The 23 man Ballon d'Or shortlist for 2013 was released earlier today, and as per usual there are talking points aplenty regarding questionable omissions and inclusions. FIFA, nor anybody else for that matter, cannot produce an infallible list of the best performers in any given time frame and points to debate will remain nigh-on impossible to eradicate. Here, WhoScored.com's statistically-based rating system gives a alternative top 23 players since 1 January 2013, based purely on performances in club competition and the summer's Confederations Cup, whilst only players with at least 25 appearances have been considered, so as to ensure a degree of consistency.
Given the success of the Bundesliga this year, it is apt that the list is dominated by German players and others who have been plying their trade in that league. While the familiar faces of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo top the charts with respective ratings of 8.43 and 8.30, Franck Ribéry (8.03) leads a group of 11 Bundesliga players in the 23, 6 of whom make up the majority of the top 10. The Champions League final was an all-German affair at Wembley back in May, and the scorer of the winning goal in that match, Arjen Robben is amongst those to have performed to an outstanding level throughout the year, obtaining a rating of 7.78 over 30 appearances.
The rise of the Bundesliga further contributed to the plight of La Liga, and while Messi and Ronaldo stand out for fantastic displays and unparalleled personal goalscoring records, only one other player from the Primera is amongst the rankings, with Sevilla's Ivan Rakitic's flying start to this campaign boosting a decent end to last season. The heroic goals of Gareth Bale at Tottenham and Daniel Carvajal's impressive, consistent displays at right-back for Bayer Leverkusen won them both moves to the Bernabeu, perhaps giving indication of Madrid's realisation that other leagues were outgrowing the Spanish one.
Carvajal is, interestingly, the only Spaniard in the list, in a year where the country's two big sides were embarrassed by Bayern and Dortmund in the Champions League and the national side's record-breaking unbeaten run of 29 competitive games came to an end in comprehensive Confederations Cup Final defeat to Brazil. Xavi and Andrés Iniesta both made the official list but their performances were only enough to rank 186th and 70th, respectively, in WhoScored's rankings. What exactly they did this year to even be close to winning the Ballon d'Or is certainly debatable.
Mario Götze, Julian Draxler, Marco Reus, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Max Kruse and Stefan Kießling make up the German contingent in our top 23; more than any other nationality boasts. Leverkusen striker Kießling has scored 19 Bundesliga goals since the turn of the year, ranking him second in Germany and 6th in Europe's top 5 leagues. He has struggled, given his physical, domineering and rather unattractive approach to the game, to hold on to a spot in a short-passing Germany squad, but he can't be overlooked much longer if his performances continue to this standard.
Not far behind is Liverpool's Luis Suárez, who ranks fourth in the Ballon d'WhoScored list, helping his side to 3rd in the table this season, aided in his endeavours by captain Steven Gerrard's performances, who is the only Englishman on the shortlist. One Italian makes the list in Mario Balotelli, one Frenchman in Ribéry, one Portuguese player in Ronaldo, one Dutchman in Robben and one more from the likes of Poland (Lewandowski), Sweden (Ibrahimovic) and Chile (Vidal).
In fact, only Argentina (2 - Messi and Rodrigo Palacio) and Croatia (2 - Mario Mandzukic and Rakitic) join Germany with more than one player in the top 23 performers of 2013; it has been a good year in football to be German, and that could bode well for them with the World Cup coming up next summer. An eclectic mix of nations make up the rest of the list, but as we have come to expect, Messi and Ronaldo, with an incredible 28 goals each in the league, Champions League and Confederations Cup in 2013, lead the way just as they did last year.
Who do you think have been the best players in 2013? Let us know in the comments below
Much better than the FIFA popularity contest to decide the Ballon d'Or nominees
they should use this for the balon d'or
Last season Ribery was great, but he individually did NOTHING SPECIAL to win FIFA Ballon d’Or. Remove Ribery and Bayern still would win CL and Bundesliga. Ribery wasn’t even the best Bayern player, but taking away all the glory from other Bayern players. Ribery Played 27(3) and Scored 10 and 14 Assist in BL, 12(1) in CL and Scored only 1 and 2 Assists, 11+1 MOM among 35 full matches. Messi Played 32(4) and Scored 46 and 12 Assists in LL, 11(2) in CL and Scored 8 and 2 Assists, 20+5 MOM among 37 full matches. He scored/Assist the wining goal at least 20 times and led Barca to 100 points. MESSI LED HIS COUNTRY TO SEND WC14 AS THE REGION'S LEADER WHILE RIBERY IS PREPARING FOR PLAY OFF! In this season, Messi Played 9(1) and Scored 8 and 4 Assists in LL, 2 in CL and scored 4, 4+2 MOM among 10 full matches. While, Ribery Played 9(1) and scored 3 and 4 Assists in BL, 3 in CL and scored 3, 4+0 MOM among 11 full matches. Messi should win it. Stats speak reality....
Ribery! Quality in the right place e right time. That's what Ronaldo and Messi missed this year. P.s. some say coutinho... At this why don't we put Jonas Gutierrez and German Denis too?!? -_-"
There was a time when Madrid were 23 points behind Barca. Ronaldo was doing NOTHING then. ALL of his goals came when the team were leading already Useless goals. Ribery was great but he individually did NOTHING to win it. I know you people want Ribery to win it because he won CL. But I say remove Ribery and Bayern still would win CL and Bundesliga. Ribery wasnt event the best Bayern player but taking away all the glory from other Bayern players. Nothing need to be said about Messi. He scored the wining goal at least 20 times and was 'Man Of The Match' of more than 25 La Liga matches out of 38 and led Barca to 100 points. Won Pichichi and European Golden Shoe. MESSI LED HIS COUNTRY TO SEND WC14 AS THE 1ST SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRY AS REGION'S LEADER WHILE RIBERY AND CR7 ARE PREPARING FOR PLAY OFF. I will appreciate it more than any other result if Messi humiliates Ribery and Ronaldo in January to take his 5th consecutive Ballon d;or.
Its easier for Ronaldo and messi to mask rather poor games since they score plenty of goals(messi doesn't deserve a 8 plus rating for the ac game for example), but just scoring goals doesn't make you the best ask Mario gomez... ribery on the other hand is vital to bayerns treble success a key player since his arrival in 2007. he plays for the team, makes much excellent decisions, all back up by amazing skill.. showcased on the biggest stages with one result... ribery deserves the balloon d'or
There was a time when Madrid were 13* points behind Barca. Ronaldo was doing NOTHING then. ALL of his goals came when the team were leading already Useless goals. Ribery was great but he individually did NOTHING to win it. I know you people want Ribery to win it because he won CL. But I say remove Ribery and Bayern still would win CL and Bundesliga. Ribery wasnt event the best Bayern player but taking away all the glory from other Bayern players. Nothing need to be said about Messi. He scored the wining goal at least 20 times and was 'Man Of The Match' of more than 25 La Liga matches out of 38 and led Barca to 100 points. Won Pichichi and European Golden Shoe. MESSI LED HIS COUNTRY TO SEND WC14 AS THE 1ST SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRY AS REGION'S LEADER WHILE RIBERY AND CR7 ARE PREPARING FOR PLAY OFF. I will appreciate it more than any other result if Messi humiliates Ribery and Ronaldo in January to take his 5th consecutive Ballon d;or. Courtesy: [Lionel Shaon]
@PrinceOfPersia do you not see that the little pictures by Rakitic and Mandzukic names are the exact same thing?
..In fact, only Argentina (2 - Messi and Rodrigo Palacio) join Germany with more than one player in the top 23 performers of 2013... Pretyy sure Rakitic and Mandzukic are both Croatian
DM, defenders and GK are undervalued - by both fifa and whoscored. I suppose it is difficult to measure players who's main role is to defend and keep possession, because these are more team characteristics than individual characteristics. However, I think all roles in a team deserve accolades for outstanding performances. Maybe an entire defence should be awarded a prize? (e.g. Bayern's defence in the second half of last season, Southampton's defence so far this season, etc.)
I like this list better than the official one but it's not perfect either. GKs are non-existant when Neuer and even De Gea deserve to be in it. Neymar should definitely be in there. Personally I feel Coutinho, Varane, Falcao, Cavani and Mata deserve to be in it. My list would be: 1. Messi 2. Ribery 3. Ronaldo 4. Lewandowski 5. Bale 6. Suarez 7. Zlatan 8. Falcao 9. Scwheinsteiger 10. Reus 11. Mata 12. Neymar 13. Neuer 14. Cavani 15. Thiago Silva 16. Draxler 17. Robben 18. Kuba 19. Coutinho 20. Varane 21. Cuadrado 22. Kiebling 23. Vidal
I think that the stats from the Bundesliga are exagerated in this site, i dont know why i think they all come from the same source but for some reason Bundesliga players always have more dribbles, key passes and important stuff that give them higher ratings, im not sure thats entirely accurate, there might be something wrong with the bundesliga stats.
oh shit, wrong article :P
It is ridiculous that ballon d'or is given for calendar year rather than season. The award should be given in july/august and UEFA best player in Europe award shold be cancelled. The best player of season 2012/13 was undoubtedly Lionel Messi. Ribery was just best of Bayern. Bayern had won everything as an amazing collective, not only because of Ribery's good play. Ribery even played badly in Champions League. He made good performances in one of the semifinals and final In 2013/14 season so far, the best players are Ribery and Ronaldo.
Heaven divide its great year for a German.
La Liga and Bundesliga is not the same. You can't compare the amount of goals through 2 dif leagues 1to1. But if you would do i would say La Liga-teams concede more goals, especially the smaller teams.. And btw scoring or assisting goals is not all.. @Rango7: so 3 titles including CL is "nothing special"?
*and
I didn't iclude Neymar, because i follow only european fooball
Excellent. I've been waiting for a list like this
Where is the longer list of players since January 1, 2013? Maybe top 100?
Interesting list, but IMO, for the wrong reasons for Whoscored. It shows that either statistics make a poor measure of a footballer performance (which I think is quite true) or/and Whoscored's are biased towards the attacking aspects of the game. The fact that there isn't a single defender, defensive mid or GK in the twenty first positions is ludicrous (Victor Valdés anybody? You might not like him, but having watched most Barça games, it would be debatable that they don't owe him as many points than they owe Messi). The fact that titles don't seem to matter at all is nonsense too. I understand the point of individual stats to measure a player performance, but neglecting to account the impact those performances have on their teams as a whole and ignoring the opposition and companions makes for a very poor final metric. It's not the same to score on a League game than a CL final. Nor to play against the very best players week in and week out vs playing only local games.
ribery has won the "UEFA Best Player in Europe Award". this season he kept on playing on the same level. so it would be just logical if he wins the balon d'or.
this award deservedly goes to......... LUIS SUAREZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Croatia, along with Germany and Argentina, also has 2 players in the top 23.
This is my list of 50 players (it's for 2012/13 season, not calendar year 2013) 1 Lionel Messi 2 Cristiano Ronaldo 3 Gareth Bale 4 Zlatan Ibrahimović 5 Andrés Iniesta 6 Franck Ribéry 7 Radamel Falcao 8 Bastian Schweinsteiger 9 Luis Suárez 10 Robin van Persie 11 Edinson Cavani 12 Mesut Özil 13 Philipp Lahm 14 Arturo Vidal 15 Andrea Pirlo 16 Juan Mata 17 Sergio Ramos 18 Thomas Müller 19 Xavi Hernández 20 Robert Lewandowski 21 Xabi Alonso 22 Mario Götze 23 Santiago Cazorla 24 Mats Hummels 25 Cesc Fábregas 26 Eden Hazard 27 Manuel Neuer 28 Thiago Silva 29 Marco Reus 30 Michael Carrick 31 Stefan Kießling 32 Marek Hamšík 33 Jan Vertonghen 34 João Moutinho 35 David Silva 36 Leighton Baines 37 Toni Kroos 38 Marouane Fellaini 39 Arjen Robben 40 Antonio Di Natale 41 Yaya Touré 42 Giorgio Chiellini 43 Wayne Rooney 44 Isco Alarcón 45 Gianluigi Buffon 46 Patrice Evra 47 Burak Yilmaz 48 Javi Martínez 49 Ángel Di María 50 David Luiz
diego, kissling, kruse, rakitic, gerrard,rakitic, cuadrado, carvajal, palacio, please, no!!! ----> lahm, buffon, pirlo, alaba, gundogan, hummels, xavi, iniesta, van persie, totti, yes!!!!!!
@marigol9 Mandzukic is poland mate,read the article and picture well