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Lyon celebrate winning the Champions League after beating Wolfsburg in the final. How many Lyon players will be in the Guardian’s top 100?
Lyon celebrate winning the Champions League after beating Wolfsburg in the final. How many Lyon players will be in the Guardian’s top 100? Photograph: Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA
Lyon celebrate winning the Champions League after beating Wolfsburg in the final. How many Lyon players will be in the Guardian’s top 100? Photograph: Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA

Guardian to reveal the 100 best female footballers in the world in 2018

This article is more than 5 years old

We teamed up with The Offside Rule Podcast and asked 72 experts, including Joe Montemurro, Kelly Smith and Kathryn Markgraf, for their verdicts

The Guardian is pleased to introduce its inaugural list of the best 100 female footballers in the world. In association with The Offside Rule Podcast we have assembled a panel of 72 judges from around the world to rate the players who have stood out in 2018.

The panel includes experts such as the former Arsenal and England forward Kelly Smith, former USA internationals Tiffeny Milbrett and Kathryn Markgraf as well as leading managers such as Mark Parsons (Portland Thorns), Olivier Echouafni (Paris Saint Germain), Joe Montemurro (Arsenal) and Laura Harvey (Utah Royals).

The Offside Rule has produced the list since 2016, but this is the first published in association with the Guardian.

The countdown begins on Tuesday 4 December with Nos 100-71. On Wednesday we will reveal Nos 70-41, on Thursday Nos 40-11 before the top 10 on Friday completes this year’s list.

Our 72 judges are drawn from around the world as follows: 34 from Europe, 14 from North and Central America, 11 from Asia, seven from South America, 11 from Asia, six from Africa.

The Top 100 rules are explained beneath the list of judges.

Players

  • Kelly Smith Former Arsenal and England international with over 100 caps; remains the top scorer for her country

  • Tiffeny Milbrett Former USA international with 206 caps and 100 goals; won two Olympic gold medals and the 1999 World Cup

  • Kathryn Markgraf Former USA international with 201 caps; won two Olympic gold medals and the 1999 World Cup

  • Annike Krahn Former Germany international with 137 caps; won two European Championships and the 2007 World Cup

  • Renee Slegers Former Netherlands with 55 caps

  • Sarah Gregorius New Zealand international with 69 caps; won the FA WSL with Liverpool in 2013

  • Melissa Ortiz Colombia international; represented her country at the 2012 Olympics

  • Kirsty Yallop Former New Zealand international with 90 caps

  • Jenny Ruiz Former Mexico international with 36 caps

  • Alison Forman Former Australia international with 77 caps; represented her country at the 1995 and 1999 World Cups

  • Lorena Soto Former Paraguay international

  • Jordan Angeli Former Boston Breakers, Washington Spirit and Western New York Flash player; current commentator and analyst for the NWSL

  • Khalida Popal Former Afghanistan international captain

  • Ana Cate Nicaragua international playing for Stjarnan in Iceland

  • Iona Rothfeld Former Chile international

Coaches

  • Stephan Lerch VfL Wolfsburg manager

  • Mark Parsons Portland Thorns manager

  • Olivier Echouafni PSG manager; former France head coach

  • Laura Harvey Utah Royals manager

  • Joe Montemurro Arsenal manager

  • Vlatko Andonovski Seattle Reign manager

  • Jose Luis Sanchez Atlético Madrid manager

  • Jayne Ludlow Wales national team head coach

  • Jonas Eidevall FC Rosengård manager

  • Martin Sjögren Norway national team head coach

  • Thomas Worle FC Bayern Munich manager

  • Nils Nielsen Switzerland national team head coach

  • Carolina Morace Milan manager

  • Lars Sondegaard Denmark national team head coach

  • Marc Skinner Birmingham City manager

  • Colin Bell Republic of Ireland national team head coach

  • Thomas Dennerby Nigeria national team head coach

  • Jeff Hopkins Melbourne Victory manager

  • Amelia Valverde Costa Rica national team head coach

  • Farid Benstiti Dalian Quanjian manager

  • Anna Signeul Finland national team head coach

  • Daniel Kraus SGS Essen manager

  • Benno Nihom Ajax manager

  • Desiree Ellis South Africa national team head coach

  • Vanessa Arauz Ecuador national team head coach

  • Carrie Kveton Fortuna Hjorring manager

  • Matt Ross Vittsjö GIK manager

  • Belinda Wilson Guam national team head coach

Journalists and broadcasters

  • Romain Balland Journalist and presenter, Eurosport in France

  • Suzanne Wrack Women’s football writer, the Guardian in England

  • Syanie Dalmat Football writer, L’Equipe in France

  • Jennifer Gordon Women’s football writer, Equalizer Soccer in the USA

  • Kieran Theivam Freelance women’s football writer in England

  • Jasmina Schweimler Women’s football writer, WAZ in Germany

  • Jen Cooper Presenter of the Keeper Notes women’s football podcast in the USA

  • Rich Laverty Freelance women’s football writer in England

  • Angela Bacic Content Creator, The Women’s Game in Australia

  • David Menayo Football writer, Marca in Spain

  • Carolina Garcia Creator of the first Women & Sport congress in Latin America

  • Mariana Cabral Football writer, Expresso in Portugal

  • Cintia Barlem Football writer, Globo Esporte in Brazil

  • Harjeet Johal Women’s football writer, Equalizer Soccer in Canada

  • Seraina Degen Football writer, SRF Sport in Switzerland

  • Sarah Groube Freelance women’s football writer in Australia

  • Pamela Del Olmo Freelance women’s football writer in Mexico

  • Annemarie Postma Women’s football writer and author in the Netherlands

  • Julia Wanjeri Women’s football writer; creator of JWSports in Africa

  • Sandra Prusina Women’s football writer, Sportsnet in Canada

  • Cheryl Downes Editor-in-Chief, The Women’s Game in Australia

  • Sophie Lawson Freelance women’s football writer in England, VAVEL editor

  • Javiera Court Arrau Women’s football writer in Chile

  • Jana Lange Women’s football writer, SID Sport News in Germany

  • Rainer Fussganger Freelance women’s football writer in Sweden

  • Akosua Amoo Football presenter and reporter in Ghana

  • Sven Beyrich Freelance women’s football writer in Germany, specialising in Thai football

  • Rachel Ugiagbe Writer and editor, Ultima Sportsnet in Nigeria

  • Gracey Chirumanzu Editor, The Sports Queen

How they made their choices

Our judges were sent a longlist of more than 500 footballers drawn from leagues on every continent and asked one simple question: who have been the best female footballers in the world in 2018?

We asked our judges to choose 40 names each, and rank their selections in order from 1-40, No 1 being their choice of the best female player in the world this year.

How the voting works

The No 1 choice of each judge was awarded 40 points, No 2 given 39 points, down to 1 point for their 40th choice. All the votes were added together to give the final score.

If players are level on points in the scoring, the number of individual votes is used as a tie-breaker. In the event individual votes were also level, the individual’s highest vote received is used as the next tie-breaker.

The individual voting breakdown will be published when the full list has been revealed.

Voting disclosure

We are very grateful to our judges for taking part and none have been paid for participating in this project.

To allow our judges freedom to express their opinions without fear or favour, individual voting records will be anonymised in the full breakdown of scores.

Voters are identified only by a number chosen at random. The judges’ number bear no relation whatsoever to the ordered list of judges’ names presented above.

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