It is a bit later than normal – due to a World Cup that finished in December – but this week we are ready to present our list of the 100 best male footballers in the world in 2022. Football luminaries such as Maicon, Fatih Terim and Avram Grant joined the judges’ panel for our 11th edition. Former players such as Jan Åge Fjørtoft and Ricardo Rocha also join a selection of coaches, broadcasters, reporters, correspondents and editors from around the world to form a knowledgable and truly global jury. The 14 current and former professionals have won a combined 558 international caps. The countdown begins at 09.00 GMT on Tuesday 24 January with numbers 100-71. On Wednesday we will reveal numbers 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. Players Patrik Andersson Former Sweden international who won 96 caps and played at the 1994 and 2002 World Cups Rune Bratseth Former Norway international with 60 caps who captained his country at the 1994 World Cup 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 Maicon Former Brazil international with 76 caps who played at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups Janusz Michallik Former US international and ESPN football analyst Juninho Pernambucano Former Brazil international with 40 caps who played at the 2006 World Cup Ricardo Rocha Former Brazil international with 38 caps who won the World Cup in 1994 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 Coaches and technical staff Fatih Terim Former Milan, Galatasaray and Turkey coach Avram Grant Former Chelsea, Portsmouth and West Ham manager now in charge of Zambia Magnús Már Einarsson Head coach of Afturelding in Iceland Journalists Ed Aarons Deputy news editor, the Guardian Ahmed Adala Journalist, Radio Mosaïque FM Tunisia Shireen Ahmed Multi-platform journalist and co-host of the Burn It All Down feminist sports podcast Fares Salem Al-Johani Writer at Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper in Saudi Arabia Gary Al-Smith African football specialist and co-author of LeGyanDary, the official autobiography of Asamoah Gyan Davit Alaverdyan Chief Editor, Mediamax Media Company, Armenia Abdulmohsen Algabbani Football editor based in Saudi Arabia Tobias Altschäffl Chief footballer reporter at Sport-Bild in Germany Nick Ames Football writer, the Guardian Juan Arango Match Commentator and correspondent for Diario Sport (Spain) and AhoraMismo (USA) Thiago Arantes Movistar+ commentator and UOL columnist Marcela Mora y Araujo Argentinian football writer Emanuele Atturo Football journalist at l’Ultimo Uomo Philippe Auclair Senior writer, France Football Nicky Bandini Italian football correspondent, the Guardian Jorge Baravalle ESPN journalist. European Football Analyst John Bennett Broadcaster, BBC World Service & BBC 5 Live Chloe Beresford Content editor at onefootball.com Luca Bianchin Football writer, La Gazzetta dello Sport Christoph Biermann Football writer for 11Freunde in Germany Eduardo Biscayart Commentator on European football at Fox Sports Mexico and Telemundo (USA) Andreas Böni Head of football at Blick in Switzerland Anne-Laure Bonnet TV presenter at Téléfoot La Chaine Andy Brassell European football writer/broadcaster Costas Bratsos Football writer at Sport24.gr in Greece Feargal Brennan Staff writer, Football España John Brewin Football writer, the Guardian Rodrigo Bueno Football journalist and FOX commentator in Brazil Edgar Cantero Pelota Tata, ESPN Felipe Cardenas Football writer at the Athletic, covering MLS as well as football in Mexico and Conmebol Javier Cáceres Football writer, Süddeutsche Zeitung Susy Campanale Staff writer, Football Italia Pedro Canelo Journalist at El Comercio in Peru Antonio Casale Journalist for RCN Radio. Also works for ESPN and El Espectador newspaper Carolina Castellanos Sports journalist at RCN Radio and La Titular, reporting and commentating on multiple sports Hernán Castillo Argentinian football journalist at TNTSports Alex Chaffer Manager of the official Bundesliga website Ivaylo Chilev Football journalist and Champions League broadcast producer at bTV Media Group in Bulgaria Rodolfo Chisleanschi Sports journalist for El País (España) and La Nación (Argentina) Marcus Christenson Football special projects editor, the Guardian Paulo Vinicius Coelho Football writer and Fox commentator in Brazil James Corbett Author & Senior Correspondent, Off The Pitch Santiago Cordera Head of content of juanfutbol, the largest football website in Mexico Alfredo Coronis Journalist at Hot 94.1 FM/Conexión Goleadora Adriano Del Monte International TV Presenter (beIN Sports, BT Sport, Fifa, Uefa) Haresh Deol Editor of TwentyTwo13 in Malaysia Adam Digby Italian football writer John Duerden Asian football correspondent for the Guardian Claudia Ekai Freelance sports journalist, reporter, producer Amine El Amri Sports journalist at Le Matin in Morocco Adam Elder US freelance journalist Kasper Elissaar Editor-in-chief at Soccernet in Estonia Jeroen Elshoff Football commentator NOS Dutch National television Rodrigo Errasti Founder of Imagosport Comunication & Former sports editor chief of the Agencia Colpisa-Vocento in Spain Alejandro Etcheverry Football reporter at BMS Plus radio Amr Fahmy Journalist working for beIN Sports in Egypt Christian Falk Head of football at Sport-Bild in Germany Babacar Ndaw Faye Writer at Emedia in Senegal Alan Feehely Football writer for Twenty3 Ryan Fenix TV commentator, Philippines Martín Fernandez Senior football writer at Globoesporte in Brazil Barak Fever ESPN football commentator Oliver Fritsch Sports editor of Zeit Online Alex Frosio Football editor at La Gazzetta dello Sport Juan Manuel Gavilan TV football producer in Peru Jonas Giaever Sports journalist at Dagbladet in Norway Barry Glendenning Football writer and Guardian Football Weekly regular Fabián Godoy Argentinian/Spanish Commentator and Tactical Analyst at Directv Sports, TNT Sports and Continental Radio. Correspondent from Argentina at Cadena Cope (Spain). Bryan Graham Guardian US sports journalist Andreas Hagenauer Football journalist at Der Standard Daniel Harris Sports writer, the Guardian, and film-maker Jesper Haue Hansen Football reporter at Jyllands-Posten in Denmark Kevin Hatchard Commentator for Bundesliga world feed, Uefa and talkSPORT Johannes Hofer Presenter at Sky Sport Austria Gustavo Hofman Football journalist and ESPN commentator in Brazil Andy Hunter Football writer, the Guardian Azmaal Hydoo Head of football at Mauritius’s best-selling paper and magazine, L’Express David Hytner Chief football correspondent, the Guardian Seo Hyung-wook MBC TV commentator, Footballist CEO, South Korea Sasa Ibrulj Bosnian football writer Wael Jabir CEO Ahdaaf.me in Dubai Kristian Jack VP, Canadian Premier League. TV/radio host, reporter, writer Behnam Jafarzadeh Deputy editor at Varzesh3.com, Iran Ott Järvela Estonian journalist working at Soccernet.ee, Kuku Raadio and Viaplay Boris Jovanovic Editor in Chief Sportske.net Raphaël Jucobin Editor-in-chief, Get French Football News Eduard Kalantaryan Head of Armenia TV sport Celestine Karoney Kenyan sports journalist Jamie Kemble Journalist at Football España Ali Khaled Sports Editor at Arab News André Kfouri Commentator and writer for ESPN Brasil Tom Kludt Football journalist based in the US Pavle Knezevic Reporter at Sportske.net Ermal Kuka Sports journalist at Panorama Sport in Albania Samindra Kunti Freelance football journalist Cecilia Lagos ESPN correspondent based in the Netherlands Steven Lavon Sports journalist and editor-in-chief of africatopsports.com in Lomé, Togo Joshua Law São Paulo-based freelance journalist and editor of the website Yellow and Green Football 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 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 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 Nebojsa Markovic Sports journalist at MONDO.rs in Serbia Gergely Marosi Freelance sports journalist and football writer in Hungary Everaldo Marques TV Globo broadcaster in Brazil Martin Mazur Argentinian football journalist for El Gráfico, FourFourTwo and La Gazzetta dello Sport Ugur Meleke Hurriyet columnist and BeinSports pundit Marcus Mergulhao Sports Editor, The Times of India Colin Millar European football writer for Mirror Football Filip Mishov Freelance sports journalist and football writer from Macedonia Tomasz Mortimer Hungarian football writer Dmitriy Mostovoy Commentator at Setanta Sports in Kazakhstan 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 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 Football writer, the Guardian Mauricio Noriega Brazilian journalist and SporTV commentator Vladimir Novak Freelance sports journalist, football writer and producer 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 Rafael Oliveira Football journalist and ESPN commentator in Brazil Collins Okinyo African football journalist and managing editor of soka25east.com Joseph Owino Founder, Kawowo Sports Álex Pareja Sports journalist at ESPN Juan Carlos Pasman Argentinian journalist who presents his own shows on DirecTV Sports and Radio La Red Artur Petrosyan Football journalist based in Dubai Ricardo Puig Football journalist at ESPN Fuera de Juego Kieran Quaile Editor 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 Ali Rea British football journalist and content director for the UAE’s Sport360x.com Marion Reimers Journalist and broadcaster/commentator for TNT Sports. Founder and president of Versus Filippo Maria Ricci Spain correspondent for Gazzetta dello Sport 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. Vitor Sergio Rodrigues Commentator and editor at Esporte Interativo in Brazil José Armando Rodríguez Editor-in-chief, Deporte Total USA Roberto Rojas Paraguayan-American journalist working for beIN Sports USA & co-host of the Low Limit Futbol podcast Juan Pablo Romero Sports journalist at El País in Uruguay Emanuel Rosu Romanian football writer Stephan Roth Reporter at Swiss daily Blick Jeff Rueter Football writer for the Athletic Max Rushden Guardian Football Weekly host Graham Ruthven Football journalist based in Scotland Mina Rzouki Writer, presenter and football pundit contributing to BBC 5live, BBC Sportsworld, Sky Sports, CNN, ESPN and TRT World Marwan Saeed Operations manager of KingFut.com Emre Sarigul Editor and founder of turkish-football.com Josué Seixas Brazilian football journalist who contributes to 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 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 Keeshaanan Sundaresan Host/Writer at Astro SuperSport Malaysia Saku-Pekka Sundelin Football journalist at Ilta-Sanomat Aet Süvari Estonian football reporter Agris Suveizda Reporter for Sportacentrs.com in Latvia Jonathan Tannenwald Football journalist at Philadelphia Inquirer Luiz Teixeira TV Globo presenter in Brazil Mihovil Topic Chief football writer at Telesport in Croatia Nuno Travassos Portuguese football writer at Maisfutebol Tran Duc Truong Sports Journalist, ZingNews, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Darren Tulett Presenter at beIN Sports in France Will Unwin Football writer, the Guardian Petter Veland Norwegian TV commentator and La Liga expert for Viasat Felipe Valderrama Journalist for Caracol Radio and editor of ElCincoCero.com Ari Virtanen Sports journalist at Helsingin Sanomat in Finland Raúl Vilchis Mexican sports journalist based in New York Bart Vlietstra Dutch football journalist working for de Volkskrant and SANTOS magazine Lukas Vrablik Slovakian journalist at Denník N Ola Wenström Freelance football journalist and producer Greg Wilcox Freelance sports journalist and football writer Senta Wintner Sports writer for Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse 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 Clemens Zavarsky Football writer for Ballesterer in Austria Miran Zore Chief editor of Nogomania in Slovenia How the voting works 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. 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 to the alphabetical list of judges’ names presented above.