Best Players and Young Players

By Anonymous (not verified), September 23, 2022
Source, Emily Boswell, Digital Loft.
New research from TicketSource analysed data on every player to have played in Europe's top five leagues in the last five seasons to find out who can be crowned the soccer MVP. The study also investigated the best young players who might step up to the plate at the Qatar World Cup
The world's 10 best international players: 

Rank 

Player 

Nationality

Club appearances 

Goals 

Assists 

MVP score/10 

1

Lionel Messi

Argentina

205

162

79

8.56

2

Robert Lewandowski

Poland

202

207

33

7.65

3

Kylian Mbappé

France

187

146

64

7.60

4

Thomas Müller

Germany

203

54

91

7.36

5

Karim Benzema

France

218

132

50

7.33

6

Cristiano Ronaldo

Portugal

198

160

30

6.82

7

Kevin De Bruyne

Belgium

183

52

75

6.55

8

Raheem Sterling

England

211

97

44

6.54

9

Luis Suárez

Uruguay

201

102

42

6.42

10

Sadio Mané

Senegal

224

101

31

6.33

Lionel Messi is thought by many to be the greatest player ever to play the game, and the numbers back him up. Messi is one of a handful of players appearing at the World Cup to have played over 200 league and European games in the last five years and is the second-highest goal scorer and assist maker.
In second place is Poland’s goal-scoring machine, Robert Lewandowski. Lewandowski has scored 207 goals in the last five years - the most of any player studied and over 50 more than second place Lionel Messi. 
France is the only country to have two players in the top 10, Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzema who rank 3rd and 5th respectively. 
The world's 5 best young players: 

Rank

Player 

Nationality

Year of birth

Club appearances 

Goals 

Assists 

MVP score/10 

1

Rodrygo

Brazil

2001

101

17

16

9.41

2

Bukayo Saka

England

2001

97

17

15

9.11

3

Florian Wirtz

Germany

2003

60

13

16

7.66

4

Jude Bellingham

England

2003

77

6

15

6.83

5

Jamal Musiala

Germany

2003

71

13

7

6.27

Further findings:
  • The players topping the list of most appearances are Sadio Mané, Ángel Correa and Karim Benzema with 224, 220 and 218 games played in the last five seasons respectively.

  • We also looked at the greatest teams on the international stage. Italy came out on top with 36% wins to apparences winning the world cup 4 times and appearing in two finals too. Interestingly, Italy hasn’t qualified for this year’s World Cup.

  • The teams in joint second place are Germany and New Zealand who both have 33% of their tournament appearances. 

To find out more, click here.
If there’s anything else I can help you with on this, please do let me know and I’d be happy to help. 

 
Lionel Messi is officially the world’s best international soccer player with over 200 club appearances, 162 goals and 79 assists, according to a new study which reveals the top 10. 
New research from TicketSource analysed data on every player to have played in Europe's top five leagues in the last five seasons to find out who can be crowned the soccer MVP. The study also investigated the best young players who might step up to the plate at the Qatar World Cup
Please view the full research here: https://www.ticketsource.us/trophy-mvps
The world's 10 best international players: 

Rank 

Player 

Nationality

Club appearances 

Goals 

Assists 

MVP score/10 

1

Lionel Messi

Argentina

205

162

79

8.56

2

Robert Lewandowski

Poland

202

207

33

7.65

3

Kylian Mbappé

France

187

146

64

7.60

4

Thomas Müller

Germany

203

54

91

7.36

5

Karim Benzema

France

218

132

50

7.33

6

Cristiano Ronaldo

Portugal

198

160

30

6.82

7

Kevin De Bruyne

Belgium

183

52

75

6.55

8

Raheem Sterling

England

211

97

44

6.54

9

Luis Suárez

Uruguay

201

102

42

6.42

10

Sadio Mané

Senegal

224

101

31

6.33

Lionel Messi is thought by many to be the greatest player ever to play the game, and the numbers back him up. Messi is one of a handful of players appearing at the World Cup to have played over 200 league and European games in the last five years and is the second-highest goal scorer and assist maker.
In second place is Poland’s goal-scoring machine, Robert Lewandowski. Lewandowski has scored 207 goals in the last five years - the most of any player studied and over 50 more than second place Lionel Messi. 
France is the only country to have two players in the top 10, Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzema who rank 3rd and 5th respectively. 
The world's 5 best young players: 

Rank

Player 

Nationality

Year of birth

Club appearances 

Goals 

Assists 

MVP score/10 

1

Rodrygo

Brazil

2001

101

17

16

9.41

2

Bukayo Saka

England

2001

97

17

15

9.11

3

Florian Wirtz

Germany

2003

60

13

16

7.66

4

Jude Bellingham

England

2003

77

6

15

6.83

5

Jamal Musiala

Germany

2003

71

13

7

6.27

Brazil and Real Madrid star Rodrygo tops the list of best young players, already having racked up over 100 appearances for Los Blancos in the last five years. Aged just 21, he’s already established himself as part of one of the biggest teams in the world and is seen as a potential successor to Neymar in the Brazil side.
In second is England’s Bukayo Saka, who misses by virtue of having just four fewer appearances and one fewer assist than Rodrygo. Saka has already featured at a major international tournament, missing the crucial penalty as England reached the Euro 2020 final, but will be hoping to go one better in Qatar.
Further findings:
  • The players topping the list of most appearances are Sadio Mané, Ángel Correa and Karim Benzema with 224, 220 and 218 games played in the last five seasons respectively.

  • We also looked at the greatest teams on the international stage. Italy came out on top with 36% wins to apparences winning the world cup 4 times and appearing in two finals too. Interestingly, Italy hasn’t qualified for this year’s World Cup.

  • The teams in joint second place are Germany and New Zealand who both have 33% of their tournament appearances. 

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