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Football is a global sport and you can find fans of the game in every nook and cranny of the world. The beautiful game is arguably the most popular sport on the planet and we're just coming off a summer with two high-profile continental tournaments.
Euro 2020 and Copa America 2021 saw some of the best teams in the world compete for continental glory. We also got to see some of the best footballers in the world squaring off against each other.
European club football is viewed as the gold standard but other continents are not too far behind them in producing world-class talent. Without further ado, let's take a look at the best footballers from each continent. (In the spirit of competition and for the sake of this list, we're grouping Australia and Asia together).
#5 Asia/Australia - Son Heung-Min (South Korea/Tottenham Hotspur)
Son Heung-Min has become one of the Premier League's best forwards in recent years. The South Korean international has struck up a wonderful partnership with Harry Kane and will go down as one of their best players of the Premier League era.
Son possesses great technique and is excellent with the ball at his feet. He consistently gets the better of defenders thanks to his excellent footwork and pace which renders him hard to keep up with.
The 29-year-old scored 22 goals and provided 17 assists in 51 appearances across all competitions for Tottenham Hotspur in the 2020-21 season.
Detractors are quick to write Spurs off as a one-man army that's heavily reliant on Harry Kane. While Kane is absolutely world-class, if you've seen how Spurs play, then you'll know just how good and important Son is to the side.
In 93 appearances across all competitions for his national side, Son has scored 27 goals and provided 17 assists as well.
Closest competitor: Hwang Hee-chan (South Korea/RB Leipzig)
#4 North America - Christian Pulisic (United States/Chelsea)
For a man of his talent, Christian Pulisic was rather sparingly used in the 2020-21 season. But given Chelsea's attacking wealth, it doesn't come as much of a surprise. The 22-year-old has still made quite an impact at Stamford Bridge since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2019.
He has scored 18 goals and provided 14 assists in 79 appearances across all competitions for the Blues so far. Nicknamed 'Captain America', Pulisic is easily the most exciting player to have emerged from North America in the recent past.
Closest competitor: Alphonso Davies (Canada/Bayern Munich)
#3 Africa - Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool)
Mohamed Salah, 'the Egyptian king', has been phenomenal for Liverpool over the past four seasons. He has been the main creative force behind their successes in the Champions League and the Premier League in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons respectively.
Salah's pace, dribbling skills and shooting prowess have made him one of the best goalscorers in the business at the moment. He is also extremely fast and intelligent. Salah is also a tireless worker who always gives his all for the team.
In 204 appearances across all competitions for Liverpool, Salah has scored 126 goals and provided 49 assists. He has won the Premier League Golden Boot twice already. He has got off to a flying start in the 2021-22 season, registering two assists and scoring a goal in Liverpool's season opener against Norwich City.
Closest competitor: Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City)
#2 Europe - Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich)
When a player performs at the level that Robert Lewandowski has for a decade, his greatness needs to be acknowledged. The Polish international is easily one of the best strikers of the modern era. He was robbed off the Ballon d'Or in 2020 as the award was canceled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lewandowski is a complete striker who has mastered the art of finishing. He has also been performing at an elite level for a decade now. The 32-year-old is an extremely intelligent footballer who knows how to pop up in the right place at the right time.
In the 2020-21 season, Lewandowski scored 41 goals in the Bundesliga. In doing so, he broke Gerd Muller's record of most goals scored (40) in a 38-game Bundesliga season.
Lewandowski has scored 297 goals and provided 65 assists in 331 appearances across all competitions for Bayern Munich. He has 69 goals and 23 assists to his name for Poland across all competitions in the international circuit as well.
Closest competitor: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus)
#1 South America - Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain)
Arguably the greatest footballer of all time, Lionel Messi has been the talk of the town this summer for various reasons. The record six-time Ballon d'Or winner won the Golden Boot and the Best Player Award as he led Argentina to Copa America glory in July.
He was subsequently forced to leave Barcelona due to the club's horrible financial situation and has now linked up with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe at PSG. Messi won the Pichichi trophy awarded to the top goalscorer in La Liga in the 2020-21 season.
Taking stock of all of his achievements is going to take us all day and hence, we'll leave it at that. Lionel Messi is easily the best South American footballer on the planet. Fans are waiting with bated breath to see how well the attacking trio of Neymar, Mbappe and Messi are going to perform side by side.
Closest competitor: Neymar (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain)
