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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