Overview
- Ousmane Dembélé topped the ranking, with reports citing 101 first-place votes, followed by Lamine Yamal and Vitinha.
- Lionel Messi placed 34th as jurors weighed his MLS season against strong production of 43 goals and 26 assists in 49 matches.
- Lautaro Martínez was the highest-ranked Argentine at 20th, with Julián Álvarez 25th, Alexis Mac Allister 35th, Enzo Fernández 47th, Emiliano Martínez 78th and Nico Paz 86th.
- The Guardian detailed a scoring system that assigns 40 points for first down to 1 for 40th, with tie-breaks by number of votes and then highest individual vote under anonymous ballots.
- The rest of the top 10 featured Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Achraf Hakimi, Raphinha, Mohamed Salah and Pedri, while Cristiano Ronaldo ranked 51st and Jamal Musiala 43rd.