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As was the case last year, on the day of the Ballon d’Or ceremony, the CIES Football Observatory took the liberty of compiling a ranking of the 50 most deserving outfield players over the past year, based on three criteria : performances across eight areas of the game according to this methodology (Impect data), the competitive level of the matches played (method) and the results of those matches. FC Barcelona’s prodigy Lamine Yamal takes once again the top spot. The Spaniard is ahead of Bayern Munich’s Frenchman Michael Olise and his English teammate Harry Kane. In fourth place, Argentina’s Lionel Messi is the oldest player in the top fifty. He would even have been top had performances not been weighted according to the sporting level of the matches played. Désiré Doué is fifth, just ahead of Kylian Mbappé and his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Two other FC Barcelona world champions feature in the top 10 (Pedri González and Pau Cubarsí), as does Norway’s Erling Haaland. Last year’s actual winner, France’s Ousmane Dembélé, is, however, only 27th. >>> 2026 rankings >>> 2025 rankings |
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About the CIES Football Observatory The CIES Football Observatory is a research group created in 2005 within the Swiss-based Centre International d’Étude du Sport (CIES). It specialises in the statistical analysis of football, in particular in the areas of demographics, transfer values and performance (technical, tactical, physical). Click here for more information. About the CIES The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) is an independent study centre located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It was created in 1995 as a joint venture between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the University of Neuchâtel, the City and State of Neuchatel. Click here for more information. CIES – Centre International d’Étude du Sport Avenue DuPeyrou 1, 2000 Neuchâtel |
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