A total of 218 former players, journalists and broadcasters made up the Guardian"s voting panel and submitted their verdicts on the best male players in the world in 2023. 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. The Guardian"s Marcus Christenson talks us through the top 10, from Messi to Haaland, and gives an overview of what the full list of 100 looks like this year. The 100 best male footballers in the world 2023 How the Guardian ranked the 100 best male footballers in the world 2023