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In this post, we will check out the top 10 best football players in the world in 2023.

As we enter the year 2023, the world of football is teeming with incredible talent from all corners of the globe.

The last few years have seen the rise of young, exciting players who have quickly established themselves as some of the best in the world.

However, there are also veterans who continue to perform at the highest level and remain an integral part of their respective teams.

In this list, we will take a look at the top 10 best football players in the world for the year 2023. These players have been selected based on their performances over the past year, their impact on their teams, and their overall contribution to the sport. From attackers to defenders, this list represents the very best that football has to offer.

It’s important to note that this list is not exhaustive, and there are certainly many other talented players who could have easily made the cut.

However, the 10 players included here have proven themselves to be among the elite, and are sure to continue dazzling fans with their skill, athleticism, and passion for the game.

Top 10 Best Football Players In The World 2023

10. Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liverpool and the Egypt national team.

He is regarded as one of the best players in the world and among the greatest African players of all time, he is comprehended for his finishing, dribbling, and speed.

In 2017, Salah signed for Liverpool for a record transfer fee of £36.9 million. In his first season, he set the record for most Premier League goals scored (32) in a 38-game season and helped Liverpool to reach the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final.

Salah played an important role in the club’s Champions League and Premier League title successes after the following two seasons and also won the FA Cup and the League Cup. 

Salah has attained multiple individual accolades, which include two PFA Players’ Player of the Year awards, three Premier League Golden Boots, the Premier League Player of the Season, the Premier League Playmaker of the Season, and finished third for the Best FIFA Men’s Player in 2018 and 2021.

It’s no surprise that Mohamed Salah has made this list considering how much success he’s had over his short career so far! Mohamed Salah is number 10 in our list of 10 best football players in the world right now.

9. Erling Haaland

Erling Braut Haaland is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester City and the Norway national team.

He is considered one of the best players in the world, and well known for his speed, strength, and finishing.

In December 2019, he moved to the German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, where he won the DFB-Pokal in 2020–21.

Haaland has won several individual awards and has broken different records during his career. During the 2019–20 season with Salzburg, he became the first teenager to score in five consecutive UEFA Champions League matches.

He was also the top scorer in the Champions League the subsequent season. In 2020, Haaland won the Golden Boy award, while in 2021 he was anointed Bundesliga Player of the Season and was included in the FIFA FIFPro World11 2021.

8. Sadio Mane

Sadio Mane is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Senegal national team.

He is considered one of the best players in the world and among the most prominent African players of all time, he is comprehended for his pressing, dribbling, and speed.

Mané signed for Premier League club Liverpool in 2016, for a reported fee of £34 million. He aided the side reach back-to-back UEFA Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, succeeding the latter.

He also ended as the league’s joint-top goalscorer in the 2018–19 season, winning the Premier League Golden Boot.

In October 2021, he scored his 100th Premier League goal, becoming the third African to achieve the landmark.

At the international level, Mané has recorded 34 goals in 93 matches for Senegal since his debut in 2012 and presently ranks as his nation’s all-time top goalscorer, and third in all-time appearances.

7. Virgil van Dijk

Virgil van Dijk is a Dutch footballer who plays as a center-back for the Premier League club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team.

Virgil is regarded as one of the best defenders in the world and is known for his strength, leadership, and aerial ability. 

He is the only defender to win UEFA Men’s Player of the Year and has finished runner-up for the Ballon d’Or and Best FIFA Men’s Player.

He signed for Liverpool in January 2018 for £75 million, which is the world-record transfer fee for a defender at that time. 

With Liverpool, Van Dijk advanced to back-to-back UEFA Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, winning the latter.

He was also anointed PFA Players’ Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season in his first full season.

Van Dijk later won the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup and helped end the club’s 30-year league title drought by winning the 2019–20 Premier League. Virgil Van Dijk is number 7 on our list of the 10 best football players in the world right now.

6. Kylian Mbappe 

Kylian Mbappe is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team.

Mbappe is a product of the Paris Saint-Germain academy and made his debut for the club in 2017.

Mbappe was the second teenager after Pelé to score in a World Cup final when France beat Croatia 4–2 in 2018.

He is considered one of the best players in the world, Mbappé is recognized for his dribbling abilities, amazing speed, and finishing.

He won a total of four Ligue 1 titles, three Coupes de France, and is the club’s second-highest all-time top goalscorer, and aided the club to achieve their first UEFA Champions League Final in 2020.

Mbappé was designated to the FIFA FIFPro World11 in 2018 and 2019, the UEFA Team of the Year in 2018, and the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season in 2016–17, 2019–20, 2020–21, and 2021–22.

5. Neymar

Neymar is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Paris Saint-Germain. Neymar was born in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, Brazil.

He is a prolific goalscorer and outstanding playmaker, he is regarded as one of the best players in the world. Neymar has scored at least 100 goals for three different clubs, making him one of three players to accomplish this.

Neymar has twice anointed the South American Footballer of the Year, in 2011 and 2012, and soon emigrated to Europe to join Barcelona.

As part of Barcelona’s attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, he won the continental treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League. He then achieved a domestic double in the 2015–16 season.

Neymar transferred to PSG in 2017 for a transfer fee of €222 million, making him the most expensive player ever. In France, he won a total of four league titles and was voted Ligue 1 Player of the Year in his debut season.

Neymar finished third for the FIFA Ballon d’Or in 2015 and 2017, has been granted the FIFA Puskás Award twice, the UEFA Team of the Year twice, and the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season three times.

4. Kevin De Bruyne

Kevin De Bruyne was born in 1991, in Belgium. He currently plays for Manchester City and has been a member of their first team since 2015.

He is widely considered one of the best players in the world and of his generation. Many experts have often described him as a “complete footballer”.

In the summer of 2015, De Bruyne bound with Manchester City for a club record £54 million. He has won a total of four Premier League titles, five League Cups, and an FA Cup with the club.

In 2017–18 he had a substantial role in Manchester City’s record in becoming the only Premier League team to attain 100 points in a single season.

In 2019–20, De Bruyne tied the record for most assists in a Premier League season and was awarded Player of the Season (which he won again in 2021–22). Kevin De Bruyne is number 4 on our list of the 10 best football players in the world in 2023.

3. Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for the English club Manchester United.

He is the all-time highest scorer for the Portuguese national team, with more than 100 goals for the national team.

Cristiano also holds numerous individual awards, including five Ballon d’Or awards. He has won 32 trophies in his career, which includes seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, and the UEFA European Championship. 

He is one of the rare players to have made over 1,100 professional career appearances and has scored over 800 official senior career goals for the club and country.

Ronaldo was the topic of the then-most expensive football transfer when he signed for Real Madrid in 2009 worth €94 million (£80 million).

He won a total of 15 trophies, including two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey, and four Champions Leagues, and became the club’s all-time top goalscorer. Cristiano Ronaldo is number 3 in our list of the 10 best football players in the world in 2023.

2. Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi is a professional football player who plays as a forward for Barcelona and the Argentina national team.

Nicknamed La Pulga (the flea), he has won 7 FIFA Ballons d’Or and a record six European Golden Shoes. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.

He had devoured his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he won a club-record 35 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles, and four UEFA Champions Leagues.

Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (474), a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (8), and most assists in La Liga (192).

He also holds the record for most international goals by a South American male (90). Messi has scored over 780 senior career goals for club and country and has the most goals by a player for a single club.

1. Robert Lewandowski

Robert Lewandowski is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Spanish club Barcelona and is the captain of the Poland national team.

He is regarded as one of the best strikers in the world. He is Remembered for his positioning, technique, and finishing.

Lewandowski is deemed one of the best strikers of all time, as well as one of the most prosperous players in Bundesliga history. He has scored over 600 senior career goals for club and country.

Before the start of the 2014–15 season, Lewandowski decided to join Dortmund’s domestic rivals, Bayern Munich, on a free transfer.

In Munich, he won the Bundesliga title in every one of his eight seasons. Lewandowski was crucial in Bayern’s UEFA Champions League win in 2019–20 as part of a treble.

In 2020, Lewandowski won the Best FIFA Men’s Player Award and the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award. Robert Lewandowski tops the list of 10 best football players in the world in 2023.

Conclusion

Sometimes, you just want to know what the experts think. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of the best football players in the world right now.

We’ve ranked them according to their achievements, skills, and popularity—and each player’s value and influence on their team.

Some players are young and just starting out in their careers; others have been playing professionally for decades.

Some play for well-known clubs like Manchester United or Chelsea; others play for less prominent teams in the leagues.

But all these players deserve recognition as some of the best footballers on Earth right now–because they’re simply amazing at what they do!