Arrascaeta, Messi, Ronaldo: survey lists 30 most decisive players

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·4 March 2026

Arrascaeta, Messi, Ronaldo: survey lists 30 most decisive players

Flamengo Idol, Arrascaeta Appears in 22nd Position

Elected King of America and Golden Ball of the Brasileirão last year, Arrascaeta is one of the most important players in the world. In a ranking released by the CIES Football Observatory, an international center for football performance studies, the Flamengo star appears in 22nd place on the list of the most decisive players on the planet. Messi leads, while Cristiano Ronaldo holds the 15th spot.

WHO ARE THE 30 MOST DECISIVE PLAYERS IN THE WORLD?

1. Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) 2. Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) 3. Anders Dreyer (San Diego) 4. Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid) 5. Xherdan Shaqiri (FC Basel) 6. Luis Suárez (Sporting) 7. Vangelis Pavlidis (Benfica) 8. Denis Bouanga (Los Angeles FC) 9. Ivan Toney (Al-Ahli) 10. Michael Olise (Bayern Munich) 11. Darko Lemajić (FK RFS) 12. Berkan Taz (SC Verl) 13. Fábio Abreu (Beijing Guoan) 14. Akram Afif (Al-Sadd) 15. Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr) 16. Paulinho Fernandes (Deportivo Toluca) 17. Valeri Qazaishvili (Shandong Taishan) 18. Joel Pojhjanpalo (Palermo) 19. Alfredo Morelos (Atlético Nacional) 20. Erling Haaland (Manchester City) 21. Christian Fassnacht (Young Boys) 22. Arrascaeta (Flamengo) 23. Evander da Silva (FC Cincinnati) 24. Sam Surridge (Nashville SC) 25. Eduard Spertsyan (Krasnodar) 26. Mourad Batna (Al-Fateh) 27. Aleksandar Katai (Crvena Zvezda) 28. Facundo Callejo (Cusco) 29. Janis Ikaunieks (FK RFS) 30. Julián Quiñones (Al-Qadsiah)

The study analyzed the 67 main leagues in the world based on advanced metrics of on-field impact. For the ranking, CIES considered factors such as chance creation, finishing, and direct influence on team play over the past year.

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According to the study, the weighting was calculated by multiplying the contributions by the ratio between the average sporting coefficient of the matches in which the players scored goals or provided assists and the average measured for the top 100 football players. With this, Arrascaeta, who shone in 2025, achieved international recognition.

WHAT WERE ARRASCAETA'S NUMBERS IN 2025?

Last year, Arrascaeta scored 25 goals and provided 20 assists in 64 matches. Moreover, in terms of collective performance with Flamengo, the number 10 helped the team win the Libertadores of America, Brasileirão, Carioca and Supercopa in 2025.

Currently at Inter Miami, in the United States, Messi led with 59 goals and assists (37 goals and 22 assists). Considering Brazilian teams, Arrascaeta is the only representative. Expanding the scope to South American teams, Alfredo Morelos from Atlético Nacional (COL) and Facundo Callejo from Cusco (PER) also stand out.

AND ARRASCAETA IN 2026?

Despite criticism from part of the fans, Arrascaeta started 2026 with good numbers. In eight matches, the number 10 has scored three goals. Now, the star will try to improve his record this Sunday (08), against Fluminense, in the final of the Campeonato Carioca. The match kicks off at 6pm (Brasília time), at Maracanã.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.