off Germany’s squad, Manchester City leads the way among clubs with 13 players in the top 100. Barcelona is second with 12.

Its Clasico rival, Real Madrid, is hot on its tail with 11. Tottenham is fourth with nine. Bayern Munich is fifth with eight.

Four Real Madrid players cracked the top 10 football players 2018. Only one other club, PSG, had several players in the top 10.

Twenty-three clubs from six different leagues are represented.

As expected, all 100 players are based in Europe.

Only one teenager made the list of 100 top soccer players 2018 and he came in at No. 9.

Of the 100 players, midfielders are 41; defenders are 24; forwards are 21; goalkeepers are 8; five were listed as midfielders/forwards, and one was listed as a defender/midfielder.

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Now let’s see the 100 top soccer players 2018:

100. Jordan Henderson, M, England/Liverpool

99. Marco Reus, M, Germany/Borussia Dortmund

98. Fred, M, Brazil/Shakhtar Donetsk

97. Ivan Perisic, M, Croatia/Inter Milan

96. Medhi Benatia, D, Morocco/Juventus

95. Granit Xhaka, M, Switzerland/Arsenal

94. Vincent Kompany, D, Belgium/Manchester City

93. Marco Asensio, M, Spain/Real Madrid

92. Thiago Silva, D, Brazil/PSG

91. Jose Maria Gimenez, D, Uruguay/Atletico Madrid

90. Hugo Lloris, G, France/Tottenham

89. Eric Dier, D/M, England/Tottenham

88. Paulinho, M, Brazil/Barcelona

87. Leon Goretzka, M, Germany/Schalke

86. Julian Draxler, M, Germany/PSG

85. Benjamin Mendy, D, France/Manchester City

84. Keylor Navas, G, Costa Rica/Real Madrid

83. Nicolas Otamendi, D, Argentina/Manchester City

82. Angel Di Maria, M, Argentina/PSG

81. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, M, Serbia/Lazio

80. Cesar Azpilicueta, D, Spain/Chelsea

79. Iago Aspas, F, Spain/Celta Vigo

78. Son Heung-Min, F, South Korea/Tottenham

77. Blaise Matuidi, M, France/Juventus

76. Douglas Costa, M, Brazil/Juventus

75. Nemanja Matic, M, Serbia/Manchester United

74. Toby Alderweireld, D, Belgium/Tottenham

73. Thomas Lemar, M, France/Monaco

72. Saul Niguez, M, Spain/Atletico Madrid

71. Marquinhos, D, Brazil/PSG

70. Florian Thauvin, M/F, France/Marseille

69. Willian, M, Brazil/Chelsea

68. Jerome Boateng, D, Germany/Bayern Munich

67. Thibaut Courtois, G, Belgium/Chelsea

66. Diego Godin, D, Uruguay/Atletico Madrid

65. Joao Miranda, D, Brazil/Inter Milan

64. Nabil Fekir, M, France/Lyon

63. Ederson, G, Brazil/Manchester City

62. Alisson, G, Brazil/Roma

61. Kalidou Koulibaly, D, Senegal/Napoli

60. Koke, M, Spain/Atletico Madrid

59. Sami Khedira, M, Germany/Juventus

58. Gonzalo Higuain, F, Argentina/Juventus

57. Bernardo Silva, M, Portugal/Manchester City

56. Romelu Lukaku, F, Belgium/Manchester United

55. Roberto Firmino, F, Brazil/Liverpool

54. Ivan Rakitic, M, Croatia/Barcelona

53. Dele Alli, M, England/Tottenham

52. Samuel Umtiti, D, France/Barcelona

51. Kyle Walker, D, England/Manchester City

50. Ousmane Dembele, M/F, France/Barcelona

49. Ilkay Gundogan, M, Germany/Manchester City

48. Diego Costa, F, Spain/Atletico Madrid

47. Jordi Alba, D, Spain/Barcelona

46. Raphael Varane, D, France/Real Madrid

45. Fernandinho, M, Brazil/Manchester City

44. Mousa Dembele, M, Belgium/Tottenham

43. Sadio Mane, F, Senegal/Liverpool

42. Dries Mertens, F, Belgium/Napoli

41. Jan Vertonghen, D, Belgium/Tottenham

40. Gabriel Jesus, F, Brazil/Manchester City

39. Thomas Muller, M/F, Germany/Bayern Munich

38. Edinson Cavani, F, Uruguay/PSG

37. Dani Carvajal, D, Spain/Real Madrid

36. James Rodriguez, M, Colombia/Bayern Munich

35. Sergio Aguero, F, Argentina/Manchester City

34. Sergio Busquets, M, Spain/Barcelona

33. Joshua Kimmich, D, Germany/Bayern Munich

32. Raheem Sterling, F, England/Manchester City

31. Andres Iniesta, M, Spain/Barcelona

30. Casemiro, M, Brazil/Real Madrid

29. Thiago Alcantara, M, Spain/Bayern Munich

28. Paulo Dybala, M/F, Argentina/Juventus

27. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, G, Germany/Barcelona

26. Gerard Pique, D, Spain/Barcelona

25. Mesut Ozil, M, Germany/Arsenal

24. Christian Eriksen, M, Denmark/Tottenham

23. Luis Suarez, F, Uruguay/Barcelona

22. Philippe Coutinho, M, Brazil/Barcelona

21. David Silva, M, Spain/Manchester City

20. Mats Hummels, D, Germany/Bayern Munich

19. Isco, M, Spain/Real Madrid

18. Paul Pogba, M, France/Manchester United

17. Marcelo, D, Brazil/Real Madrid

16. Harry Kane, F, England/Tottenham

15. Antoine Griezmann, F, France/Atletico Madrid

14. Manuel Neuer, G, Germany/Bayern Munich

13. Robert Lewandowski, F, Poland/Bayern Munich

12. Eden Hazard, M/F, Belgium/Chelsea

11. N’Golo Kante, M, France/Chelsea

10. Toni Kroos, M, Germany/Real Madrid

9. Kylian Mbappe, F, France/PSG

8. Sergio Ramos, D, Spain/Real Madrid

7. Luka Modric, M, Croatia/Real Madrid

6. David De Gea, G, Spain/Manchester United

5. Mohamed Salah, F, Egypt/Liverpool

4. Kevin De Bruyne, M, Belgium/Manchester City

3. Neymar, F, Brazil/PSG

2. Cristiano Ronaldo, F, Portugal/Real Madrid

1. Lionel Messi, F, Argentina/Barcelona

This article was most recently revised and updated 3 years ago

Greg is a Sports content writer. He has many years of experience in Sports Writing. He was a writer for Opera News and is Editor-in-Chief at GoalBall.