FIFA 100

The FIFA 100 is a list compiled by Brazilian professional footballer Pelé featuring his choices of the "greatest living footballers" at the time of its release. The list was unveiled on 4 March 2004 during a gala ceremony at the Natural History Museum in London, England, as part of the celebrations commemorating the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international governing body of football.^[1][2]

The figure 100 does not refer number of players nominated in the list, which is actually 125. Pelé was asked by FIFA to select 50 active players and 50 retired players from a shortlist of 300, but found it too difficult to limit himself and therefore picked 50 current and 75 former players.^[1][3] The list contains 123 men and two women (Michelle Akers and Mia Hamm).

The list was controversial. Writing in the Evening Standard, politician turned football pundit, David Mellor, felt the selections were politically motivated rather than being made on purely footballing grounds.^[4] He suggested the geographical spread of inclusions indicated the list came from then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter rather than Pelé himself. BBC columnist Tim Vickery expressed similar assertions.^[5]

Brazilian midfielder Gérson, who played alongside Pelé at the 1966 and 1970 FIFA World Cups, reacted to his omission by tearing up a copy of the list on a Brazilian television programme. Marco van Basten and Uwe Seeler refused to take part in the project on a point of principle.^[3]

Players

Players appearing in the FIFA 100 list

Image	Player	Nationality	Position	Status (in 2004)
	Gabriel Batistuta	Argentina	Forward	Active
	Hernán Crespo	Argentina	Forward	Active
	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Argentina[a]	Forward	Retired
	Mario Kempes	Argentina	Forward	Retired
	Diego Maradona	Argentina	Midfielder	Retired
	Daniel Passarella	Argentina	Defender	Retired
	Javier Saviola	Argentina	Forward	Active
	Omar Sívori	Argentina[b]	Forward	Retired
	Juan Sebastián Verón	Argentina	Midfielder	Active
	Javier Zanetti	Argentina	Defender/Midfielder	Active
	Jan Ceulemans	Belgium	Midfielder	Retired
	Jean-Marie Pfaff	Belgium	Goalkeeper	Retired
	Franky Van der Elst	Belgium	Midfielder	Retired
	Carlos Alberto	Brazil	Defender	Retired
	Cafu	Brazil	Defender	Active
	Falcão	Brazil	Midfielder	Retired
	Júnior	Brazil	Midfielder	Retired
	Pelé	Brazil	Forward	Retired
	Rivaldo	Brazil	Midfielder/Forward	Active
	Rivellino	Brazil	Midfielder	Retired
	Roberto Carlos	Brazil	Defender	Active
	Romário	Brazil	Forward	Active
	Ronaldinho	Brazil	Midfielder/Forward	Active
	Ronaldo	Brazil	Forward	Active
	Djalma Santos	Brazil	Defender	Retired
	Nílton Santos	Brazil	Defender	Retired
	Sócrates	Brazil	Midfielder	Retired
	Zico	Brazil	Midfielder/Forward	Retired
	Hristo Stoichkov	Bulgaria	Forward	Retired
	Roger Milla	Cameroon	Forward	Retired
	Elías Figueroa	Chile	Defender	Retired
	Iván Zamorano	Chile	Forward	Retired
	Carlos Valderrama	Colombia	Midfielder	Retired
	Davor Šuker	Croatia[c]	Forward	Retired
	Josef Masopust	Czech Republic[d]	Midfielder	Retired
	Pavel Nedvěd	Czech Republic	Midfielder	Active
	Brian Laudrup	Denmark	Forward/Midfielder	Retired
	Michael Laudrup	Denmark	Midfielder	Retired
	Peter Schmeichel	Denmark	Goalkeeper	Retired
	Gordon Banks	England	Goalkeeper	Retired
	David Beckham	England	Midfielder	Active
	Bobby Charlton	England	Midfielder/Forward	Retired
	Kevin Keegan	England	Forward	Retired
	Gary Lineker	England	Forward	Retired
	Michael Owen	England	Forward	Active
	Alan Shearer	England	Forward	Active
	Eric Cantona	France	Forward	Retired
	Marcel Desailly	France	Defender	Active
	Didier Deschamps	France	Midfielder	Retired
	Just Fontaine	France	Forward	Retired
	Thierry Henry	France	Forward	Active
	Raymond Kopa	France	Forward	Retired
	Jean-Pierre Papin	France	Forward	Retired
	Robert Pires	France	Midfielder	Active
	Michel Platini	France[e]	Forward	Retired
	Lilian Thuram	France	Defender	Active
	Marius Trésor	France	Defender	Retired
	David Trezeguet	France	Forward	Active
	Patrick Vieira	France	Midfielder	Active
	Zinedine Zidane	France	Midfielder	Active
	Michael Ballack	Germany	Midfielder	Active
	Franz Beckenbauer	Germany[f]	Defender	Retired
	Paul Breitner	Germany[f]	Midfielder/Defender	Retired
	Oliver Kahn	Germany	Goalkeeper	Active
	Jürgen Klinsmann	Germany[g]	Forward	Retired
	Sepp Maier	Germany[f]	Goalkeeper	Retired
	Lothar Matthäus	Germany[g]	Midfielder/Defender	Retired
	Gerd Müller	Germany[f]	Forward	Retired
	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Germany[f]	Forward	Retired
	Uwe Seeler	Germany[f]	Forward	Retired
	Abedi Pele	Ghana	Forward	Retired
	Ferenc Puskás	Hungary[h]	Forward	Retired
	Roberto Baggio	Italy	Forward/Midfielder	Active
	Franco Baresi	Italy	Defender	Retired
	Giuseppe Bergomi	Italy	Defender	Retired
	Giampiero Boniperti	Italy	Forward	Retired
	Gianluigi Buffon	Italy	Goalkeeper	Active
	Alessandro Del Piero	Italy	Forward	Active
	Giacinto Facchetti	Italy	Defender	Retired
	Paolo Maldini	Italy	Defender	Active
	Alessandro Nesta	Italy	Defender	Active
	Gianni Rivera	Italy	Defender	Retired
	Paolo Rossi	Italy	Forward	Retired
	Francesco Totti	Italy	Forward/Midfielder	Active
	Christian Vieri	Italy	Forward	Active
	Dino Zoff	Italy	Goalkeeper	Retired
	Hidetoshi Nakata	Japan	Midfielder	Active
	George Weah	Liberia	Forward	Retired
	Hugo Sánchez	Mexico	Forward	Retired
	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	Forward	Retired
	Dennis Bergkamp	Netherlands	Forward	Active
	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Forward	Retired
	Edgar Davids	Netherlands	Midfielder	Active
	Ruud Gullit	Netherlands	Midfielder	Retired
	René van de Kerkhof	Netherlands	Midfielder	Retired
	Willy van de Kerkhof	Netherlands	Midfielder	Retired
	Patrick Kluivert	Netherlands	Forward	Active
	Johan Neeskens	Netherlands	Midfielder	Retired
	Ruud van Nistelrooy	Netherlands	Forward	Active
	Rob Rensenbrink	Netherlands	Forward	Retired
	Frank Rijkaard	Netherlands	Midfielder/Defender	Retired
	Clarence Seedorf	Netherlands	Midfielder	Active
	Jay-Jay Okocha	Nigeria	Midfielder	Active
	George Best	Northern Ireland	Midfielder	Retired
	Romerito	Paraguay	Forward	Retired
	Teófilo Cubillas	Peru	Forward	Retired
	Zbigniew Boniek	Poland	Midfielder	Retired
	Eusébio	Portugal	Forward	Retired
	Luís Figo	Portugal	Midfielder	Active
	Rui Costa	Portugal	Midfielder	Active
	Roy Keane	Republic of Ireland	Midfielder	Active
	Gheorghe Hagi	Romania	Midfielder	Retired
	Rinat Dasayev	Russia[i]	Goalkeeper	Retired
	Kenny Dalglish	Scotland	Forward	Retired
	El Hadji Diouf	Senegal	Forward	Active
	Hong Myung-bo	South Korea	Defender	Active
	Emilio Butragueño	Spain	Forward	Retired
	Luis Enrique	Spain	Midfielder/Forward	Active
	Raúl	Spain	Forward	Active
	Rüştü Reçber	Turkey	Goalkeeper	Active
	Emre Belözoğlu	Turkey	Midfielder	Active
	Andriy Shevchenko	Ukraine	Forward	Active
	Michelle Akers	United States	Midfielder/Forward	Retired
	Mia Hamm	United States	Forward	Active
	Enzo Francescoli	Uruguay	Midfielder	Retired

Statistics

Footballers by nationality[11][12] Rank Nationality No. 1  Brazil 15 2  France 14  Italy 4  Netherlands 13 5  Argentina 10  Germany 7  England 7 8  Belgium 3  Denmark  Portugal  Spain 12  Chile 2  Czech Republic  Turkey  United States 16  Bulgaria 1  Cameroon  Colombia  Croatia  Ghana  Hungary  Japan  Liberia  Mexico  Nigeria  Northern Ireland  Paraguay  Peru  Poland  Republic of Ireland  Romania  Russia  Scotland  Senegal  South Korea  Ukraine  Uruguay

Footballers by playing position Position No. Goalkeeper 9 Defender 20 Midfielder 43 Forward 53 Footballers by birth decade Decade No. 1920s 5 1930s 7 1940s 15 1950s 22 1960s 35 1970s 37 1980s 4

See also

• World Soccer's Greatest Players of the 20th Century
• World Team of the 20th Century

Notes

1. Born in Argentina, Di Stéfano played for Spain, Argentina, and Colombia, though the latter was not recognised by FIFA at the time.^[6]
2. Born in Argentina, Sívori played for both Italy and Argentina.^[7]
3. Born in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Šuker played for both Yugoslavia and Croatia.^[8]
4. Masopust played for Czechoslovakia.^[9]
5. Born in France, Platini played for both Kuwait and France
6. Played for the West Germany national team
7. Played for both the West Germany and Germany national teams
8. Born in Hungary, Puskás played for Spain and Hungary
9. Dasayev played for the Soviet Union.^[10]