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Best football players in the world (2026)

According to GolVote fans, Lionel Messi is number one with a rating of 1600, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé. The order is decided by head-to-head fan votes and changes live with every vote.

Best football players in the world: a live ranking decided by football fans' head-to-head votes. Updated with every vote. Updated: 9 October 2026.

Who is better?

Lionel Messi🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward

VS

Cristiano Ronaldo🇵🇹 Portugal · Forward

Lionel Messi: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cristiano Ronaldo: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0

Next duel →

1. 1Lionel Messi🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward1600
2. 2Cristiano Ronaldo🇵🇹 Portugal · Forward1597
3. 3Kylian Mbappé🇫🇷 France · Forward1588
4. 4Erling Haaland🇳🇴 Norway · Forward1582
5. 5Lamine Yamal🇪🇸 Spain · Forward1579
6. 6Vinícius Júnior🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1570
7. 7Jude Bellingham🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Midfielder1564
8. 8Mohamed Salah🇪🇬 Egypt · Forward1564
9. 9Neymar🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1558
10. 10Harry Kane🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Forward1552
11. 11Pedri🇪🇸 Spain · Midfielder1546
12. 12Ousmane Dembélé🇫🇷 France · Forward1546
13. 13Rodri🇪🇸 Spain · Midfielder1534
14. 14Raphinha🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1534
15. 15Robert Lewandowski🇵🇱 Poland · Forward1528
16. 16Bukayo Saka🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Forward1528
17. 17Cole Palmer🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Midfielder1528
18. 18Kevin De Bruyne🇧🇪 Belgium · Midfielder1528
19. 19Luka Modrić🇭🇷 Croatia · Midfielder1528
20. 20Jamal Musiala🇩🇪 Germany · Midfielder1522
21. 21Florian Wirtz🇩🇪 Germany · Midfielder1522
22. 22Lautaro Martínez🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward1522
23. 23Julián Álvarez🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward1522
24. 24Virgil van Dijk🇳🇱 Netherlands · Defender1516
25. 25Federico Valverde🇺🇾 Uruguay · Midfielder1510
26. 26Khvicha Kvaratskhelia🇬🇪 Georgia · Forward1510
27. 27Achraf Hakimi🇲🇦 Morocco · Defender1510
28. 28Thibaut Courtois🇧🇪 Belgium · Goalkeeper1510
29. 29Vitinha🇵🇹 Portugal · Midfielder1504
30. 30Viktor Gyökeres🇸🇪 Sweden · Forward1504
31. 31Alexander Isak🇸🇪 Sweden · Forward1504
32. 32Bruno Fernandes🇵🇹 Portugal · Midfielder1504
33. 33Michael Olise🇫🇷 France · Forward1498
34. 34Désiré Doué🇫🇷 France · Forward1498
35. 35Declan Rice🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Midfielder1498
36. 36Trent Alexander-Arnold🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1498
37. 37Gianluigi Donnarumma🇮🇹 Italy · Goalkeeper1498
38. 38Martin Ødegaard🇳🇴 Norway · Midfielder1492
39. 39William Saliba🇫🇷 France · Defender1492
40. 40Pau Cubarsí🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1492
41. 41Alisson Becker🇧🇷 Brazil · Goalkeeper1492
42. 42Luis Suárez🇺🇾 Uruguay · Forward1486
43. 43Karim Benzema🇫🇷 France · Forward1483
44. 44Antoine Griezmann🇫🇷 France · Forward1483
45. 45Marquinhos🇧🇷 Brazil · Defender1480
46. 46Nuno Mendes🇵🇹 Portugal · Defender1480
47. 47Jan Oblak🇸🇮 Slovenia · Goalkeeper1480
48. 48Olivier Giroud🇫🇷 France · Forward1477
49. 49Sadio Mané🇸🇳 Senegal · Forward1477
50. 50Thomas Müller🇩🇪 Germany · Midfielder1477
51. 51Rúben Dias🇵🇹 Portugal · Defender1474
52. 52Marc-André ter Stegen🇩🇪 Germany · Goalkeeper1474
53. 53Sergio Busquets🇪🇸 Spain · Midfielder1474
54. 54Ángel Di María🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward1474
55. 55David de Gea🇪🇸 Spain · Goalkeeper1471
56. 56Paulo Dybala🇦🇷 Argentina · Forward1471
57. 57Jordi Alba🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1471
58. 58Casemiro🇧🇷 Brazil · Midfielder1471
59. 59Joan García🇪🇸 Spain · Goalkeeper1468
60. 60Mario Götze🇩🇪 Germany · Forward1468
61. 61Jordan Henderson🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Midfielder1468
62. 62Henrikh Mkhitaryan🇦🇲 Armenia · Forward1468
63. 63Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang🇬🇦 Gabon · Forward1468
64. 64Marco Reus🇩🇪 Germany · Midfielder1468
65. 65Son Heung-min🇰🇷 South Korea · Forward1468
66. 66N'Golo Kanté🇫🇷 France · Midfielder1468
67. 67Riyad Mahrez🇩🇿 Algeria · Forward1468
68. 68Harry Maguire🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1465
69. 69Wojciech Szczęsny🇵🇱 Poland · Goalkeeper1465
70. 70Edin Džeko🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina · Forward1465
71. 71Ferran Torres🇪🇸 Spain · Forward1465
72. 72David Alaba🇦🇹 Austria · Defender1465
73. 73Takumi Minamino🇯🇵 Japan · Midfielder1465
74. 74Jordan Pickford🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Goalkeeper1465
75. 75Roberto Firmino🇧🇷 Brazil · Midfielder1465
76. 76Kai Havertz🇩🇪 Germany · Midfielder1462
77. 77Isco🇪🇸 Spain · Midfielder1462
78. 78Ansu Fati🇪🇸 Spain · Forward1462
79. 79Αrda Güler🇹🇷 Turkey · Midfielder1462
80. 80Mateo Kovačić🇭🇷 Croatia · Midfielder1459
81. 81Danny Welbeck🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Forward1459
82. 82Bernardo Silva🇵🇹 Portugal · Midfielder1459
83. 83Emiliano Martínez🇦🇷 Argentina · Goalkeeper1459
84. 84Granit Xhaka🇨🇭 Switzerland · Midfielder1459
85. 85Lucas Vázquez🇪🇸 Spain · Forward1459
86. 86Axel Witsel🇧🇪 Belgium · Midfielder1459
87. 87Cody Gakpo🇳🇱 Netherlands · Forward1459
88. 88Dani Olmo🇪🇸 Spain · Midfielder1459
89. 89Richarlison🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1459
90. 90John Stones🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Midfielder1459
91. 91Kepa Arrizabalaga🇪🇸 Spain · Goalkeeper1459
92. 92Adrien Rabiot🇫🇷 France · Midfielder1459
93. 93Emre Can🇩🇪 Germany · Midfielder1459
94. 94Frenkie de Jong🇳🇱 Netherlands · Midfielder1459
95. 95Luis Díaz🇨🇴 Colombia · Forward1459
96. 96Rodrygo🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1459
97. 97João Félix🇵🇹 Portugal · Forward1459
98. 98Hakan Çalhanoğlu🇹🇷 Turkey · Midfielder1456
99. 99João Cancelo🇵🇹 Portugal · Defender1456
100. 100Gabriel Jesus🇧🇷 Brazil · Forward1456