Messi, Haaland, Mbappe, Ronaldo outside top 50: The top 100 players of 2022 ranked | OneFootball

The top 100 male footballers of 2022 have been ranked – and Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t even make the top 50.

Ronaldo’s career veered badly off course following the conclusion of Manchester United’s 2021/22 season and the 37-year-old has rarely delivered on the pitch since.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner spent much of the summer trying to engineer a move away from Old Trafford, but attracted little interest from clubs around Europe.

Forced to remain at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’, Ronaldo cut an increasingly frustrated figure as he found himself out of favour with United boss, Erik ten Hag.

That frustration eventually boiled over when he gave an explosive interview to celebrity pal Piers Morgan, in which he blasted the club.

Ronaldo was released by United shortly afterwards while representing Portugal at the 2022 World Cup.

Following a tournament to forget in Qatar, the former Real Madrid and Juventus man admitted defeat in his quest to remain in European football and agreed a money-spinning move to Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Nassr.

Having only made his debut for his new club earlier this month, Ronaldo’s performances in the Gulf state aren’t accounted for in these rankings.

However, it’s fair to say that the start of his Saudi career hasn’t exactly gone to plan.

While Ronaldo’s career has faltered badly, his eternal rival Lionel Messi has gone from strength to strength, ultimately being ranked as the best player in the world by The Guardian’s panel of 206 judges.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo trails the Paris Saint-Germain superstar by a huge 50 places, sitting all the way back in 51st place. He was ranked eighth in the 2021 list – showing just how far his reputation has fallen.

You can read more about the panel – which included 10 former international players, as well as ex-Chelsea boss Avram Grant – here.

A massive 76% of responses named Messi as the greatest player on the planet in a year when he finally achieved his dream of winning the World Cup with his beloved Argentina.

You can check out the top 100 in full below.

100. Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica)

99. Gabriel Barbosa (Flamengo)

98. Leroy Sané (Bayern Munich)

97. Andrew Robertson (Liverpool)

96. Sandro Tonali (AC Milan)

95. Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich)

94. Reece James (Chelsea)

93. Rodrygo (Real Madrid)

92. Giorgian de Arrascaeta (Flamengo)

91. Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)

90. Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle)

89. Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona)

88. Declan Rice (West Ham)

87. Ciro Immobile (Lazio)

86. Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)

85. Raphaël Varane (Manchester United)

84. Kyle Walker (Manchester City)

83. Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham)

82. Darwin Núñez (Liverpool)

80. Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea)

79. Azzedine Ounahi (Angers)

78. Mehdi Taremi (Porto)

77. Fabinho (Liverpool)

76. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)

75. Thiago Silva (Chelsea)

74. Mike Maignan (AC Milan)

73. Nicoló Barella (Inter Milan)

72. Cristian Romero (Tottenham)

71. Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb)

70. Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan)

69. Ousmane Dembélé (Barcelona)

68. Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan)

67. Éder Militão (Real Madrid)

66. Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus)

65. Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain)

64. Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)

63. Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea)

62. Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)

61. Richarlison (Tottenham)

60. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)

59. Luis Díaz (Liverpool)

58. Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

57. Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)

56. Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid)

55. Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City)

54. Ederson (Manchester City)

53. Rodri (Manchester City)

52. Victor Osimhen (Napoli)

51. Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr)

50. Cody Gakpo (Liverpool)

49. Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina)

48. Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid)

47. Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton)

46. Theo Hernandez (Milan)

45. Aurélien Tchouaméni (Real Madrid)

44. Rúben Dias (Manchester City)

43. Yassine ‘Bono’ Bounou (Sevilla)

42. David Alaba (Real Madrid)

41. Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)

40. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)

39. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)

38. Ángel Di María (Juventus)

37. Gavi (Barcelona)

36. João Cancelo (Manchester City)

35. Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal)

34. Alisson (Liverpool)

33. Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)

32. Julián Álvarez (Manchester City)

31. Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig)

30. Olivier Giroud (AC Milan)

29. Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)

28. Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)

27. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

26. Son Heung-min (Tottenham)

25. Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)

24. Phil Foden (Manchester City)

23. Rafael Leão (AC Milan)

22. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

21. Enzo Fernández (Benfica)

20. Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa)

19. Pedri (Barcelona)

18. Federico Valverde (Real Madrid)

17. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)

16. Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain)

15. Casemiro (Manchester United)

14. Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)

13. Harry Kane (Tottenham)

12. Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)

11. Sadio Mané (Bayern Munich)

10. Mo Salah (Liverpool)

9. Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)

8. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid)

7. Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)

6. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

5. Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

4. Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

3. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

2. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)

1. Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)

Kylian Mbappe finished second in the vote, although he could easily have eclipsed his club colleague Messi had France come out on top in a nail-biting World Cup final.

Real Madrid’s 2022 Ballon d’Or winner, Karim Benzema, ranked third overall, while Erling Haaland’s blistering form since trading Borussia Dortmund for Manchester City earned him fourth place on the countdown.

The prolific Norwegian is one of 12 City players to feature in the top 100 – making Pep Guardiola’s men the side with the most players in the list.

The seemingly ageless Luka Modric rounds out the top five as one of 11 representatives from Real Madrid.

Messi’s triumph marks the sixth time he has been crowned the best player in the world by The Guardian since 2012.

The Argentine superstar will be keen to add to that tally in 2023. Whether former two-time winner Ronaldo features on the countdown at all next time around must now be considered doubtful.

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