The 100 Most Popular Footballers in the World?

By: Daryl | October 23rd, 2008

I’m not sure how seriously we’re supposed to take the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. On one hand it all sounds very professional and has been in the business of compiling football statistics since 1984.

On the other hand, the website appears to be from 1992 and the German media apparently dismisses the organization as one man’s vanity project.

Either way, IFFHS has come up with an interesting alternative to the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year awards with the Most Popular Footballer award. Or to give its full title: The World’s Most Popular Footballer Amongst Currently Active Players in 2008.

Below is a list of 100 names of popular footballers from all over the world who were active in 2008. As well as the usual suspects (Ronaldo, Kaka etc) there are players like Yasser Al-Qahtani from Saudi Arabia who may not have huge name recognition in Europe, but are popular back home.

It’s definitely a lot more inclusive and less Euro-centric than other awards. As a nice example, the inaugural 2006 winner was Steven Gerrard and the 2007 winner was Mohamed Aboutreika. All in all there are 58 countries represented on this year’s list.

The IFFHS wants you to visit their site and vote for one of these 100 players, with voting open up until January 3rd 2009 and the most popular player in the world announced soon after.

In some ways this is a great idea. But it would be extremely weird if, say, Celtic’s Stephen McManus was somehow voted the most popular player in the world. Celtic fans may disagree of course, but I think that might be the point:

Hosni Abdrabboh (Egypt) Al-Ismailia / Al Ahly Dubai
Hicham Aboucharouan (Morocco) -Espérance Sportive de Tunis
Mohamed Aboutreika (Egypt) Al-Ahly
Daniel Agger (Denmark) Liverpool FC
Sergio Agüero (Argentina) Atlético Madrid
Faisal Agab Sido (Sudan) Al-Merreikh Omdurman
Igor Akinfeev (Russia) CSKA Moscow
John Aloisi (Australia) Sydney FC
Ahmad Saad Ajab Al-Azemi (Kuwait) Al-Qadisiya SC Kuwait-City
Yasser Al-Qahtani (Saudi Arabia) Al-Hilal FC Riyadh
Hamit Altıntop (Turkey) Bayern München
Andrey Arshavin (Russia) Zenit St. Petersburg
Michael Ballack (Germany) Chelsea
David Beckham (England) Los Angeles Galaxy
Karim Benzema (France) Lyon
Dimitar Berbatov (Bulgaria) Man Utd
Baichung Bhutia (India) Mohun Bagan AC Calcutta
Jared Borgetti (México) Monterrey
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) Juventus
Vladimir Bystrov (Russia) Spartak Moscow
John Carew (Norway) Aston Villa
Iker Casillas (Spain) Real Madrid
Petr Čech (Cezch Republic) Chelsea
José Francisco Cevallos (Ecuador) LDU de Quito
Mohamed Amine Chermiti (Tunisia) Hertha Berlin
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) Man Utd
Indra Sahdan Daud (Singapore) Home United FC
Deco (Portugal) Chelsea
Steven Defour (Belgium) Standard Liège
Alessandro Del Piero (Italy) Juventus
Diego (Brasil) Werder Bremen
Lamouri Djediat (Algeria) Entente Sportife de Sétif
Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire) Chelsea
Yasuhito Endo (Japan) Gamba Osaka
Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon) Barcelona
Cesc Fàbregas (Spain) Arsenal
Rio Ferdinand (England) Man Utd
Barry Ferguson (Scotland) Glasgow Rangers
Alexander Frei (Switzerland) Borussia Dortmund
Diego Forlán (Uruguay) Atlético Madrid
Gennaro Gattuso (Italy) AC Milan
Steven Gerrard (England) Liverpool
Ryan Giggs (Wales) Man Utd
José Paolo Guerrero (Perú) Hamburger SV
Tamás Hajnal (Hungary) Borussia Dortmund
Peng Han (China) Shandong Luneng Taishan
Thierry Henry (France) Barcelona
René Higuita (Colombia) CS Deportiva y C de Pereira
Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Netherlands) Ajax
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) Inter Milan
Oliver Kahn (Germany) Bayern München
Kaká (Brasil) AC Milan
Frédéric Kanouté (Mali) Sevilla
Yeorgios Karagounis (Greece) Panathinaikos
Robert Keane (Republic of Ireland) Liverpool
Harry Kewell (Australia) Galatasaray
Nam-Il Kim (South Korea) Vissel Kobe
Philipp Lahm (Germany) FC Bayern München
Jari Litmanen (Finland) FC Lahti
Marcos (Brasil) Palmeiras
Rafael Márquez (México) Barcelona
Brian McBride (USA) Chicago Fire
Stephen McManus (Scotland) Celtic
Lionel Messi (Argentina) Barcelona
Teko Modise (South Africa) Orlando Pirates
Adrian Mutu (România) Fiorentina
Guillermo Ochoa (México) América
Martín Palermo (Argentina) Boca Juniors
Bambang Pamungkas (Indonesia) Persija Jakarta
Andrea Pirlo (Italy) AC Milan
Lukas Podolski (Germany) Bayern München
Carlos Puyol (Spain) Barcelona
Ricardo Quaresma (Portugal) Inter Milan
Raúl González (Spain) Real Madrid
José Manuel Rey (Venezuela) Caracas FC
Franck Ribéry (France) FC Bayern München
Juan Román Riquelme (Argentina) Boca Juniors
Robinho (Brasil) Manchester City
Rogério Ceni (Brasil) São Paulo
Ronaldinho (Brasil) AC Milan
Wayne Rooney (England) Man Utd
Oswaldo Javier Sánchez (México) Santos Laguna
Roque Santa Cruz (Paraguay) Blackburn Rovers
Semih Şentürk (Turkey) Fenerbahce
Martín Silva (Uruguay) Defensor
Euzebiusz Smolarek (Poland) Bolton Wanderers
Tawan Sripan (Thailand) BEC Tero Sasana Bangkok
Dario Srna (Croatia) Shakhtar Donetsk
Óscar David Suazo (Honduras) Benfica
Dmitry Sychev (Russia) Lokomotiv Moscow
Carlos Tévez (Argentina) Man Utd
Fernando Torres (Spain) Liverpool
Francesco Totti (Italy) AS Roma
Arda Turan (Turkey) Galatasaray
Jorge Luis Valdivia (Chile) Al-Ain Sport & Cultural Club
Alireza Nikbakht Vahedi (Iran) Persepolis
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands) Real Madrid
Nemanja Vidić (Serbia) Man Utd
David Villa (Spain) Valencia
Xavi Hernández (Spain) Barcelona