The 100 Best Female Footballers in the World

The 100 Best Female Footballers in the World is an annual global ranking of the best female footballers. The list was started by The Offside Rule podcast in 2016. Since 2018 it has also been published in association with the British newspaper The Guardian who have published the male equivalent since its inception in 2012.

The list is voted for by a panel of experts ranging from players and coaches to journalists and broadcasters from around the world. Judges are sent a longlist of 450 footballers and asked to rank their top 40 who are given a corresponding points value. The total across all judges determines the finish position. In 2019, the panel consisted of 93 judges from 44 countries across five continents including newly-appointed USWNT and reigning NWSL champion head coach Vlatko Andonovski, and FIFA Female Player of the Century and legendary China international Sun Wen.^[1]

Winners

Number of wins in brackets.


Year	Player	Club(s)
2016^[2]	Ada Hegerberg	Lyon
2017^[3]	Lieke Martens	Rosengård / Barcelona
2018^[4]	Pernille Harder	Wolfsburg
2019^[5]	Sam Kerr	Perth Glory / Chicago Red Stars
2020^[6]	Pernille Harder (2)	Wolfsburg / Chelsea
2021^[7]	Alexia Putellas	Barcelona
2022^[8]	Alexia Putellas (2)	Barcelona
2023^[9]	Aitana Bonmatí	Barcelona

Top 10

As of 2023, 36 individual players have been included in the "top 10" of the Top 100 list.

Rank	Player	Years	Peak	Club(s)	Apps
1	Sam Kerr	2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023	1	Perth Glory, Sky Blue FC, Chicago Red Stars, Chelsea	7
2	Lucy Bronze	2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022	2	Manchester City, Lyon, Barcelona	6
3	Pernille Harder	2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021	1	Wolfsburg, Chelsea	5
	Vivianne Miedema	2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022	2	Arsenal
	Wendie Renard	2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020	4	Lyon
6	Caroline Graham Hansen	2020, 2021, 2022, 2023	4	Barcelona	4
6	Ada Hegerberg	2016, 2017, 2018, 2019	1	Lyon	4
8	Aitana Bonmatí	2021, 2022, 2023	1	Barcelona	3
	Amandine Henry	2018, 2019, 2020	5	Lyon
	Dzsenifer Marozsán	2016, 2017, 2020	5	Frankfurt, Lyon
	Lieke Martens	2017, 2018, 2021	1	Rosengård, Barcelona
12	Eugénie Le Sommer	2018, 2019	5	Lyon	2
	Marta	2016, 2017	2	Rosengård, Orlando Pride
	Alex Morgan	2017, 2018	7	Lyon, Orlando Pride
	Alexandra Popp	2022, 2023	6	Wolfsburg
	Alexia Putellas	2021, 2022	1	Barcelona
	Megan Rapinoe	2018, 2019	3	Seattle Reign
	Keira Walsh	2022, 2023	4	Manchester City, Barcelona
19	Melanie Behringer	2016	3	Bayern Munich	1
	Delphine Cascarino	2020	10	Lyon
	Mary Earps	2023	9	Manchester United
	Julie Ertz	2020	9	Chicago Red Stars
	Tobin Heath	2016	9	Portland Thorns
	Jennifer Hermoso	2021	6	Barcelona
	Lauren James	2023	10	Chelsea
	Fran Kirby	2021	7	Chelsea
	Rose Lavelle	2019	7	Washington Spirit
	Mapi León	2023	8	Barcelona
	Kim Little	2016	4	Arsenal
	Carli Lloyd	2016	7	Houston Dash
	Beth Mead	2022	2	Arsenal
	Lena Oberdorf	2022	5	Wolfsburg
	Salma Paralluelo	2023	3	Barcelona
	Irene Paredes	2021	8	PSG, Barcelona
	Fridolina Rolfö	2023	5	Barcelona
	Christine Sinclair	2016	6	Portland Thorns

Overall

By nationality

As of the 2023 edition, players from 38 nations have made up the Top 100. The United States has been the most represented nation in total (111) with a record 19 individuals in 2019. In 2020, Germany became the first nation other than the United States to be the most represented. Spain became the third nation to have the most selections with 15 in 2023. South Africa is the most recent nation to debut following the inclusion of Thembi Kgatlana in 2023.

Nationality is defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Rank	Nation	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	Total
1	United States	16	18	16	19	9	15	11	7	111
2	England	14	11	11	10	10	10	13	12	91
3	Germany	10	7	11	7	13	10	14	5	77
4	France	12	6	9	10	10	12	10	6	75
5	Spain	3	4	4	7	8	10	10	15	61
6	Sweden	8	2	5	9	8	9	4	6	51
7	Netherlands	4	9	6	6	8	4	5	8	50
8	Australia	6	8	5	2	3	2	3	8	37
9	Brazil	3	5	4	5	4	2	4	3	30
10	Canada	3	4	2	2	3	6	5	3	28
11	Norway	3	4	4	5	4	1	3	3	27
11	Japan	4	3	4	4	2	2	3	5	27
13	Scotland	3	0	1	2	3	2	3	2	16
14	Denmark	2	4	3	1	2	1	1	1	15
15	Switzerland	1	2	3	0	1	1	1	1	10
16	Nigeria	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	8
17	South Korea	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	7
	Italy	0	0	0	1	2	2	1	1
	Poland	0	0	1	1	1	2	1	1
20	Chile	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	6
	Iceland	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	1
	Malawi	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	1
23	Austria	0	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	5
	Wales	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	0
	Jamaica	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1
26	Portugal	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	4
	Venezuela	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	0
	Ireland	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	1
29	Belgium	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	3
29	Colombia	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3
31	China	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2
	Costa Rica	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Haiti	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
	New Zealand	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
	Serbia	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
	Zambia	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
37	Finland	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
37	South Africa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1

Nationalities by continent

The European confederation has had the most players selected every year.

Continent refers to the corresponding continental confederation of the player's nationality.

Rank	Confederation	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	Total
1	Europe	64	56	62	62	74	67	68	64	517
2	North America	19	24	18	22	13	22	18	12	148
3	Asia	12	12	11	7	6	5	7	13	73
4	South America	4	6	6	6	5	4	6	6	43
5	Africa	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	5	17
6	Oceania	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2

By club

As of the 2023 edition, players playing for 89 clubs have been selected. French club Lyon has had the most players in the Top 100 with 103 selections. In 2022, Barcelona became the first club other than Lyon to have the most players selected in a single year and retained the top spot the following year. Clubs are counted when a player in the Top 100 played for that team in the same calendar year they were selected. Players may have played for multiple clubs per year.

Rank	Club	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	Total
1	Lyon	15	12	14	12	12	15	13	10	103
2	Barcelona	3	5	4	8	10	14	14	15	73
3	Chelsea	7	7	5	8	11	9	10	10	67
4	Wolfsburg	8	7	11	11	10	4	10	5	66
5	Paris Saint-Germain	7	7	5	7	9	12	7	7	61
6	Arsenal	5	5	5	6	9	11	8	11	60
7	Manchester City	8	7	5	4	7	8	8	8	55
8	Bayern Munich	6	4	4	4	6	8	8	8	48
9	Portland Thorns	5	7	4	4	2	4	4	1	31
10	North Carolina Courage	0	4	8	8	5	2	2	1	30
11	Seattle Reign	4	4	5	1	0	5	4	0	23
12	Chicago Red Stars	2	2	4	5	2	2	1	0	18
	Orlando Pride	4	6	4	2	0	1	0	1
	Real Madrid	0	0	0	2	2	3	4	7
15	Rosengård	4	2	3	1	3	2	0	0	15
16	Houston Dash	5	2	1	1	3	1	1	0	14
17	Manchester United	0	0	0	1	1	1	4	5	12
	Montpellier	3	3	2	3	1	0	0	0
	Washington Spirit	2	1	1	3	1	2	1	1
20	Eintracht Frankfurt	4	3	1	1	1	0	1	0	11
20	Melbourne City	4	1	4	1	1	0	0	0	11
22	Linköpings	3	2	1	3	1	0	0	0	10
22	Atlético Madrid	0	1	1	3	2	2	0	0	9
22	Juventus	0	0	0	1	2	3	2	1	9
27	NJ/NY Gotham FC	0	3	0	1	0	2	0	2	8
27	Turbine Potsdam	3	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	8
29	San Diego Wave	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	6
29	Utah Royals	0	0	2	4	0	0	0	0	6
29	Bordeaux	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	5
29	LSK Kvinner	2	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	5
31	Aston Villa	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	4
	Canberra United	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	0
	Essen	0	0	2	1	1	0	0	0
	FC Twente	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	1
	Freiburg	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0
	Sydney FC	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
	Vålerenga	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0
38	BK Häcken	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	3
	Brisbane Roar	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
	Dalian	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
	FSU Seminoles	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
	Hoffenheim	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0
	INAC Kobe	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1
	Jiangsu Suning	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0
	Levante	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2
	Perth Glory	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
	UCLA Bruins	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
	Vegalta Sendai	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1
	West Ham United	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1
	Western New York Flash	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Western Sydney Wanderers	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0
52	AC Milan	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
	Angel City FC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
	Birmingham City	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
	Changchun Zhuoyue	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
	FC Kansas City	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Hammarby	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
	Kvarnsvedens	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Madrid CFF	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
	Pachuca	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
	Paris FC	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
	PSV Eindhoven	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
	Roma	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
	SC Sand	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Stade de Reims	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
	Wuhan	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
67	AC Nagano	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
	Achilles '29	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Boston Breakers	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Brighton & Hove Albion	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	Brøndby	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Deportivo Cali	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Everton	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	Inter Milan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
	JEF United	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Kansas City Current	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
	Liverpool	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Newcastle Jets	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	Okayama Yunogo Belle	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Örebro	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Racing Louisville	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
	Reading	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	Santos	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	São Paulo	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
	Shanghai Shengli	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	Suwon FC	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Tigres UANL	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Urawa Red Diamonds	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
	West Virginia Mountaineers	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Clubs by nation

For the first four years, the United States league system had the most players selected. Since 2020, England has been the most represented and set a new record of 37 players in 2023.

Rank	Nation	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	Total
1	England	20	20	16	20	31	31	32	37	207
2	France	26	22	21	23	24	29	21	19	185
3	United States	30	32	30	30	13	19	16	13	183
4	Germany	21	21	21	18	19	13	20	13	146
5	Spain	3	6	5	13	14	20	19	25	105
6	Sweden	9	5	5	4	6	3	0	1	33
7	Australia	6	6	8	7	2	0	0	0	29
8	Italy	0	0	0	1	2	3	3	5	14
9	China	1	2	4	1	1	1	0	1	11
10	Japan	2	3	1	2	0	0	0	2	10
11	Norway	2	1	2	3	1	0	0	0	9
12	Netherlands	0	3	0	0	1	0	1	2	7
13	Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	3
14	Brazil	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2
15	Colombia	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
	Denmark	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	South Korea	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

References

^ Laverty, Rich (2 December 2019). "How the Guardian ranked the 100 best female footballers in the world 2019". The Guardian.
^ "Top 100 Women's Footballers of 2016: 30-21". The Offside Rule. 21 December 2016.
^ "The Top 100 Women's Footballers of 2017 – Results". The Offside Rule. 11 December 2017.
^ Laverty, Rich. "The 100 best female footballers in the world 2018". The Guardian.
^ Laverty, Rich; Laverty, Rich. "The 100 best female footballers in the world 2019". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
^ Laverty, Rich. "The 100 best female footballers in the world 2020". The Guardian.
^ Laverty, Rich. "The 100 best female footballers in the world 2021". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
^ Laverty, Rich. "The 100 best female footballers in the world 2022". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
^ Laverty, Rich (12 January 2024). "The 100 best female footballers in the world 2023". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2024.

[1] Laverty, Rich (2 December 2019). "How the Guardian ranked the 100 best female footballers in the world 2019". The Guardian.

[2] "Top 100 Women's Footballers of 2016: 30-21". The Offside Rule. 21 December 2016.

[3] "The Top 100 Women's Footballers of 2017 – Results". The Offside Rule. 11 December 2017.

[4] Laverty, Rich. "The 100 best female footballers in the world 2018". The Guardian.

[5] Laverty, Rich; Laverty, Rich. "The 100 best female footballers in the world 2019". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 December 2019.

[6] Laverty, Rich. "The 100 best female footballers in the world 2020". The Guardian.

[7] Laverty, Rich. "The 100 best female footballers in the world 2021". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2021.

[8] Laverty, Rich. "The 100 best female footballers in the world 2022". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 December 2022.

[9] Laverty, Rich (12 January 2024). "The 100 best female footballers in the world 2023". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]