Best football players in the world ranked 2025

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Who is the best player in world football? For the best part of two decades, the answer has been a coin toss. No longer.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were the two greatest footballers of a generation, the former earning the Greatest of All Time tag in many quarters after capping off an outrageous career with the World Cup, the ultimate prize.

However, since Messi and Ronaldo departed the grand stage of European football for farewell tours of the US and Saudi Arabia respectively, the position of 'the best' is yet to be unanimously filled.

Several rising megastars could justify throwing their names, their talents, their achievements into the conversation. Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé were seen by many as undisputed pretenders to the throne prior to the emergence of Jude Bellingham and the continued growth of several established names.

This list is based on more than just current form. We have taken into account domestic and international achievements as well as various stats and figures from this season and recent, prior campaigns to build a picture of the current best players in world football.

RadioTimes.com brings you our definitive list of the best football players in the world in 2025.

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10. Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)

In line with other players sliding down the rankings due to the standard of their current league, Lionel Messi was under threat. However, he still makes our cut for the top 10.

There's no denying Messi has evolved. He has lost yards of his blistering pace but his intelligence and manipulation of the football means his control over the result of games remains as strong as ever. He is not an all-action terrier, he won't pitch in with the dirty work, but to count that against him is to miss the point entirely.

Messi continues to dominate games – both subtly and explicitly – for club and country. His performances directly inspired Argentina to Copa America and World Cup trophies in recent years, and he transformed rock-bottom MLS team, Inter Miami, into cup finalists in the space of a month.

Messi's time at the top of our list is over due to the fact his presence in the growing, exuberant yet ultimately lower quality MLS will mask his decline. However, his displays for Argentina, against a high standard of opposition, remain top notch. Let's face it: he would still play and succeed in any club team in world football in his current guise.

9. Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)

Bellingham has already shown enough to convince the world of his obscene talent at Dortmund, Real Madrid and on the international stage.

His all-action, dynamic presence saw him transform from teenage wildcard to instant starter for England at the World Cup 2022 and he has never looked back. His displays for Dortmund put them firmly in title contention against the Bayern Munich juggernaut, spurned only by goal difference, before making the move to Real Madrid where he has added an abundance of goals to his arsenal.

He is the complete package in midfield already. Physically imposing, an immense ball carrier, with precision passing skills, Bellingham will continue to soar at his current trajectory, buoyed with enough confidence to claim Zinedine Zidane's No.5 shirt at the Bernabeu. Bellingham is a generational talent and is arguably *the* player to watch over the next few years.

8. Rodri (Man City)

Rodri is the heartbeat of Manchester City, a crucial cog in a majestic machine. He is all things to all men, a maestro conducting the orchestra from midfield. And his absence has only made the heart grow fonder.

A tall, strong, physical presence, Rodri has all the muscle City require in a combative midfielder, combined with the grace, skill and drive of an attacking midfielder capable of drifting high up the pitch.

He boasts the knack of scoring critical goals in crucial moments – see the Champions League final – and in mid-January 2024, he struck a milestone of 50 games undefeated for City. When Rodri plays, the best team in world football doesn't lose.

Rodri was the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner for his influence on club and country. He has been sorely missed and his ranking remains protected until he returns, hopefully in full flight.

7. Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)

It's an ominous sign for the rest of the football world that while Real Madrid has shed some of its ageing skin in recent transfer windows, an equally venomous threat has slithered into the open: Vini Jr.

The 25-year-old has already racked up more than 400 professional appearances since he debut for Flamengo in 2017, and he is one of the few contenders who could, without a hint of delusion, claim to be sitting top of this list in several years time.

Vincius's pace is scorching, with dynamite acceleration able to propel him from standing starts to beyond petrified defenders at will. Most impressively, he harnesses that speed with quickness of feet and ball control to match any player in the world.

And yet, for all his demonstrable talent, he is often overlooked in discussions of the greatest players in the world. He has drifted in and out of the teams at times, but remains a lethal threat whenever he is given a chance to prove it.

6. Lamine Yamal

Who can argue against Lamine Yamal already being considered as one of the world's elite? Let's be clear, he was the best player at Euro 2024, denied winning Player of the Tournament essentially because he was a nice fit for Young Player of the Tournament instead.

At the age of 18, Yamal has already racked up over 100 first-team appearances for Barcelona and more than 20 caps for Spain. Once again, he is 18. And he doesn't turn 19 until the 2025/26 season is over and done.

Yamal is a devastating right winger capable of cutting inside and driving at defenders with extreme speed. He has technique to match his rapid feet and loves to bend shots around defenders en route to goal, but his creative flair sets him apart. Yamal is tracking close to two goal contributions every three games and could sit top of this list by the end of next summer's World Cup.

5. Ousmane Dembele

It feels like Dembele has taken the long way around to reach the pinnacle of his ability, but now that he is the main man at a club, for the first time in his career, he is shining.

Dembele struggled to emerge from the shadow of Lionel Messi at Barcelona and was reportedly subjected to more fines than any other player at the Nou Camp due to his training punctuality. He effectively replaced the departed Messi at PSG and again found himself veiled by Kylian Mbappe.

However, since Mbappe's departure, Dembele has shifted into a more central position and BANG. PSG shed their megastars for lesser-known talents and they have thrived through the change in culture. Dembele's talent is finally being coaxed out of him on the biggest stages.

He netted 29 goals and recorded 12 assists in just 33 starts and 11 substitute appearances last term across Ligue 1 and the Champions League.

4. Erling Haaland (Man City)

Erling Haaland, in a light blue Man City football shirt, points at the camera with his left hand. — Erling Haaland Photo by Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images

Haaland has normalised the abnormal. He set the bar insurmountably high from the very start, yet has maintained a scoring ratio that has completely distorted what success looks like for a Premier League striker. He has started the 2025/26 season in obscene shape and boasts a fear factor like few others.

The 25-year-old has continued to score approximately a goal per game in the best league in world football, and is firmly on course to hoist the Golden Boot once again – just a month into the campaign.

His physicality is unrivalled, his finishing ability – including improvised, instinctive finishing by any means necessary – is staggering and he boasts a turn of pace that few in the Premier League could match. The best bit? We're mostly likely yet to see Haaland at his absolute peak. The next few years should continue to be explosive and, if he proves his consistency over several years, he will sit No.1 in this list without rival.

3. Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)

We're still not downgrading Kane from third place despite Haaland's obvious qualities.

The relative mystique of foreign leagues can often inflate a player's reputation as we are fed their many highlights and rarely see their 4/10s, the days they'd rather not remember, their misses, their failures. The Premier League, in all its hyper-exposed, tribal glory, is often not a place where rival fans can appreciate world class talent when they see it. When Kane moved to Germany and made such a mockery of the Bundesliga, everyone finally saw the plain truth.

Kane's season-end tallies remain consistent around the 30-goal mark with a bundle of assists and uncountable contributions setting him above almost every other striker in the world. In 2023/24, he netted 36 goals in the 34-game season. For context, Robert Lewandowski set the single-season record in 2021 with 41.

Of course, when it comes to sheer numbers, Haaland is ripping up every record he can lay his hands on, but dare we suggest Haaland's all-around game is, by Kane's standards, almost... limited? The City star is a ruthless finisher and constant menace against the backline, but Kane offers similarly lethal goalscoring ability with the technical talents of a fully fledged playmaker to boot.

The England captain's finishing is exemplary, his positioning to accommodate for a lack of raw pace is second-to-none, though his unique selling point is his uncanny creative ability, to pick a pass from deep, to swing a cross in, to play the No.10 and No.9 roles simultaneously and effectively and he achieved all of that in a Tottenham team that, with the greatest respect, was simply not at his level and rarely has been near his standard. He is the greatest natural No.9 in world football right now.

2. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

The Egyptian King is enjoying a transition phase, from an elite Premier League player into an all-time legendary one.

Mohamed Salah's consistency remains remarkable with 31, 31, 30, 25, 34 goals in his last five seasons respectively across all competitions. He is rarely injured, rarely suspended and usually always available, proven by 51 appearances in each of the three campaigns prior to 2023/24 where he missed a month due to the Africa Cup of Nations, hence his marginally lower goal tally.

For a player with a relatively simple playing style, he remains an enigma to halt. We say 'simple' in the least derogatory way possible. Salah is a touchline-hugging, direct winger with the ability to drive inside as he approaches the box. It should be easy to see it coming, but nobody has found a way to stop him.

If he racks up another couple of 20+ goal seasons, he will hit the 200 Premier League goals mark, an unbelievable achievement for any player, let alone a winger who actually does play out wide.

Salah levelled Alan Shearer's record of 47 goal contributions in a single Premier League season last term. He is a generational talent, and a slow start to 2025/26 isn't enough to dislodge him from his perch. Yet.

1. Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid)

Mbappé is a megastar forged by the crucible of the World Cup. It's an old-school way to achieve greatness given the prominence of the Champions League and Premier League, but Mbappé's international heroics prove his ability and mentality beyond all reasonable doubt.

Like Neymar, like Messi, like many before, made a mockery of Ligue 1 but his form on the global stage for both club and country puts him out in front. His World Cup 2022 final hat-trick will go down as the stuff of legends – a big time performance from a big time player.

Mbappé was often portrayed as a dramatic soap character in the long-brewed psychodrama between PSG and Real Madrid ahead of his transfer, a large portion of his mind fixed on off-field politics, but the character he showed throughout the World Cup, his mentality and steely determination to drag his team kicking and screaming to the trophy has elevated him to the very top of the ladder.

The 27-year-old is one of the fastest footballers we've ever seen grace the field, with shooting technique like no other. He can strike the ball on the run or with immense power from a dead standing start, he can finesse shots low into the corners or drill the ball high and rising into the roof of the net. If you offer him an inch of the goal, he will punish you, mercilessly.

He netted a ferocious haul of 31 goals in 34 La Liga games during his maiden voyage with Real Madrid, plus seven goals in 14 Champions League matches, and has started the fresh campaign scoring a goal per game.

Who is the best football player in the world?

Kylian Mbappe remains our best football player in the world 2025.

Ousmane Dembele and Lamine Yamal may be the hot prospects enjoying ridiculous streaks of form, but Mbappe remains untouchable at the summit for now.

Do you agree with our list? Of course you don't! And that's totally fine, even though you are completely wrong.

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Michael PottsSport Editor

Michael Potts is the Sport Editor for Radio Times, covering all of the biggest sporting events across the globe with previews, features, interviews and more. He has worked for Radio Times since 2019 and previously worked on the sport desk at Express.co.uk after starting his career writing features for What Culture. He achieved a first-class degree in Sports Journalism in 2014.