Regardless of soccer's popularity in America, FIFAthe video game is a borderline religion among many millennials and gen Z-ers. You might even be friends with an obsessive who is silently mocking you for saying soccer instead of fútbol and has long, drawn-out debates about who's better, Lionel Messi or Christiano Ronaldo (it was Messi up until a couple years ago). Similar to the hub-bub over 2K rankings, the top 10–ranked players in FIFA released today are sure to piss people off as they attempt to answer that Messi-Ronaldo conundrum as well as who comes in at No. 3, who comes in over the 90-point threshold, and which European squads and leagues have the highest-rated players.Â
Here are the top 10, including Messi and Ronaldo with identical ratings (94), but Ronaldo in the top spot. Other rankings of note: Brazilian PSG striker who seems to get his hair cut and styled by the same guy as Frank Ocean, Neymar, who slots in at No. 3 despite moving in a record-breaking transfer last year from the superior La Liga to the French Ligue.Â
After Neymar with a 92 rating, the next three all come from the English Premier League, widely considered the top in the world (despite the fact Ronaldo now plays in Italy's Serie A, and Messi remains in La Liga), with 91 ratings: Luca Modric, Kevin De Bruyne, and Eden Hazard.
Rounding out the top 10 are some other big names with a 91 rating: Sergio Ramos, Luis Saurez, David De Gea, and Toni Kroos. Real Madrid midfielder Kross is ranked slightly lower than the rest in the top 10. Some players of note who just missed out on the top 20: Liverpool's Eygptian wing, Mo Salah (No. 27), and Manchester City attacking midfielder, David Silva (No. 24). English striker and World Cup goal machine Harry Kane makes his first appearance in the top 20, as does French defensive midfielder for Chelsea, N'Golo Kanté.
Real Madrid has the most (11) players in the top 100, with Bundesliga frontrunner Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Barca all with 10. EPL upper-crust Chelsea has the highest average player rating (88.6––but only 3 players in the top 100), with Real Madrid (88.4), PSG (88.3), Barca ( 88.3), Tottenham Hotspur (88), AC Milan (88), (Man U (87.8), Juventus (87.4), Athletico Madrid (87.3) and Napoli (87.25) as the top teams by average player rating.
Here's who else, with the rating attached, is in the top 20:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 94
2. Lionel Messi – 94
3. Neymar – 92
4. Luka Modric – 91
5. Kevin de Bruyne – 91
6. Eden Hazard – 91
7. Sergio Ramos – 91
8. Luis Suarez – 91
9. David de Gea – 91
10. Toni Kroos – 90
11. Robert Lewandowski – 90
12. Manuel Neuer – 90
13. Diego Godin – 90
14. Thibaut Courtois – 90
15. Jan Oblak – 90
16. N’Golo Kante – 89
17. Harry Kane – 89
18. Antoine Griezmann – 89
19. Giorgio Chiellini – 89
20. Sergio Aguero – 89
You can check out the top 100 here.
