2023 Top 100 Best Footballers In The World: Osimhen In, Ronaldo Out

Nigerian forward, Victor Osimhen has made it to the 2023 top 100 best footballers in the world list which marked a good end to a very big year for his career.

Recall that Victor Osimhen ended this year as the best footballer in Africa according to the continent’s football governing body, CAF. This award came after finishing 8th in the 2023 Ballon d’Or which was the highest finish for a Nigerian footballer in history.

However, according to Four Four Two, the 24-year-old Napoli striker is the 14th-best footballer in the world during the outgoing year.

Osimhen is not the only Nigerian who made it into the top 100 footballers in the world list, Bayer Leverkusen in-form striker, Victor Boniface made it to the list but not anywhere close to the top fifty.

The 22-year-old Nigerian striker has been phenomenal since he moved to Bayer Leverkusen where he has won the best Bundesliga rookie of the month for a record five times in a row.

Despite such a run, he has been rated far below players like Kieran Trippier of Newcastle United, and Marcus Rashford of Manchester United.

Interestingly, 38-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo who has scored a total of 50 goals for his country, Portugal, and club, Al Nassr, so far this year is not seen as one of the best 100 footballers in the world in 2023.

Ronaldo’s career rival, Lionel Messi who is now contracted to Inter Miami in the Major League Soccer made it to the list and was even rated as high as the 6th best.

Below are the 100 best footballers in the world in 2023:

1. Erling Haaland (Man City)
2. Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
3. Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)
4. Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
5. Rodri (Man City)
6. Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)
7. Bernardo Silva (Man City)
8. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
9. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
10. Vinicius Jr. (Real Madrid)
11. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
12. Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
13. Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
14. Victor Osimhen (Napoli)
15. Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona)
16. William Saliba (Arsenal)
17. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
18. John Stones (Man City)
19. Rafael Leao (AC Milan)
20. Declan Rice (Arsenal)
21. Allison (Liverpool)
22. Bruno Guimares (Newcastle)
23. Ederson (Man City)
24. Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
25. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)
26. Ruben Dias (Man City)
27. Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich)
28. Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
29. Kyle Walker (Man City)
30. Son Heung-Min (Tottenham)
31. Xavi Simons (PSV)
32. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
33. Pedri (Barcelona)
34. Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
35. Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG)
36. Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid)
37. Alejandro Balde (Barcelona)
38. James Maddison (Tottenham)
39. Julian Alvarez (Man City)
40. Kieran Trippier (Newcastle)
41. Ter Stegen (Barcelona)
42. Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton)
43. Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
44. Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad)
45. Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
46. Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona)
47. Kim Min-Jae (Napoli)
48. Randal Kolo-Muani (PSG)
49. Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
50. Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
51. Martinelli (Arsenal)
52. Alphonso Davies (Bayern)
53. Luis Diaz (Liverpool)
54. Kingsley Coman (Bayern)
55. Dusan Vlahovic (Juve)
56. Lois Openda (Lens)
57. Bruno Fernandes (Man United)
58. Alexander Isak (Newcastle)
59. Achraf Hakimi (PSG)
60. Rodrygo (Real Madrid)
61. Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
62. Santiago Gimenez (Feyenoord)
63. Gavi (Barcelona)
64. Marquinhos (PSG)
65. Toni Kross (Real Madrid)
66. Joao Palhinha (Fulham)
67. Anthony Gordon (Newcastle)
68. Granit Xhaka (Leverkusen)
69. Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid)
70. Theo Hernandez (AC Milan)
71. Sven Botman (Newcastle United)
72. Phil Foden (Man City)
73. Julian Brandt (Dortmund)
74. Dejan Kulusevski (Tottenham)
75. Hakan Calhanoglou (Inter Milan)
76. Moussa Diaby (Aston Villa)
77. Marcus Rashford (Man United)
78. Jack Grealish (Man City)
79. Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool)
80. Victor Boniface (Leverkusen)
81. Federico Valverde (Real Madrid)
82. Raheem Sterling (Chelsea)
83. Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa)
84. Federico Chiesa (Juve)
85. Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad)
86. Viktor Gyokeres (Sporting Lisbon)
87. Christopher Nkunku (Chelsea)
88. Ivan Martin (Girona)
89. Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan)
90. Nico Williams (Athletic Club)
91. Serhou Guirassy (Stuttgart)
92. Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea)
93. Olivier Giroud (AC Milan)
94. Isco (Real Betis)
95. Lucas Paqueta (West Ham United)
96. Karim Benzema (Al-Ittihad)
97. Micky van de Ven (Tottenham)
98. Diogo Costa (FC Porto)
99. Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid)
100. Sergio Busquets (Inter Miami)