This is again this time: with the final of the UEFA Champions League behind us and the 2024-25 season officially, it is time to classify the 100 best players in male football at the moment. Welcome to FC 100.
The FC 100 is different from most countdown. It is not a classification n ° 1-100. We take into account all the main positions on the ground, while most of the rankers first become talents with little respect for the place where the stars play. This leads to uninteresting lists which are strongly weighted towards scorers (attackers) and players who create objectives of the midfielder, giving little attention to talent in less glamorous – but just as important – roles -.
Our rankings are divided into seven lists and give readers the closest thing to a “depth graph” of position by position through world football. This year, reflecting the constantly evolving game, we have divided the defenders into two groups (large and central), with two sections for the midfielder (so the more defensive guys get their due alongside the players) and two for the front, with the positions of the wing and the clearly defined center.
2024-25 FC 100, position by position
Go to: goalkeeper | Backbacks | Central backs | Defensive / central midfield | Attack field environments | AILLEIERS | Ahead
Previous editions
Go to: 2023-24 | 2022-23 | 2021-22 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016
1:29
Which player ESPN FC 100 still present is the most danger of missing?
Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Jan Oblak were in the nine editions of the ESPN FC 100, but who could not arrive at the 10th?
What’s new, and what changed for 2025
This year’s voting bulletin had nearly 100 admissions from around the world and all areas of ESPN, from writers to journalists, from publishers to producers, from behind the scenes and open -air talents. Writers Gab Marcotti, Julien Laurens and Mark Ogden, and Train Players Don Hutchison, Nedum Onuoha and Alejandro Moreno Were Only Some of the Key Viters in English, But Every Area of Espn’s Global Soccer Coverage Came Together to Weight in On the List and Offer Their Votes, (Leonardo Bertozzi, Renato Senise), ESPN Deportes (Fernando Palomo, Barak Fever), Espn Argentine (Mariano Closs, Diego Latorre), ESPN Netherlands (Kees Kwakman, Yordi Yamali) and more.
We also returned to deal with positions with more distinct respect given the way in which the rear and the wingers play such innovative roles with multiple facets in modern game. The important distinction in the midfield was also recognized, with separate ballots for defensive / holding fields (whose main role is to disturb the opponents and distribute the ball) and to attack the fields of field, which are responsible for playing this critical final pass.
As such, the list is divided into Seven Categories: goalkeeper, rear, rear, central back, defensive midfielder, attacker midfielder, wing and front. This pays all the attention to each key element on the field and allows players before not announced a chance to be appreciated.
Main to take away
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A new generation emerges: The edition of this season of FC 100 has 40 entrants for the first time on the list, which reflects the changing faces of the game and the emergence of a new group of exciting stars.
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Three players have made the list for a ninth consecutive year: While we head to our 10th anniversary of FC 100 in 2026, it is worth calling three players in particular for their incredible longevity and their performance, because it has appointed them appointed to each edition of our annual ranker. Lionel Messi (Inter Miami CF), Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona) and Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid), take a knot.
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Again, Pulisic represents for the USMNT: For the second consecutive year and the third time in the general classification, Christian Pulisic made FC 100 in recognition of another sparkling season at AC Milan.
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The Premier League is always the best competition: Again, the English League governs the perch with more than a third (35) of FC 100, a number that could increase in the coming weeks as players such as Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen) finalize the movements. But only two of these names came from Manchester City (reflecting their lower season), because 12 different PL teams had FC 100 players, a testimony of the Ligue force in depth: Liverpool (10) and Arsenal (8) understandable their peers, but Nottingham Forest had selected four players.
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Paris Saint-Germain opens the way: What season it was for PSG. The victory of their first title of the UEFA Champions League on Saturday was the icing at the top of a remarkable campaign, and the voters of FC 100 recognized their resurgence while 11 players made FC 100, which makes it the most represented club for 2024-25. (Liverpool was in second position, with 10.)
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A dominant year for France: In addition to the PSG which directs all the clubs with 11 appointments, the French national team can also claim supremacy when the list ruptures by country. The Blues Think the way with 12 players on the 2024-25 FC 100, with Spain (11), England (9) and Brazil (9) behind.
2:05
Ogden: Salah is the face of this Premier League era
Mark Ogden praises the impact of Mo Salah on the Premier League and says that his heritage has exceeded Thierry Henry.
How our voters managed the ballot
The realization of a global vote on the best players in the world is not an easy task, and we have given a few guidelines with the ballots as to the best way to proceed. Voters have been encouraged to take into account the following things: Who are the best players at the moment, weighted to their 2024-25 seasons? Voters received discretion as to the amount of injuries from a party played in the votes; Some players have cut it despite the missing songs of the season given the extent of their contributions and their performance when they are healthy. Likewise, the performance of individual competitions (for example, Champions League) were taken into account, but were not the primordial factor, to vote. Players whose efforts have lasted the largest sample of games should naturally rank higher than those who have excelled in short tournament formats.
What concerns each list of FC 100
The key here is twofold: why each player has made the list in 2024-25 and what he is planning to do next season.
Goalkeeper
It is not enough that the modern goalkeeper is good with his gloves. These days, the shooting should start the attack movements by playing from the back, in addition to closing them.
Agility and reflexes are equal to the course, but the best goalkeepers in the world also merger a feeling of confidence and composure in their penalty areas that make them appear greater than life.
See the complete list here.
Back
What do you say about a modern rear? Players such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Achraf Hakimi have revolutionized what the position can be, taking a statid role behind the ball to become a main playmaker who adds so many goals and assistance that they prevent opponents from making.
The best of the game will marry a strong consciousness of position with the blinding speed, as well as the daring sense to move forward and support their teams in attack. The comfort and the precision crossing are also a appreciated quality, because the upper rear highs will be their best on a overlap before curling in the perfect ball.
See the complete list here.
Central back
If you are going to have a great team, you need an excellent central back – two, if you are really lucky. The best in the game are great and affirmative, but are also blessed with the grace of the plated in time and anticipate the movements of an attacker to win back possession.
The elegance on the ball and the start is essential, whether by playing a weighted pass at the top or by making its way in front of the opponents to relieve the pressure.
See the complete list here.
Defensive / central military
The midfielder is often the largest battlefield in football, and players who occupy this precious territory take many forms and have many roles. There are defensive circles that create attacks or counteract those of an adversary. There are also central fields that connect the points in transition with the pass in defense or a force of another world in possession.
These rankings celebrate the two forms, disruptors such as Aurelien Tchouamméni and Alexis Mac Allister with double -meaning stars, such as Declan Rice and Bruno Guimarães.
See the complete list here.
Attacker
Misfly, creativity, rhythm and confidence – these are the stock tools of the best attackers’ fields. Sometimes called n ° 10, these players are also comfortable scoring the goals because they create teammates. With a free line to derive around the field and exploit space, their ability to evoke something of nothing to them the most entertaining players.
See the complete list here.
Winged
Wing is a position of cunning, staging and skills. Whether it is to beat adversaries for the rhythm or on the dribbling, roaming in free field to take high quality shots or hug the key lines to offer perfect passes to teammates, the wing is not a place for the timid. These are your shows, scorers and your nature for nature.
Although many teams have large conventional attackers, emerging stars such as Lamine Yamal and the Désiré Doué have shown that there are many advantages to fast and avant-garde players in a large position. Blessed with the rhythm and perseverance to beat their markers and go to the signature for a cutting cross, or to put themselves in the score position, they are a threat to adversaries and a pleasure for fans.
See the complete list here.
Ahead
Central attackers are your farms. They are a powerful mixture of nearby finisher, playmaker and space designer for his teammates around the box. They are talented enough to manage the free and sufficiently graceful role under pressure to give birth constantly. They will mark in any match, against any team from any post. Foot of foot and fast spirit, their ability to read the game and anticipate where the ball will be three passes before it reaches what distinguishes them.
It is not only the Tap-ins that they will mark either. The best can improvise with any part of the body (with the exception of hands, of course) to do the work. Smart films, clever tips, backs backs and calm parts are their best attributes.
See the complete list here.
2024-25 FC 100, position by position
Go to: goalkeeper | Backbacks | Central backs | Defensive / central midfield | Attack field environments | AILLEIERS | Ahead
