OVERVIEW FourFourTwo's eighth annual rundown of the planet's premier footballers, the 100 Best Football Players in the World 2014 features a few surprises, but nothing that hasn't been argued long and hard by our global network of experts.
Below is an easy-access guide to the full gamut of #FFT100 content - and feel free to have your say on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Instagram. (You can find the Best 100 Football Players in the World 2015 here.)
THE LIST100-91 • 90-81 • 80-71 • 70-61 • 60-51 • 50-41 • 40-31 • 30-21 • 20-11 • 10-1
VIDEOTop 10 Premier League players • Top 10 Players in the world
GALLERYThe Full 100
ANALYSIS:
• How CR7 became the best, and why his decline is still a long way off
• Why Philipp Lahm is the world's second-best player… at least
• Why Messi's a future mentor, not a master
• Manuel Neuer and evolution of the goalkeeper
• How Luis Suarez is already helping Messi knock Ronaldo off his perch
• How Di Maria defied the Bernabeu boo-boys and became the jewel in Real's crown
• "Ice-cold" Modric now Madrid's second-most important Galactico
• Fighter Rooney still as important as ever for United
• Jackson Martinez: From poverty to Porto to the Premier League?
• Memphis Express: Next stop England for deadly Depay?
• James Rodriguez: How did the little Colombian with the stutter get here?
• How Alexis Sanchez made Arsenal weaker
• Maybe next year: The men who almost made it
INFOGRAPHICS:
• Players by club - who has the most players in the list?
• Players by league - has the balance of power swung?
• What boots do the FFT100 wear?
• English players fall to new low
• Champions League vs The Rest
INTERVIEWS:
• Aguero: Manchester is Blue now – and I love the rain, too
• Cazorla admits he loves the Tube – but flunks Cockney rhyming slang quiz
• Ivanovic: Why I don't mind being underrated
• Matic: US bombs, my move to Benfica and Jose the joker
LIVE BLOG (latest entries on top):
4pm Facebook chat Livid about the list? Wish to chew the fat? We're debating the FFT100 over on Facebook right now. Be polite, mind you...
3.15pm Infographics time We've been busy on the art desk, slicing and dicing the data for your visual delectation. Here's one: which club has the most players in the 100? Why, it's brilliant Bavarians Bayern Munich, with 14 players - or an entire team with three subs.
Next on the list is Real Madrid, pipping their Catalan cousins Barcelona 11 to 10; Juventus are next with nine, while Chelsea (eight) lead the Premier League charge. Speaking of which...
2.45pm Premier League Top 10 The videography department have been highlighting those players involved in the English top-flight... and check out the news story for the full breakdown, including a close-fought race between the two great Manchester rivals...
1.45pm And the 10 best players in the world are…
1.41pm Our friends on Snapchat have already had No.10 and No.9, with another face every 30 seconds...
1.40pmNumbers 20-11: The world's best defender, a 26-year-old veteran and the man who dictates Madrid's rhythm. (Contrary to misunderstandings on Facebook, these are not all the same person.)
1.35pmNumbers 30-21: Getting up the sharp end now, with Serie A's all-action 'Warrior', two stars who swapped Dortmund for Munich, and Barcelona's new midfield metronome.
1.30pm Presenting numbers 40-31, with a kid called Hamez and the only Premier League centre-back in the list.
1.25pm Into the top half with 50-41 and the highest-ranked Englishman, Bayern's new pass-master, and the one that got away from Man City.
1.20pmNumbers 60-51 span the ages, with our only teenager AND the oldest player on our list (twice the kid's age), plus Chelsea's 'evolving' starlet
1.15pm Here's Matt Bagby's hero, at No.70... and the nine blokes immediately in front of him, including Roma's 'Future Captain', a World Cup wing wonder, and the defender every top Premier League team is after.
1.12pm Much as we love him, this won't happen.
Pirlo, Pirlo, Pirlo ;) December 1, 2014
1.10pm Up next: Numbers 80-71, including an Anfield hero, Atletico's newest superstar, and an Arsenal flop.
1.05pm Numbers 90-81 include a busy Premier League keeper, Juve's latest defensive rock, a Welshman nicknamed Rambo and two Spaniards called Dave.
1pm And it's live. The first 10 (from 100-91) have been revealed and here's the first talking-point - a certain Signor Balotelli at No.99. Should he be higher? Should he be unemployed?
Also in the first slice are the plummeting Dani Alves, the diminutive Mathiueu Valbuena and six new entries...
12.55pm Five minutes to the first reveal. Stand by your beds.
11.50am We asked on Twitter (#FFT100) who'd be in your top three. Besides the usual humorous replies, we got some interesting feedback...
@FourFourTwo Messi, Ronaldo, Reus. — Vujadin Tomkovic (@VujkeT) December 1, 2014
@FourFourTwo Messi, Ronaldo, Muller — Igor Wójtowicz (@IgWuju) December 1, 2014
@FourFourTwo Messi, Ronaldo, Muller — Igor Wójtowicz (@IgWuju) December 1, 2014
@FourFourTwo Messi, Ronaldo, Neuer — Matt Oswin (@MattOswin) December 1, 2014
@FourFourTwo Ronaldo, Ronaldo and Ronlado. #FFT100 — Ahmed Nasri (@Warchadi) December 1, 2014
Join the debate at Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Instagram
11.40am Are you on Snapchat? We are, and we'll be using it to reveal the greatest players in the world. Follow us FourFourTwoUK and you'll get a world-exclusive first peek at the Top 10, starting at 1.45pm today.
NEWSFFT's Best 100 Football Players: First look on Snapchat
10.45am At last, it's the most wonderful time of the year. Not December, but #FFT100: when we announce the 100 Best Football Players in the World.
After weeks of opinion-gathering from FourFourTwo's worldwide parade of experts, followed by days of intense arguing in the office, we've listed the planet's premier players.
Here's a little teaser...
The list will be revealed from 1pm GMT, a little under three hours from now. So let's start the arguments: who should be top? Would you back Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi… or is there someone else who could break up the duopoly? What about the Bayern Munich players?
NEWSComing soon: FourFourTwo's 100 Best Football Players in the World
Tell us what you think at Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Instagram - and you can now follow us on Snapchat, too.
And keep an eye on this page for the latest updates.
