All good things must come to an end, they say, and that is certainly the case when it comes to football careers. Neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo have hung up their boots yet, and they look set to carry on for a few years still, but their time at the very top appears to be over.
That much is reflected in our survey of the 100 best male footballers in the world in 2023, which, for the first time since we started the list in 2012, has neither the Argentinian or Portuguese superstar in the top three. The fact that they have featured so highly for 10 years is a remarkable feat and we are unlikely to see their like again.
