The ranking, originally published June 8, 2026 before the tournament, set out to identify the 50 best players who would be at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and noted the outsized influence the World Cup can have on end-of-year awards. The editor’s note warned that Ballon d’Or voters often tilt toward players from the World Cup-winning team, even offering a hypothetical about Cristiano Ronaldo as an example of that tendency.
The list is primarily based on the past couple of seasons of club performance, with the main criterion being how much impact a player has on his team’s chances of winning a given game. The ranking also acknowledged that international soccer differs from club play in training time, pressing, and possession patterns, and that no one can predict how players will perform for their national teams.
To make the exercise clearer, the 50 selections were separated into seven tiers. Tier 7 was labeled “Winners for their clubs — but maybe not in a World Cup 50.” That tier included Mohamed Salah (49), Kai Havertz (48), Bernardo Silva (47), Jules Koundé (46), Joško Gvardiol (45), Emiliano Martínez (44), Gabriel Magalhães (43), Willian Pacho (42) and Marquinhos (41), along with Thibaut Courtois.
The editors wrote that Tier 7 players often help their clubs win by doing things other than scoring goals. Mohamed Salah was described as the toughest choice in the tier: a year earlier he had a case to be No. 1 on the list but “fell off badly” as did much of Liverpool this season. The note said Salah sometimes looked old and was frequently beaten one-on-one, yet he still found space in the attacking third and created shots for teammates.
Kai Havertz and Bernardo Silva were highlighted for their positional flexibility and quality both with and without the ball, giving managers tactical options. Jules Koundé and Joško Gvardiol were cited as prime examples of a so-called “elbow back” — a fullback/center back hybrid who is good enough in possession to push up the field like a traditional fullback, according to John Muller, co-founder of analytics company Futi.
