The top 50 male footballers in 2021, as voted for by the fans, has been released, with Premier League stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, N'Golo Kante and Kevin De Bruyne all inside the top 10.
GOAL's ranking of the best players this Calendar year was voted on by the public, and it certainly yielded some very interesting results.
It's been a year in which no one player has stood out head and shoulders above the competition, as is evidenced by the open nature of this year's Ballon d'Or contest.
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With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both joining new clubs this summer, the door was left ajar for new challengers to take on the footballing GOATs - and for old favourites to show they've still got it.
The main source of intrigue in this year's Goal50 list is who comes out on top, given the form of stars like Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema.
However, despite there being many worthy heirs to the throne, fans still selected Lionel Messi at number 1.
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The Paris Saint-Germain star is yet to score in Ligue 1 for his new club, but as the old adage goes: form is temporary, class is permanent.
The rest of the top 10 is as follows:
1) Lionel Messi (PSG)
2) Cristiano Ronaldo (Man United)
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3) Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
4) Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
5) Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
6) Erling Haaland (BVB)
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7) Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
8) N'Golo Kante (Chelsea)
9) Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
10) Neymar (PSG)
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Elsewhere in the top 10, we see plenty of Premier League representation. Liverpool forward Salah is the highest ranked at 4th, which is hardly a shock given his recent form for the club.
Had the Egyptian started this calendar year in such a relentless manner, he may have been able to break into the top two or three.
2021 was also a big year for Bayern Munich marksman Lewandowski, who broke Gerd Muller's Bundesliga goalscoring record of 40 back in May.
The Pole, who is well-positioned to win individual accolades later this year, is therefore a worthy third on the list behind Ronaldo and Messi.
Further down the order, we see plenty of Chelsea representation, as well as Manchester City. Given that two the English clubs played out this year's Champions League final, this is certainly very understandable.
Italy's Euro 2020 heroes also get plenty of love from GOAL readers, with the likes of Giorgio Chiellini, Leandro Bonucci, Jorginho and Federico Chiesa all making the cut.
The rest of the top 50 can be seen below, with includes some surprise selections from no.45 onwards:
11) Luis Suarez (Ateltico Madrid)
12) Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea)
13) Angel di Maria (PSG)
14) Bruno Fernandes (Man United)
15) Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
16) Paul Pogba (Man United)
17) Son Heung-Min (Spurs)
18) Harry Kane (Spurs)
19) Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG)
20) Edouard Mendy (Chelsea)
21) Achraf Hakimi (PSG)
22) Jorginho (Chelsea)
23) Phil Foden (Man City)
24) Jan Oblak (Athletico Madrid)
25) Federico Chiesa (Juventus)
26) Pedri (Barcelona)
27) Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
28) Riyad Mahrez (Man City)
29) Ruben Dias (Man City)
30) Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
31) Mason Mount (Chelsea)
32) Kai Havertz (Chelsea)
33) Memphis Depay (Barcelona)
34) Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
35) Keylor Navas (PSG)
36) Raheem Sterling (Man City)
37) Ilkay Gundogan (Man City)
38) Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli)
39) Jack Grealish (Man City)
40) Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
41) Dani Alves (Barcelona)
42) Christian Pulisic (Chelsea)
43) Luke Shaw (Man United)
44) Koke (Atletico Madrid)
45) Nicolo Barella (Inter)
46) Gerard Moreno (Villareal)
47) Hulk (Atletico Minero)
48) Burak Yilmaz (Lille)
49) Mohamed Sherif (Al Ahly)
50) Takefusa Kubo (Real Madrid, on loan at Real Mallorca)
Topics:Β Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi, Premier League, Karim Benzema, Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo, La Liga, Bundesliga