The 100 best footballers of the year: a local surprise and where did Messi finish?

As every year at this point, the ranking with the 100 best footballers in the world was released, which emerged from a vote organized by the British newspaper The Guardian.

Robert Lewandowski was at the top escorted by Lionel Messi and with Mohamed Salah in third place. In addition to La Pulga, there were also five other representatives from Albicelestes: Lautaro Martínez (30 °), Ángel Di María (32 °), Rodrigo De Paul (46 °), Emiliano Esque Martínez (52 °) and Julián Álvarez (91 °).

Álvarez is not only the only representative of Argentine soccer, but he is also the only player on a non-European team that appears in the ranking.

It is worth remembering that this vote has been carried out since 2012, when it was released with Messi’s election at the top of the list. The former Barcelona footballer was also voted best of the year in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

This is the fourth time that he is in second place (2014 and 2016 he was located behind Cristiano Ronaldo and in 2020 he also won the Lewandowski scepter) and in only one opportunity he was positioned in third place (2018) when Luka Modric was selected the best of the year and Cristiano was second.

As reported by the media in question, for the 2021 edition there was a jury of 219 personalities who cast 8,760 votes to determine the result since each one must present their 40 best of the year. Among the last names of the jury there were 24 former footballers such as Javier Zanetti, as well as coaches, reporters, chroniclers, correspondents and editors.

The best 100 players in the world of 2021

100. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Tottenham)
99. Youri Tielemans (Leicester)
98. Gavi (Barcelona)
97. Fabinho (Liverpool)
96. Joakim Maehle (Atalanta)
95. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
94. Keylor Navas (PSG)
93. Sebastien Haller (Ajax)
92. Rodri (Manchester City)
91. Julián Álvarez (River)
90. Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig)
89. Dusan Tadic (Ajax)
88. Diogo Jota (Liverpool)
87. Luis Diaz (Porto)
86. Mikel Oyarzábal (Real Sociedad)
85. Burak Yilmaz (Lille)
84. Joao Félix (Atlético de Madrid)
83. Tobacco Zapata (Atalanta)
82. Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)
81. Marcelo Brozovic (Inter)
80. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
79. Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen)
78. Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
77. Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester)
76. Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid)
75. Ederson (Manchester City)
74. Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
73. Leonardo Spinazzola (Rome)
72. Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
71. Marcos Llorente (Atlético de Madrid)
70. Reece James (Chelsea)
69. Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
68. Casemiro (Real Madrid)
67. Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
66. Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
65. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
64. Leon Goretzka (Bayern Múnich)
63. Joao Cancelo (Manchester City)
62. Lorenzo Insigne (Naples)
61. Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
60. Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
59. Declan Rice (West Ham)
58. Thiago Silva (Chelsea)
57. Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina)
56. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan)
55. David Alaba (Real Madrid)
54. Simon Kjaer (AC Milan)
53. Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
52. Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa)
51. Gerard Moreno (Villarreal)
50. César Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
49. Memphis Depay (Barcelona)
48. Antonio Rüdiger (Chelsea)
47. Kai Havertz (Chelsea)
46. ​​Rodrigo de Paul (Atlético de Madrid)
45. Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
44. Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain)
43. Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool)
42. Alphonso Davies (Bayern Múnich)
41. Serge Gnabry (Bayern Múnich)
40. Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
39. Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
38. Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain)
37. Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain)
36th Manuel Neuer (Bayern Múnich)
35. Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City)
34. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
33. Jan Oblak (Atlético de Madrid)
32. Ángel Di María (Paris Saint-Germain)
31. Vinicius Júnior (Real Madrid)
30. Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan)
29. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
28. Thomas Müller (Bayern Múnich)
27. Mason Mount (Chelsea)
26. Nicolò Barella (Inter de Milan)
25. Phil Foden (Manchester City)
24. Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
23. Sadio Mané (Liverpool)
22. Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
21. Pedri González (Barcelona)
20. Édouard Mendy (Chelsea)
19. Luis Suárez (Atlético de Madrid)
18. Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Múnich)
17. Federico Chiesa (Juventus)
16. Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
15. Harry Kane (Tottenham)
14. Reuben Dias (Manchester City)
13. Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)
12. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain)
11. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea)
10. Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
9. N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea)
8. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
6. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain)
Jorginho (Chelsea)
4. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
3. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
2. Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
1. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Múnich)

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