The 2019 Top 10 Players In The World For Every Position Named

By Mike Parrott

With the Calendar Year coming to a close soon, ESPN have released their ESPN FC 100. Their annual rankings that ranks the top 10 players for each position with a few surprises to the list.

The annual ESPN FC 100 has been released for the 2019 Calendar Year. With 40 experts at ESPN deciding the rankings for each position, there have been some notable inclusions as well as some exclusions.

Without much of a surprise, the rankings are dominated by Liverpool and Manchester City with Real Madrid's fall from grace being very evident in these rankings.

Goalkeepers:

10. Andre Onana - Ajax/Cameroon

9. David De Gea - Manchester United/Spain

8. Hugo Lloris - Tottenham/France

7. Kepa Arrizabalaga - Chelsea/Spain

6. Wojciech Szczesny - Juventus/Poland

5. Manuel Neuer - Bayern Munich/Germany

4. Ederson - Manchester City/Brazil

3. Marc-Andre ter Stegen - Barcelona/Germany

2. Jan Oblak - Atletico Madrid/Slovenia

1. Alisson Becker - Liverpool/Brazil

The notable surprises include the significant drop of David De Gea, the exclusion of Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid, and the rise of Alisson Becker.

De Gea in the 2018 ESPN FC 100 took the top spot for Goalkeepers, but his drop to ninth this year comes with a very rocky 2019. Blunders this year include against Barcelona, Man City, and Arsenal.

The top spot must have been highly contested between Alisson and Oblak. In the last two seasons, Oblak has only conceded 50 goals in 63 games with 33 clean sheets in those games.

But Alisson claimed the top spot only conceding 41 goals in 59 games with 28 clean sheets.

Right-Back:

10. Aaron Wan-Bissaka - Manchester United/England

9. Cesar Azpilicueta - Chelsea/Spain

8. Kieran Trippier - Atletico Madrid/England

7. Joao Cancelo - Manchester City/Portugal

6. Dani Alves - Sao Paulo/Brazil

5. Kyle Walker - Manchester City/England

4. Dani Carvajal - Real Madrid/Spain

3. Ricardo Pereira - Leicester City/Portugal

2. Joshua Kimmich - Bayern Munich/Germany

1. Trent Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool/England

Alexander-Arnold has risen straight to the top spot after never being on the ESPN 100 in his career. Trent's most notable moment this season was easily the famous corner kick routine he pulled off against Barcelona in the semi-finals of the 2019 Champions League.

Somehow, Dani Alves is still making these lists even though he's spent half the season at Sao Paulo playing in midfield. Alves also played in midfield for PSG when they lost to Manchester United in the round of 16 in the Champions League.

Left-Back:

10. Nicolas Tagliafico - Ajax/Argentina

9. Aleksander Kolarov - AS Roma/Serbia

8. Alex Grimaldo - Benfica/Spain

7. Ferland Mendy - Real Madrid/France

6. Lucas Digne - Everton/France

5. Lucas Hernandez - Bayern Munich/France

4. Alex Sandro - Juventus/Brazil

3. Jordi Alba - Barcelona/Spain

2. David Alaba - Bayern Munich/Austria

1. Andrew Robertson - Liverpool/Scotland

Another top 10, another Liverpool player at the top. Robertson came 8th in the 2018 edition, but another stellar performance at Full-Back has elevated him to the top of the Left-Back list.

However, another Real Madrid player is notably absent. 2018's top Left-Back, Marcelo is nowhere to be seen on this year's list.

Centre-Back:

10. Milan Skriniar - Inter Milan/Slovakia

9. Jose Gimenez - Atletico Madrid/Uruguay

8. Marquinhos - PSG/Brazil

7. Leonardo Bonucci - Juventus/Italy

6. Giorgio Chiellini - Juventus/Italy

5. Sergio Ramos - Real Madrid/Spain

4. Aymeric Laporte - Manchester City/France

3. Mathijs De Ligt - Juventus/Netherlands

2. Kalidou Koulibaly - Napoli/Senegal

1. Virgil Van Dijk - Liverpool/Netherlands

There seems to be a pattern to these lists. Van Dijk climbs to the top spot after being ranked fourth the year prior. The Dutch Centre-Back has been ever-present for Liverpool and their amazing defensive record.

Diego Godin surprisingly misses out though. Coming third in 2018 and having a great start to his Inter Milan career in 2019, a case could be made about Godin making this top 10.

Centre-Midfielder:

10. Saul - Atletico Madrid/Spain

9. Marco Verratti - PSG/Italy

8. Rodri - Manchester City/Spain

7. Miralem Pjanic - Juventus/Bosnia & Herzegovina

6. Fabinho - Liverpool/Brazil

5. Casemiro - Real Madrid/Brazil

4. Fernandinho - Manchester City/Brazil

3. Sergio Busquets - Barcelona/Spain

2. Frenkie De Jong - Barcelona/Netherlands

1. N'Golo Kante - Chelsea/France

Finally not a Liverpool player coming first in this list, but the top spot goes to another Prem player, Kante. The diminutive Frenchman has been consistently solid for Chelsea for this past Calendar Year, scoring seven goals in the past two seasons while sticking to his defensive roots.

However probably the biggest shock is 2018 Ballon D'Or winner, Luka Modric, not even making the top 10. Modric has had a rocky 2019 at Madrid with the looks of decline setting in for the Croatian.

Attacking-Midfielder:

10. Bruno Fernandes - Sporting CP/Portugal

9. Ever Banega - Sevilla/Argentina

8. Kai Havertz - Bayer Leverkusen/Germany

7. Koke - Atletico Madrid/Spain

6. Paul Pogba - Manchester United/France

5. Christian Eriksen - Tottenham/Denmark

4. David Silva - Manchester City/Spain

3. Donny Van De Beek - Ajax/Netherlands

2. Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City/Belgium

1. Bernardo Silva - Manchester City/Portugal

To the surprise of no-one, the Attacking-Midfield list is dominated by the City trio of Bernardo, David Silva, and De Bruyne. The City three were instrumental to City winning the Domestic Treble, with Bernardo being the ever-present engine in last Season's City squad.

Isco is a notable absentee after coming second in 2018. The majority of the Real Madrid team have seen themselves slip off these ranks after a terrible 2019.

Wingers:

10. Everton - Gremio/Brazil

9. Leroy Sane - Manchester City/Germany

8. David Neres - Ajax/Brazil

7. Angel Di Maria - PSG/Argentina

6. Marco Reus - Borussia Dortmund/Germany

5. Son Heung-Min - Tottenham/South Korea

4. Jadon Sancho - Borussia Dortmund/England

3. Eden Hazard - Real Madrid/Belgium

2. Sadio Mane - Liverpool/Senegal

1. Raheem Sterling - Manchester City/England

The Premier League dominance continues in these ranks with Sterling taking the top spot after 39 goals and 23 assists in the past two Seasons.

The inclusion of Everton of Gremio comes to the surprise of few with him being one of the top players in Brazil but still isn't as tested as much as his competitors in Europe.

Forwards:

10. Dusan Tadic - Ajax/Serbia

9. Joao Felix - Atletico Madrid/Portugal

8. Neymar - PSG/Brazil

7. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Arsenal/Gabon

6. Antoine Griezmann - Barcelona/France

5. Roberto Firmino - Liverpool/Brazil

4. Mohamed Salah - Liverpool/Egypt

3. Kylian Mbappe - PSG/France

2. Cristiano Ronaldo - Juventus/Portugal

1. Lionel Messi - Barcelona/Argentina

Arguably the best player of all time takes the top spot for forwards for at least the third year in a row. The 32 year-old Argentine has been sublime again for another Season and rightfully deserves the top spot.

The top 3 of Messi, Ronaldo, and Mbappe could even be the Ballon D'Or top three at the end of the season.

Striker:

10. Fabio Quagliariella - Sampdoria/Italy

9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Free-Agent/Sweden

8. Alexandre Lacazette - Arsenal/France

7. Duvan Zapata - Atalanta/Colombia

6. Edinson Cavani - PSG/Uruguay

5. Luis Suarez - Barcelona/Uruguay

4. Karim Benzema - Real Madrid/France

3. Robert Lewandowski - Bayern Munich/Poland

2. Harry Kane - Tottenham/England

1. Sergio Aguero - Manchester City/Argentina

In probably the closest top three in the position lists, Aguero narrowly beat out Lewandowski and Kane to the top spot.

Aguero was an important figure for City's Domestic Treble and will have been the main reason he took the top spot. Lewandowski has arguably been the best player in the world in the current Season with 23 goals in 18 games already.

Somehow, Ibrahimovic is still making the list after a good season in the MLS for LA Galaxy.

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