It is finally here! The Top 100 Footballers in the World for the calendar year of 2018, set to be revealed over the next week. 2018 gave us the happy surprises of Croatia and England at the World Cup although it was Deschamps’ France that lifted the trophy; the dominance of Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, a record breaking Manchester City team and the rise of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Throughout every single match in all of the world’s top leagues and competitions, The Mastermind was breaking it all down in an attempt to compile a list of the best male footballers on the planet. This is what we came up with. BUT FIRST, check out How It All Works below.

HOW IT ALL WORKS

In establishing a ranking of the best footballers on the planet, it would be impossible to do so without some kind of criteria. As a result, The Mastermind has long been a proponent of a set formula for ranking players, created by the owner of the site before it even existed.

It works like this: Each player is given a score out of 100 in five different categories (reputation/overall ability, form throughout 2018, club’s form in 2018, contribution to national team success and difficulty of league they play in). Each of these categories weigh a different amount towards the formula score as some are more important than others in ranking players. Form throughout 2018 is the most important and weights 50% of a player’s total score, while their overall reputation is the next highest, weighing 30%. As this is a World Cup year, contribution to national team success weighs slightly more (8%) than it normally might. The player’s total score is then compiled and the players are ranked based on their score.

For example, this is the score of Gabriel Jesus, who just missed out on The Mastermind Top 100 2018, finishing in 106th. Jesus and the other nine players who narrowly missed out on The Top 100 are discussed here in Who Just Missed The Cut of The Mastermind Top 100 2018.

Form in 2018	83	x 0.5	41.5
Reputation	84	x 0.3	25.2
Club’s Form	92	x 0.07	6.44
Contribution to National Team Success	84	x 0.08	6.72
Difficulty of League	95	x 0.05	4.75
Formula Score	————->	—————>	84.61