Top 100 Female Footballers of 2018

For the third year running The Offside Rule is running the top 100 female footballers of the year and this year we are collaborating with the Guardian who will also be publishing the list across their website and newspaper.

Headed up by former Arsenal and England legend Kelly Smith, our global panel of players, managers and journalists have offered their insight to put together our 100.

Alongside Smith, former USA internationals Tiffeny Milbrett and Kathryn Markgraf also sit on our panel along with leading managers Mark Parsons, Olivier Echouafni, Joe Montemurro and Laura Harvey.

The countdown begins on Tuesday 4th December with Nos100-71. On Wednesday we will reveal Nos70-41, on Thursday Nos40-11 before the top 10 on Friday completes this year’s list.

Our 72 judges are drawn from around the world as follows: Africa 6, Asia 11, Europe 34, North and Central America 14, South America 7.

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 Atletico Madrid manager

* Jayne Ludlow Wales national team head coach

* Jonas Eidevall FC Rosengard manager

* Martin Sjogren Norway national team head coach

* Thomas Worle FC Bayern Munich manager

* Nils Nielsen Switzerland national team head coach

* Carolina Morace AC 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 Vittsjo GIK manager

* Belinda Wilson Guam national team head coach

 

Journalists, Editors & Broadcasters

* Romain Balland Journalist and presenter, Eurosport in France

* Suzy Wrack Women’s footballer 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 them 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. No1 being their choice of the best female player in the world this year.

 

How the voting works

* The No1 choice of each judge was awarded 40pts, No2 given 39pts, down to 1pt 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 individuals 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.