World football is currently blessed with a plethora of upcoming talent with players like Marcus Rashford and Kylian Mbappe having ability serious enough to reach the top of the footballing pyramid in the future. Predicting the future of footballers can be a dicey affair. Look at Bojan Krkic for example, at Barcelona, he was considered good enough to one day replace Lionel Messi but is now plying his trade at Mainz in the Bundesliga on loan from Premier League club Stoke City.
A good parameter of players’ ability and potential are seen in the FIFA series, where EA give players overall ratings which determine their current level of skill and ability along with a potential rating which indicates the level of ability a player can be expected to reach in his career. In this article, we take this very useful feature by FIFA and try to determine what the future of football looks like and who exactly will be the world's best players in 2025 with excerpts taken from sports website Givemesport.
World football is currently dominated by the Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi duopoly who have been at the top of the footballing pyramid since Ricardo Kaka last won the Ballon d’Or in 2007. Players waiting in the wings to take over the best players’ mantle from the two include the likes of Neymar, Paulo Dybala and Thiago who are just short of reaching their prime and are expected to take over once the two players reach the tether of their careers.
In this article, however, we try to predict what the scenario in 2025 will look like, once the likes of Neymar and Dybala are also winding down their careers. For a better estimation of player’s abilities, we also decided to use FIFA’s potential ratings given to youth prodigies to predict the future of football.
Dele Alli to become world’s best player
As per current FIFA ratings which will obviously change as more talent is unearthed, Tottenham star Dele Alli will be one of the world’s foremost players come 2025. Eight years from now, the young Englishman will be in his prime as a footballer at the age of 28 and is expected to have a FIFA rating of 90 as per the potential rating given to him on FIFA 17.
Highly rated youth prospects Ousmane Dembele and Renato Sanches, who play for German rivals Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively are expected to be the close to the top with potential ratings of 90 too although their current ratings might not very special at under the 80 point mark. Another young prospect who is realising his potential is Manchester United’s Anthony Martial, who has an overall rating of 82 in FIFA 17 and looks to be destined for big things with a potential of 90.
Real Madrid starlet Marco Asensio, who has been lighting up the flanks for the Blancos in the absence of Gareth Bale is also very highly rated. With a base rating of 81 (updates indicate a level around the 85 mark), the Spaniard has a potential of 89 which is only expected to get better as he matures with age. We will not be surprised if he eventually manages to cross the 89 potential rating given to him by FIFA.
Halilovic, Zouma in the race as well
Players outside the expected top five in 2025 include Hamburg’s Alen Halilovic who at only 20 years of age is rated at 79 and is expected to go on to levels around a rating of 89. Anderlecht’s Youri Tielmans, who impressed in the Europa League semi-final against Manchester United is also highly rated prospect expected to reach the 89 mark.
The final three in the top ten is made up by Chelsea man Kurt Zouma who has the potential to reach an 89 rating, Bayer Leverkusen’s Julian Brandt with a 88 potential and Bayern Munich’s flying winger Kingsley Coman who at only 20 years of age has managed to win 9 titles at club level and reached the finals of the European Championships in 2016 to finish as runner-up.
While this list is far from comprehensive and certain due to the variety of unknown factors at play, it tries to present an accurate reflection of who the stars of world football will be in around a decade from now. It is possible that some these players fade into oblivion much like Federico Macheda at Manchester United while some manage to exceed the expectations placed on their young shoulders.
Also, the list of players is likely to be the subject of much change if players like Kylian Mbappe and Marcus Rashford have their way with it. They may not be a part of the world’s elite or even in the top ten players with highest potential but if they continue to come up with performances of such high quality, they will surely be in and around the world’s best players come 2025.
| #1 Dele Alli |
| #2 Ousmane Dembele |
| #3 Renato Sanches |
| #4 Anthony Martial |
| #5 Marco Asensio |
| #6 Alen Halilovic |
| #7 Youri Tielmans |
| #8 Kurt Zouma |
| #9 Julian Brandt |
| #10 Kingsley Coman |
