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In the competitive world of football, new stars emerge every year and determining the best player in the world stirs endless debates among fans and analysts. A comprehensive and objective assessment of player performance over a specific period can help us determine which players have outshone others in that time.
Analyzing the performances of footballers over the last three years allows us to gauge their consistency and adaptability. Additionally, it can give us an idea of how they've performed during important games and crucial moments within them.
There are plenty of international tournaments that took place since 2020 as well and as such, we also get a good measure of how players have performed for their national teams. Without further ado, let's take a look at the seven best players in the world since 2020.
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#7 Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo was still one of the best players in the world in 2020. He finished the 2019-20 season with 37 goals and seven assists to his name from 46 appearances in all competitions for Juventus. He won the Serie A title that year and kicked on in a similar fashion in the subsequent campaign.
Ronaldo won the Serie A Footballer of the Year award in 2020. He was also the Bianconeri's standout performer in the 2020-21 season in what was a rather underwhelming campaign for the Italian giants.
Ronaldo carried his form into the summer of 2021, winning the Golden Boot at Euro 2020 after netting five times for Portugal. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner subsequently left Juventus and joined his former club Manchester United that summer.
Ronaldo produced several clutch performances in his first season back at Manchester United and was their top scorer across all competitions (24 goals). After a falling out with new Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag in the first half of the 2022-23 campaign, Ronaldo left the club.
He is currently with Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Nassr and has done a stellar job for them so far. Since joining the club in January 2023, the Portuguese legend has scored 20 goals and provided two assists in 26 appearances across all competitions.
#6 Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland has been absolutely tearing it up in Europe since breaking onto the scene in 2019 as a prodigious striker with RB Salzburg. Haaland joined Borussia Dortmund in the 2020 January transfer window and continued to elevate his game to new heights.
He scored a whopping 86 goals and provided 23 assists in 89 appearances in all competitions for Dortmund across two and half seasons. The Norway international subsequently joined Manchester City in the summer of 2022.
Haaland has been a huge hit at City, firing them to the continental treble in his debut season in the Premier League. He also picked up the European Golden Shoe last term, scoring 36 goals for City in the English top flight. The 23-year-old was also named the Premier League Player of the Season last term.
He has so far scored 54 goals and provided nine assists in 56 appearances in all competitions for City.
#5 Kevin De Bruyne
Over the last several seasons, Kevin De Bruyne has established himself as one of the greatest midfielders of the 21st century. The iconic Belgian is a force to be reckoned with in City's midfield thanks to his creativity, vision, and technical proficiency.
De Bruyne has played a critical role in all of Manchester City's successes under Pep Guardiola. He has won three Premier League titles, two League Cups, one FA Cup, and one Champions League title since the start of 2020.
The 32-year-old has also won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season twice in that period.
#4 Karim Benzema
Following Ronaldo's departure from Real Madrid in the summer of 2018, Karim Benzema took over as Los Blancos' main man. He did a spectacular job leading the line for them until he left the club earlier this summer.
Benzema's contributions were crucial to Real Madrid winning the La Liga title in the 2019-20 and 2021-22 campaigns. He was at his absolute best in the 2021-22 season, scoring 44 goals and providing 15 assists as Real Madrid won the La Liga and the Champions League titles.
He won the Ballon d'Or last year thanks to his exploits in the 2021-22 campaign. The Frenchman was also named the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award that term. Benzema also won the Copa del Rey with Real Madrid in the 2022-23 campaign, which was also his final season at the club.
The 35-year-old also picked up the La Liga Player of the Season award in the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons. He currently plays for Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Ittihad.
#3 Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski was Bayern Munich's standout performer as they won the continental treble in the 2019-20 season. He scored 55 goals and provided 10 assists in 47 appearances in all competitions that term as Bayern enjoyed a historic campaign.
Lewandowski was tipped to win the Ballon d'Or in 2020 but the award was canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. He won the European Golden Shoe in the two subsequent seasons, scoring 41 and 35 goals in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 Bundesliga campaigns respectively.
Lewandowski won three Bundesliga titles since the start of 2020. He also picked up the Best FIFA Men's Player award in 2020 and 2021. The Polish legend joined Barcelona last summer and fired them to the La Liga title in the 2022-23 season, scoring 23 goals in 34 appearances in the competition.
#2 Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi's career has been extremely eventful since the start of 2020. Messi followed up an impressive 2019-20 campaign for Barcelona by winning a record-extending seventh Ballon d'Or in 2021.
He scored 38 goals and provided 14 assists in 47 appearances across all competitions for the Catalans in the 2020-21 season.
Messi also fired Argentina to Copa America glory in the summer of 2021 and picked up the Golden Boot at the tournament. He also shared the Best Player of the Tournament award with Neymar. Messi subsequently left his boyhood club Barcelona the same summer to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.
He won the Ligue 1 title in both seasons he played in France. But his most notable achievement in the last three years is guiding Argentina to World Cup glory in 2022.
Messi was in unstoppable form as he took La Albiceleste to the promised land and won the Golden Ball, scoring seven goals and providing three assists in the tournament.
As a result, Messi is now tipped to win a record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or this year.
The Argentine legend joined MLS outfit Inter Miami and has transformed their fortunes overnight. In six appearances for the club so far, Messi has scored nine goals and provided one assist.
#1 Kylian Mbappe
Ever since breaking onto the scene as a teenager with AS Monaco, Kylian Mbappe has been absolutely world-class. The Frenchman has arguably been the best footballer in the world since 2020 and has been phenomenal for Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team.
He has won the Ligue 1 Player of the Year thrice in the last three seasons and has been the top scorer in the competition in each of the last four campaigns. Mbappe has also won three Ligue 1 titles since the start of 2020. He also played a crucial role in France's UEFA Nations League triumph in 2021.
He was simply outstanding for France at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, scoring eight goals and providing two assists in football's showpiece tournament. Mbappe scored a brilliant hat-trick for France in the final against Argentina but ended up on the losing side as Les Bleus lost the game on penalties.
He has been in a league of his own in terms of scoring goals and creating chances for his teammates in recent years. The 24-year-old has scored 152 goals and provided 65 assists in 173 appearances in all competitions for PSG since the start of the 2019-20 season.
