Yamal second and Ronaldo 33rd: Marca reveals its ranking of the top 100 players in the world
Striking choices
Spanish newspaper "Marca" has revealed its list of the top 100 players of the 2025-2026 season. It features glittering names from Europe's major leagues, and the ranking carried striking surprises over where some of the leading candidates for individual awards landed.
For its annual ranking, "Marca's Top 100 Players", the newspaper leaned on a panel of more than 200 former players, journalists and analysts from around the world, who judged performances for club and country across the season.
Kane edges out Yamal and Mbappé
England's Harry Kane came out on top. The Bayern Munich striker edged young Spaniard Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona star, into second, while France's Kylian Mbappé, the Real Madrid striker, took third.
Spain's Rodri, the Manchester City man, finished fourth, with Georgia's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the Paris Saint-Germain star, in fifth.
Lionel Messi slotted into sixth. The Argentine and Inter Miami captain finished ahead of Spain's Fabián Ruiz, the Paris Saint-Germain player, who came seventh.
Completing the top ten were France's Michael Olise, the Bayern Munich player, in eighth, his compatriot Ousmane Dembélé, the Paris Saint-Germain star, ninth, and Spain's Pau Cubarsí, the Barcelona defender, tenth.
Bellingham ahead of Vinícius
Real Madrid's stars were scattered right across the list. England's Jude Bellingham came in fifteenth, ahead of Brazilian teammate Vinícius Júnior, who took twenty-second.
Belgium's Thibaut Courtois, the Real Madrid goalkeeper, placed twenty-eighth, while Turkey's Arda Güler came in forty-seventh.
Thirty-third went to Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, the Al-Nassr captain, with his teammate João Félix down in seventieth.
Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain feature strongly in the list
Barcelona packed out the ranking. Brazil's Raphinha came in thirteenth, Spain's Pedri fourteenth, Ferran Torres seventeenth and Dani Olmo twenty-first.
Goalkeeper Joan García took forty-second, and Eric García came in fifty-fifth.
Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, landed three players inside the top ten: Kvaratskhelia, Fabián Ruiz and Dembélé. Moroccan star Achraf Hakimi came in 20th, with Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, João Neves, Marquinhos and Willian Pacho dotted through various positions.
Names from outside Europe's major leagues made the cut too, most notably Messi at Inter Miami and Ronaldo at Al-Nassr.
