CIES Football Observatory, one of the leading sports think tanks in Europe, has published its list of the best players on the planet.
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RANKED: The 23 best footballers in the world right now
Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid CF, and FC Barcelona have some of the best soccer players on the planet.
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The Switzerland-based institute analysed performance data over the last three months from Europe's "big five" football leagues — England's Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A, Germany's Bundesliga, and France's Ligue 1.
Football Observatory's methodology considered the performance of players in six different areas of the game — rigour, recovery, distribution, take on, chance creation, and shooting — in order to produce an overall score.
Team results were also studied so a player would benefit from victories but would be punished for losses, regardless of his own individual performance.
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Here are the best performing 23 footballers on the planet, according to CIES scores, ranked in ascending order.
18: 22-year-old Marseille midfielder André-Frank Zambo is an expert tackler with great positional awareness.
=17: Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane, 24, has scored one goal for every 77 minutes he has played so far this season.
=17: Heung-min Son, a 25-year-old winger for Tottenham Hotspur, scored seven goals in four games from late February to mid-March.
=17: 24-year-old AC Milan winger Suso is one of the best dribblers in Italy.
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16: Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini, 33, is one of the most intelligent centre backs in European football.
15: 30-year-old Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuaín scored 10 goals and provided three assists during a 10-game stretch between late January and mid-March.
14: Liverpool defender Joël Matip, 26, has an 89% pass completion rate.
13: Gerard Piqué, a 31-year-old FC Barcelona defender, is an intelligent player who is strong in the air.
=12: 32-year-old Napoli player Raúl Albiol is a highly-focused defender.
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=12: Paris Saint-Germain defender Thiago Silva, 33, is one of the most consistent players in Europe.
11: 30-year-old FC Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitić completes 90% of his passes and averages 72 per league game.
10: 30-year-old Manchester City defender Nicolás Otamendi is one of the best players in his position in the Premier League.
=9: Napoli full back Mário Rui, 26, is an expert tackler with a good passing range.
=9: 24-year-old AC Milan midfielder Hakan Çalhanoğlu is a constant threat from set piece scenarios.
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8: 21-year-old Tottenham Hotspur defender Davinson Sánchez has been a big-game player this season.
7: Tottenham Hotspur's Mousa Dembélé, 30, is one of his club's key players in the heart of midfield.
6: 30-year-old Napoli midfielder Marek Hamšík has created 40 goal-scoring opportunities this season.
=5: Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Christian Eriksen, 26, has scored or created 15 goals from 29 Premier League starts.
=5: 25-year-old Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah has scored or created one goal for every 67 minutes he has played so far this season.
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4: Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, 26, is the best player in his position in Italy right now, according to CIES.
3: 33-year-old Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has scored or created one goal for every 67 minutes he has played so far this season.
2: Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos, 28, is a pass master with an average accuracy rate of 93%.
1: 30-year-old FC Barcelona winger Lionel Messi is the most in-form footballer on the planet, according to CIES.
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