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After another gripping year of women’s football we are ready to launch our list of the best 100 female footballers in the world in 2025.
Our biggest ever panel includes familiar faces such as the outgoing Kansas City Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski, the new OL Lyonnes head coach, Jonatan Giráldez, and Australia’s Joe Montemurro.
But there are a whole host of new names offering their insights into this year’s list, including Arsenal’s Champions League winning head coach Renée Slegers, Canada’s Casey Stoney, the Germany assistant Maren Meinert and the man in charge of Bayern Munich’s women’s team, José Barcala.
A wide range of former players also take part for the first time and we are delighted to have Lieke Martens on the jury, the first time a former winner of the list has contributed.
Former players also include for the first time Sam Mewis, Marta Corredera, Rachel Corsie, Mercy Akide, Mana Iwabuchi and Desire Oparanozie among many others.
Their votes have been counted to determine the No 1 player of 2025 in a 12-month period which included an enthralling Euro 2025, a spectacular Copa América and a wide-open Afcon.
The countdown begins on Monday 1 December with Nos 100-71. Then, on consecutive days, we will reveal a further 30 names before the top 10 to complete this year’s list on Thursday 4 December.
The judges are listed in alphabetical order by category.
Players and coaches
Mercy Akide Former Nigeria international who won three Afcons and played at three World Cups. Was the first female African footballer of the year in 2001 and is now a coach in the US
Anette Börjesson Former Sweden international who won the 1984 European Championship and is now a TV pundit in Sweden
Marta Corredera Former Spain international who won six Liga F titles with Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, plus two domestic cups with Arsenal
Rachel Corsie Former Scotland international who played for Glasgow City, Kansas City Current and Aston Villa among others
Anouk Dekker Former Netherlands international, winning Euro 2017 in her home country and named in team of the tournament
Simphiwe Dludlu Former South Africa international captain and South Africa youth team coach
Isabella Echeverri Former Colombia international who played at the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. Now a commentator for NBC
Janelly Farías Former Mexico international turned TV broadcaster and commentator
Natalia Gaitán Former Colombia international who played for Sevilla, Valencia and Tigres among others
Olga García Former Spain international who won multiple domestic titles playing in Spain
Andrine Hegerberg Former Norway international who won domestic honours in Norway and Italy, as well as playing in Germany and England
Mana Iwabuchi Former Japan international who won the 2011 World Cup, as well as domestic titles in Japan and Germany
Celia Jiménez Former Spain international who played for Orlando Pride, Lyon, OL Reign and Rosengård
Twila Kilgore Former USWNT interim coach and now an assistant coach
Lori Lindsey Former USWNT international and now an analyst
Lieke Martens Former Netherlands international with 160 caps and 62 goals. Won Euro 2017 and the top 100 in the same year
Erin McLeod Former Canada international who won gold at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo
Sam Mewis Former USWNT player who won the World Cup and the Olympics; now editor of the Women’s Game with Men in Blazers
Julie Nelson Northern Ireland’s most capped player with 130 appearances across 20 years. Played in England, Iceland and Scotland before eight years at Crusaders
Desire Oparanozie Former Nigeria international who won four Afcons and was top scorer at the 2014 tournament. Played at three World Cups and captained the Super Falcons in 2019
Ana Paola López Yrigoyen Former Mexico international who played for UNAM, Pachuca and Cruz Azul
Rikke Sevecke Former Denmark international who played for Everton and Portland Thorns among others
Bianca Sierra Former Mexico international
Sissi Former Brazil international who won the Golden Boot at the 1999 World Cup
Brianna Visalli Former US youth international who played in the WSL and NWSL. Now an assistant coach at Stanford University
after newsletter promotion
Coaches and technical staff
Johanna Almgren Kristianstad head coach and Sweden assistant head coach
Vlatko Andonovski Former USWNT, Reign FC and Kansas City Current head coach
José Barcala Bayern Munich head coach
Ben Bate Auckland United head coach
Leah Blayney Japan assistant coach
Shilene Booysen Fifa technical expert and former Wadi Degla head coach and assistant coach for South Africa
Lisa Cole USA assistant coach and former Zambia assistant coach
Sabrina Eckhoff Union Berlin assistant head coach
Fábio Fukumoto Paraguay head coach
Jonathan Giráldez OL Lyonnes head coach
Masaki Hemmi Lexingon SC head coach
Martin Ho Tottenham Hotspur head coach
Louis Hunt San Diego State University coach; formerly an assistant coach for San Diego Wave
Toña Is Panama head coach and formerly Pachuca and Spain Under-17 head coach, as well as a former Spain international
Ana Junyent Badalona head coach
Stephan Lerch Wolfsburg head coach
Dimitri Lipoff Al Ahly head coach
Pedro López Mexico head coach
Pedro Martínez Losa Tigres UANL head coach
Maren Meinert Germany assistant head coach. Won the 2003 World Cup and three Euros as a player
Ante Milicic China head coach
Joe Montemurro Australia head coach
Kristian Mørch Rasmussen HB Køge head coach
Carmelina Moscato Al Qadsiah head coach
Katrine Pedersen Denmark Under-17 head coach
Pablo Piñones-Arce Fiorentina head coach
Denise Reddy USA assistant head coach
Marko Saloranta Finland head coach
Guillermo Schiltenwolf Wellington United head coach
Martin Sjögren Hammarby head coach
Renée Slegers Arsenal head coach
Kat Smith Former Western United head coach
Casey Stoney Canada head coach
Meskerem Tadesse Goshime Head of women’s football at CAF
Lene Terp Fortuna Hjørring head coach
Jessie van den Broek Hera United assistant head coach
Chris Yip-Au Seychelles head coach
Abdullah Abdullah Journalist in the UAE for various outlets and an author of several books
Samuel Ahmadu Journalist in Nigeria for NigeriaFootball and SavidNews
Melanie Anzidei Journalist in the United States for The Athletic
Esther Appiah-Fei Journalist in Ghana for various outlets
Natalia Astrain Broadcaster for Telemundo and former coach for USA, Spain, Barcelona and others
Romain Balland Journalist in France for various outlets
Annika Becker Journalist in Germany for Sportschau and various outlets
Júlia Belas Trindade Sports communications lecturer at Swansea University and freelance journalist
Roger Bennett CEO Men in Blazers
Giuseppe Berardi Founder of the web magazine L Football in Italy
Alex Bishop Journalist in Japan for The Asian Game and various outlets
Celia Boltes Football commentator covering domestic and international women’s football for Viaplay Sweden and Disney+
Micaela Cannataro Journalist in Argentina for Diario Olé and various outlets
Anna Carreau Journalist in France for RMC Sport, Eurosport and various outlets
Pardeep Cattry Writer at CBS Sports in the United States
Christine Cupo Football analyst and broadcaster in the United States for CBS Sports and various other outlets
Seraina Degen Journalist in Switzerland for SRF Sport
Cheryl Downes Journalist in Australia for Beyond90
Sophie Downey Journalist in the UK for various outlets
Sofie Engberg Munch Journalist in Denmark for TV2 Sport
Ryan Fenix Journalist in the Philippines for GMA News Online
Amalia Fra Journalist for as.com in Spain
Carmen Höfflin Broadcaster in Germany for Dazn
Caleb Jephté Pierre Journalist in Haiti for various outlets
Meaghen Johnson Executive producer in Canada for the NSL and former journalist for TSN
Helge Kalleklev Journalist in Norway for TV2
Calvin Kaumba Chikenge Freelance journalist in Zambia
Mariam Kourabi Journalist in Canada for SheScoresBangers Podcast
Rich Laverty Journalist in the UK for various outlets
Sophie Lawson Women’s football expert in the UK
Gianluca Lia Journalist for Times of Malta
Ella Lindvall Journalist at Fotbollskanalen in Sweden
Solomon Manganyi Forza Football’s women’s football reporter and journalist for Pindula
David Menayo Journalist in Spain for Marca
Firdose Moonda Sports journalist and broadcaster
Unnati Naidu Journalist in India for Dazn
Blair Newman Women’s football analyst and scout in the UK
Osasu Obayiuwana British-Nigerian journalist who has been reporting on international football and its politics for over 30 years
Rivkah op het Veld Journalist in the Netherlands for NOS Sport
Christina Paulos Journalist in Norway for TV 2 Sport
Teo Pellizzeri Journalist in Australia for 10Australia
Tiziana Pikler Journalist at web magazine L Football in Italy
Annemarie Postma Journalist in the Netherlands for various outlets
Marion Reimers Journalist, broadcaster and commentator for TNT Sports. Founder and president of Versus
Amee Ruszkai Journalist in the UK for GOAL.com
Alicia Soares Journalist in Brazil for Planeta Futebol and Vavel
Courtney Stith Journalist in the United States for CBS Sports and various outlets
Megan Swanick Journalist in the United States for ESPN, the Guardian, the Women’s Game and various outlets
Jonathan Tannenwald Journalist at the Philadelphia Inquirer
Maria Tikas Journalist in Spain for Diario Sport
Joanna Tokarska Journalist in Poland for TVP Sport
Assile Toufaily Journalist for INDIVISA Arabia, based in Lyon
Hanna Urbaniak Journalist in Poland for various outlets
Amber van Lieshout Journalist in the Netherlands for Vrouwen Voetbal Nieuws
Amanda Viana Commentator for CazéTV in Brazil
Raffaella Volpiana Journalist in Brazil for Planeta Football and various outlets
Julia Wanjeri Journalist in Kenya for JWSports1 and various outlets
Lucy Ward Broadcaster in the UK for Dazn, TNT Sports and Prime Video. Former player for Leeds United
Claire Watkins Journalist at Just Women’s Sport
Adriana Wehrens Journalist in Germany for 90min
Joanna Wiśniowska Journalist at the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza
Suzanne Wrack Journalist in the UK for the Guardian
Bi Yuan Chinese journalist, football writer and consultant
Ayishatu Zakaria Ali Journalist in Ghana for 90min and various outlets
Amanda Zaza Journalist in Sweden for Aftonbladet
