Chelsea Star Sam Kerr Tops Guardian List of the Best 100 Female Footballers in the World

06 December 2019 12:51

New Chelsea Women and Australia striker Sam Kerr has topped The Guardian’s annual list of the best 100 female players in the world in 2019.


Judged by a panel of 93 experts, including coaches, former players, journalists and broadcasters, it is viewed as a more accurate reflection of the best in the world, as the FIFA and Ballon d’Or awards can descend into a fame contest.

Sam Kerr

Kerr, whose confirmed transfer to Chelsea will be registered in time for her start playing games in January, beat England right-back Lucy Bronze to first place.

Playing for Chicago Red Stars, Kerr won the NWSL Golden Boot in 2019 for the third successive year and was named the league’s MVP. She also top-scored in the 2018/19 W-League season for Perth Glory and scored 11 international goals for Australia over the calendar year.

2019 FIFA and Ballon d’Or award winner Megan Rapinoe was voted third, with Lyon pair Ada Hegerberg and Amandine Henry in fourth and fifth place respectively.

Aside from Rapinoe, seventh place Rose Lavelle was the only World Cup winner from the USWNT to crack the top 10. The upper echelon of the list focuses on more technical Europeans.

Megan Rapinoe

Arsenal forward, Vivianne Miedema (6th), Wolfsburg star Pernille Harder (8th), Wendie Renard (9th) and Eugenie Le Sommer (10th) complete the top 10 in this year’s list.

Despite top-three finishes in both the FIFA Best and Ballon d’Or stakes this year, USWNT forward Alex Morgan only managed 12th place. Fellow World Cup winners Julie Ertz (11th), Tobin Heath (17th) and Crystal Dunn (18th) also feature in the next batch of 10.

After Bronze in second place, Manchester City forward Ellen White is the highest rated English player in 14th. Other Lionesses feature in the top 50, with Nikita Parris (32nd), Fran Kirby (39th), Jill Scott (41st) and Steph Houghton (47th) recognised.

Lucy Bronze

Six-time FIFA award winner Marta is in 26th place, while two-time FIFA award winner Carli Lloyd is 42nd on the list. 41-year-old PSG and Brazil midfielder Formiga is 63rd and still going strong.

The list of 100 is almost exclusively made up of players who play their club football in France, England, the United States, Germany or Spain, aside from a handful of stars based at teams in Sweden, Japan, Norway, Italy, Brazil and China.

​The full list of all 100 players is available to view here.


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Source: 90min