The year is drawing to a close and as always we have reached out to a wide array of former players, coaches and journalists around the world to rank the best male footballers of the year. It has been another momentous year. Argentina won the Copa América, Spain triumphed at the Euros while Botafogo, Real Madrid and Al Ahly calimed the biggest regional club competitions. This year we could call on football luminaries such as Leonardo Bonucci, Demetrio Albertini, Siem De Jong, Philipp Lahm and Thomas Hitzlsperger to take part in the voting. From South America Bebeto, Walter Casagrande, Lucas Leiva and Juninho Pernambucano among others who joined a selection of coaches, broadcasters, reporters, correspondents and editors from around the world to form a knowledgable and truly global jury. The 23 former professionals have won a combined 982 international caps. The countdown begins at on Tuesday 17 December with numbers 100-71. On Wednesday we will reveal Nos 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 Demetrio Albertini Former Italy international with 79 caps who played at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups Björn Andersson Former Sweden international with 25 caps who played at the 1974 World Cup Martin Åslund Former Sweden international with four caps Bebeto Former Brazil international with 75 caps who won the 1994 World Cup Leonardo Bonucci Former Italy international with 121 caps who played at the 2014 World Cup and won Euro 2020 Rune Bratseth Former Norway international with 60 caps who captained his country at the 1994 World Cup Walter Casagrande Former Brazil international with 19 caps who played at the 1986 World Cup Gilles De Bilde Former Belgium international with 25 caps Siem De Jong Former Netherlands international with six caps Erik Edman Former Sweden international with 57 caps who played at the 2006 World Cup Elano Former Brazil international with 50 caps who played at the 2010 World Cup Thomas Hitzlsperger Former Germany international with 52 aps who played at the 2006 World Cup Kléberson Former Brazil international with 32 caps who played at the 2002 and 2010 World Cups Philipp Lahm Former Germany international with 113 caps who won the 2014 World Cup as captain Lucas Leiva Former Brazil international with 24 caps who played for Liverpool for 10 years between 2007 and 2017 Janusz Michallik Former US international with 44 caps who is now an ESPN football analyst Miranda Former Brazil international with 58 caps who played at the 2018 World Cup Juninho Pernambucano Former Brazil international with 40 caps who played at the 2006 World Cup Caio Ribeiro Former Brazil international with four caps who is now an analyst on TV Ricardo Rocha Former Brazil international with 38 caps who won the 1994 World Cup 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 Okan Buruk Galatasaray manager and former Turkey international Magnús Már Einarsson Head coach of top-flight side Afturelding in Iceland Cléber Xavier Brazil assistant coach at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups Media Ed Aarons Football writer, the Guardian Amir Abd Elhalim TV host at SSC Sports Ahmed Adala Journalist at Radio Mosaïque FM, Tunisia Nuhu Adams African football specialist, managing editor of AfricaSoccer.com and writer for GHANAsoccernet.com Omar Al Raisi Founder of Dantani, Inc. and editor-in-chief of the Sports Journal in the UAE Davit Alaverdyan Chief editor, Mediamax Media Company, Armenia Nick Ames European sport correspondent, the Guardian Juan Arango Football commentator at AFA Play and correspondent for Al Jazeera Thiago Arantes Movistar+ commentator and UOL columnist José Armando Rodríguez Editor-in-chief, Deporte Total USA Emanuele Atturo Chief editor of ultimouomo.com and contributor to the Fenomeno podcast Philippe Auclair Contributor to Josimar and the Guardian, England correspondent for Eurosport, France Football and RTS, and biographer of Juan Mata, Thierry Henry and Eric Cantona Nicky Bandini Italian football correspondent, the Guardian Jorge Baravalle ESPN journalist. European Football Analyst John Bennett Broadcaster, BBC World Service & BBC 5 Live Luca Bianchin Football writer, La Gazzetta dello Sport Christoph Biermann Chief reporter at 11FREUNDE magazine in Germany and author of many football books Eduardo Biscayart Commentator on European football at Fox Sports Mexico and Telemundo (USA) Andy Brassell European football writer/broadcaster Feargal Brennan Staff writer, Football España John Brewin Football writer, the Guardian Rodrigo Bueno Commentator for ESPN Brasil and contributor to World Soccer Digest Javier Cáceres Football writer, Süddeutsche Zeitung Massimo Callegari Italian and international football commentator and presenter of Pressing at Mediaset Italy Lassana Camara Sports journalist at Mauritania Football and PAF France and contributor for Sport News Africa and Africa 24 Susy Campanale Staff writer, Football Italia Pedro Canelo Journalist at El Comercio in Peru Felipe Cárdenas Football writer at the Athletic, covering MLS as well as football in Mexico and Conmebol Juan Carlos Pasman Argentinian journalist who presents his own shows on DirecTV Sports and Radio La Red Antonio Casale Sports journalist with more than 25 years of experience who is the sports director at RCN Radio who also works for ESPN and the El Espectador newspaper Carolina Castellanos Sports journalist at RCN Radio and La Titular, reporting and commentating on multiple sports Hernán Castillo The sports editor of Continental Radio and producer of the films Muchachos and Cierren los ojos Ivaylo Chilev Football journalist and Champions League broadcast producer at bTV Media Group in Bulgaria Rodolfo Chisleanschi Sports journalist for La Nación (Argentina) Marcus Christenson Football special projects editor, the Guardian Solace Chukwu Editor at Afrik-Foot NG Santiago Cordera Head of strategy and projects at Tikitaka Alfredo Coronis Journalist at Hot 94.1 FM/Conexión Goleadora Haresh Deol Editor and co-founder of TwentyTwo13 in Malaysia Tran Duc Truong Sports journalist, ZingNews, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam John Duerden Asian football correspondent for the Guardian Amine El Amri Chief editor for Le 360 Sports Adam Elder US magazine editor and freelance writer Kasper Elissaar Estonian football journalist and commentator, board member of Soccernet.ee Jeroen Elshoff Football commentator NOS Dutch national television Luke Entwistle Nice-based French football writer, editor-in-chief at Get French Football News Rodrigo Errasti Founder of Imagosport Comunication and former sports chief editor of the Agencia Colpisa-Vocento in Spain Jaime F. Macias Football analyst for MLS Apple TV and Telemundo/NBC Universal Amr Fahmy Journalist working for beIN Sports in Egypt Christian Falk Head of football at Sport-Bild in Germany Ryan Fenix TV commentator, Philippines Martín Fernandez Senior football writer at Globoesporte in Brazil Ezequiel Fernández Moores Columnist at La Nación who has covered nine World Cups Barak Fever ESPN football commentator Oliver Fritsch Sports editor of Zeit Online Alex Frosio Football editor at La Gazzetta dello Sport Jonas Giaever Norwegian football journalist and co-founder of the football app fcQuiz Barry Glendenning Football writer and Guardian Football Weekly regular Fabián Godoy Argentinian/Spanish commentator and tactical analyst at Directv Sports, TNT Sports and CNN Radio. Argentina correspondent for Cadena Cope (Spain) Andreas Hagenauer Football journalist at Der Standard Arafat Hamrouni Sports reporter for Foot24 and Sports24 in Tunisia Kevin Hatchard Commentator for Bundesliga world feed, Uefa and talkSPORT Gustavo Hofman Football journalist and ESPN commentator in Brazil David Hytner Chief football correspondent, the Guardian Iacopo Iandiorio Deputy editor in chief of international football at La Gazzetta dello Sport Sasa Ibrulj Bosnian football writer Kristian Jack VP, Canadian Premier League. TV/ radio host, reporter, writer Behnam Jafarzadeh Deputy editor at Varzesh3.com, Iran Ott Järvela Head of sports at Estonian daily Postimees Boris Jovanovic Editor in Chief Sportske.net Raphaël Jucobin French football and rugby writer Celestine Karoney Kenyan sports journalist Jamie Kemble Valencia-based football journalist at National World publications Ali Khaled Sports editor at Arab News Ermal Kuka. Sports journalist at Panorama Sport in Albania Samindra Kunti Freelance football journalist Steven Lavon Writer and communication manager of Togo FA 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 Mansour Loum Editor-in-chief at Sport News Africa 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 author Ben Lyttleton Football author and consultant Ben Mabley Japan-based television commentator Robin-Duke Madlala Senior writer for Sportswire.co.za and BBC contributor Luca Marchetti Editor in chief at Sky Sport Italia and transfer market team coordinator Nebojsa Markovic Sports journalist at RT Balkan Gergely Marosi Freelance sports journalist and football writer in Hungary, writing for Sport24 Everaldo Marques Brazilian football broadcaster Pierre Maturana Director of french publication SoFoot.com and lifestyle media Dégaine by So Foot Martin Mazur Argentinian football correspondent for La Gazzetta dello Sport, FourFourTwo and 11Freunde. Director of AIPS Sport Media Awards Ugur Meleke Hurriyet columnist and BeinSports pundit Maher Mezahi Journalist mostly covering sport in (North) Africa Colin Millar Football writer/journalist at the Athletic Filip Mishov Freelance sports journalist and football writer from Macedonia Marcela Mora y Araujo Argentinian football writer Matteo Moretto Relevo journalist Tomasz Mortimer Hungarian football writer Dmitriy Mostovoy Commentator at Setanta Sports in Kazakhstan Vinicius Moura Sports broadcaster for Espn Brazil 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 and author of Far from War and Politics: the story of Iraq’s 2007 Asian Cup victory 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 Deputy football editor, the Guardian 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 Collins Okinyo African football journalist and managing editor of soka25east.com Rafael Oliveira Football journalist and Amazon Prime Video commentator in Brazil Joseph Owino Founder, Kawowo Sports Juan Pablo Romero Sports journalist at El País in Uruguay Álex Pareja Sports journalist at ESPN Artur Petrosyan Football journalist based in Paris Kieran Quaile Writer 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 Marion Reimers Journalist and broadcaster/commentator for TNT Sports. Founder and president of Versus 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. Roberto Rojas Associate Editor at ESPN FC Fabrizio Romano Sky Sport Italy journalist and Guardian contributor Barney Ronay Chief sports writer, the Guardian Emanuel Rosu Editor at Digi Sport in Romania Stephan Roth Reporter at Swiss daily Blick Guillermo Rubio “Gumi” Freelance sports journalist working for, among others, Fox Sports Argentina and Onda Cero in Spain Jeff Rueter Football writer for the Athletic Max Rushden Guardian Football Weekly host Mina Rzouki Writer, presenter & football pundit contributing to BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sportsworld, Sky Sports, CNN, ESPN & TRT World Marwan Saeed Manager of KingFut.com Emre Sarigul Editor and founder of turkish-football.com Josué Seixas Brazilian football journalist who contributes for 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 Miguel Simón International football expert at ESPN Latín America Matt Spiro French football writer/broadcaster 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 Aet Süvari Estonian football reporter Agris Suveizda Reporter for Sportacentrs.com in Latvia Jonathan Tannenwald Football journalist at Philadelphia Inquirer Paolo Tomaselli Football reporter for Corriere Della Sera (since 2002), based in Milan and following the Champions League as well as the national team and Inter Mihovil Topic Chief football writer at Telesport in Croatia Nuno Travassos Executive editor at A Bola Darren Tulett Presenter at beIN Sports in France Will Unwin Football writer, the Guardian Felipe Valderrama Writer, content creator, researcher and football historian Petter Veland Norwegian TV commentator and La Liga expert for Viasat Manuel Veth North America area manager at Transfermarkt and founder of the Gegenpressing Podcast and Newsletter Raúl Vilchis Mexican sports journalist based in New York Paulo Vinicius Coelho Football writer and Fox commentator in Brazil Ari Virtanen Sports journalist at Helsingin Sanomat in Finland Bart Vlietstra Dutch football journalist working for de Volkskrant and SANTOS magazine Lukas Vrablik Slovakian football expert Alejandro Wall Argentinian football writer working for Tiempo Argentino, Radio Con Vos and Fox Sports Ola Wenström Freelance football journalist and producer Dan Wighton Covers Bundesliga and other German sports for AFP Greg Wilcox Freelance sports journalist and football writer 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 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. If players are level on points in the scoring, the number of individual votes cast is used as a tie-breaker. If they are still level the decider will be the highest individual vote. The 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.