The best right-wingers in the world might be the most difficult task of any position on the pitch.
Historically, a certain Argentine has been king of lists ranking the best players in the world, but as Lionel Messi winds down, there are certainly plenty of stars waiting to assume his crown, with the top half-dozen sides in the world each having an elite star in that position.
How FourFourTwo's expert panel decided the best right-wingers in the world
FourFourTwo assembled an expert panel comprised of major voices in the industry to decide upon the best players in each position, according to current form, historic importance and technical ability.
We asked our experts to give a score to each winger from 10 down to one in their list, before including statistical metrics across Europe's top five leagues such as Expected Assists per 90 (xA per 90), through balls and shot-creating actions collating all the data at the end for a final ranking.
Judgement calls were made over players who may play on the opposite flank, with the prospect of some stars eligible for our list of the best left-wingers in the world, as our first-placed right-winger ran away with the vote, ahead of a cluster of four placed closely behind.
When it comes to the sharp end of the pitch, we have a list of the best centre-forwards in the world, too, while we've covered matters further back: we have a list of the best goalkeepers in the world, while defence (right-backs, centre-backs and left-backs) and midfield (defensive midfielders, central midfielders and attacking midfielders) are both wrapped up with three specific lists a-piece.
The full list
20. Noni Madueke
Arsenal needed a backup to Bukayo Saka for years and in Noni Madueke, they may have found the closest thing in English football. Madueke is mature in and out of possession, able to hold width or cut in with devastating impact, and its a testament to his soaring development that managers like Mikel Arteta and Thomas Tuchel are starting to trust him implicitly.
Still just 23 years old and starting to settle after a career of plenty of flux, the Emirates Stadium might just be about to see the best from a player who seems to have found the right place for him.
19. Jarrod Bowen
Jarrod Bowen completely changed the landscape for West Ham United when he signed. Little was expected of the then-Hull City star, who joined in January and helped drag the club away from relegation.
Since then, he's become a blueprint of sorts for a club that struggled when looking to sign discarded superstars, proving that the Irons are better off shopping for up-and-comers ready to put in hard yards and prove themselves.
18. Riccardo Orsolini
Riccardo Orsolini is an outside forward whose prominence in Bolognas attack makes his one of those names that crops up week in, week out. More than anything, Orsolini is a clutch goalscorer.
Hes quick and skilful, but his match-winning abilities are miles ahead of the typical winger. Orsolini reached double figures for Serie A goals in three consecutive seasons and is well on the way to adding a fourth. The Rossoblu owe their return to European football to their star man.
17. Maghnes Akliouche
Monaco forward Maghnes Akliouche became a senior international for France in the early part of the 2025/26 season, quickly racking up his first few caps despite Les Bleus remarkable depth in his position.
The 23-year-old has been a first-team fixture for Monaco for the last two-and-a-half seasons, becoming one of the most effective creative forces in Ligue 1 thanks to his ability to carry and pass the ball into the places where it matters.
16. Iliman Ndiaye
Perhaps the most fun footballer in the Premier League: its not what any player especially aspires to, but its certainly the case that Iliman Ndiaye presents, as a Duracell-powered dynamo from the right for David Moyes fluctuating Everton.
The Senegalese is tricky, pacy and has natural flair and hes one of the most watchable wingers on Earth.
15. Ilan Kebbal
The rise of Paris has elevated the status of midfielder Ilan Kebbal. The 27-year-old has specialised in having a direct impact on matches with endless creativity and line-breaking runs since joining Paris, initially on loan, in 2022.
The former Reims prospect has added goals and assists to his game in the capital and earned a first senior international cap for Algeria in PFCs first season in Ligue 1 for nearly 50 years. Only four players have made more key passes in Europe's top five leagues, and only six have completed more through balls.
14. Franco Mastantuono
The faith that Xabi Alonso has put into a young Franco Mastantuono is huge: he's been willing to start a player with no European experience ahead of established stars who've been there, done it and won titles.
Mastantuono is certainly one for the future but he's held his own at the Bernabeu, with typical South American resilience. The man who may one day take Lionel Messi's shirt for the national team is an uncut diamond who has taken to life at Los Blancos nicely.
13. Takefusa Kubo
25-year-old Takefusa Kubo arrived at Real Sociedad in 2022 with serious pedigree.
He moved to La Masia from Kawasaki Frontales junior ranks and spent four years on Barcelonas books before an enforced return to Japan. Real Madrid took him back to Spain, and a series of loans around La Liga revealed a direct dribbler and sharp, creative attacking influence who is now established as an in-demand transfer target and Japans star player.
He's constantly linked with a move to the Premier League and it's clear to see why: despite his diminutive stature, Kubo has a ruggedness to his game, presses with intensity and isn't afraid to get stuck in.
12. Pedro Neto
Portuguese winger Pedro Neto is one of the Premier Leagues great unheralded talents.
Successive managers at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea would have liked more goals from the 25-year-old given his ability and directness, but he is always a threat in the attacking third and has consistently proved one of the toughest assignments for full-backs in Englands top division for the last six years.
11. Christian Pulisic
USMNT star Christian Pulisic has delivered consistently for three of Europes biggest clubs for a decade.
Now 27, he was the great hope of the American game when he emerged from the youth ranks at Borussia Dortmund and will pass 100 international caps before he turns 30. Living up to expectations has been a significant weight for American players but Pulisic, a lethal attacking midfielder, has played a starring role for Dortmund, Chelsea and Milan.
10. Inaki Williams
He may have only started truly receiving his plaudits since his sibling came along but Inaki Williams, much like his younger brother, Nico, is every full-backs worst nightmare.
Pace and trickery give the Basque-born Ghana international everything required to beat any man in a one-on-one situation, often making his opposite number look silly in the process.
Williams has racked up 471 appearances for Athletic Club, netting 111 goals: a true modern-day club legend, showing unbreakable commitment to a community that took his family in as one of their own, following his parents perilous journey across the Sahara to get there while pregnant with the older Williams. He will have fielded plenty of offers elsewhere, likely with heftier pay packets and glitzier stadia, but nothing could replace the legacy hell leave at San Mames.
9. Bryan Mbeumo
Making a move from a midtable club to Manchester United hasnt always been a sure thing, but Bryan Mbeumo has started his Old Trafford career with the same frenzy that he showed at Brentford.
The Cameroonian almost defies gravity sometimes: even when the winds are blowing against Ruben Amorims side, Mbeumo has the gusto to drive the side forward, with his power, movement and speed much-needed in transition.
Hes developed into one of the most dangerous attackers in Europe.
8. Lionel Messi
Yes, still.
Hes Lionel Messi, what do you want us to say? Even in his twilight, the GOAT is still doing GOAT things: its telling that even two decades into a career that has seen him continually reinvent the sport, and thousands of imitators labelled as the next Messi, hes still utterly unique.
Hes incomparable to anyone: he could play into his 60s and hes probably still never lose it. Recent triumph with Inter Miami show, too, that his stats show no sign of dropping off either. A second World Cup win isn't beyond the realms of possibility
7. Mohammed Kudus
Tottenham Hotspur have been wildly inconsistent this season but it says a lot that their best attacker has been Mohammed Kudus.
The Ghanaian has long been a Swiss Army knife in attack, able to bend his game depending on the coachs wishes and perhaps that was the thinking behind signing him for a manager like Thomas Frank, who revels in adapting his style.
So far, weve seen more of a transitional Kudus, able to get Spurs up the pitch with his sheer will but has shown
6. Rodrygo
Rodrygo was heavily linked with a Bernabeu exit over the summer but the Brazilian simply is Real Madrid.
Hes a big-game player, excels in tight spaces and brings the best out of the Galacticos around him with a bewitching combination of creativity and devastation when he gets into the right areas.
With plenty of competition under Xabi Alonso, it wouldnt be a surprise if those transfer rumours rear their head again and whoever gets Rodrygo will be signing one of the most exciting wingers in world football: perhaps hed be better appreciated if he played elsewhere.
5. Desire Doue
A 10/10 Champions League final made the world sit up but FourFourTwo ranked him at no.8 in our list of the most exciting teenagers to watch at the start of last season.
Its been touted over the past year or so that Desire Doue is one of a dying breed: a true entertainer, brought up on tapes of Neymar, evoking the spirit of Ronaldinho. Its seemingly fitting, therefore, for him to make the Parc des Princes his playground.
It shouldnt be overlooked, however, that Doue is far more than a Joga Bonito merchant. Hes diligent and disciplined, able to press in the first line or second: its rare for such an entertainer to be so impressive out of position.
Doue will forever be known as the boy who led Paris Saint-Germain to the promised land but theres a reason that he succeeded where the likes of Messi and Mbappe couldnt. The French youngster is one of the most phenomenally talented starlets in world football right now but that talents nothing without the world-class drive backing it up.
4. Michael Olise
Over the last couple of years, Michael Olise has raised his game to new levels. At Crystal Palace, he was always effortless, deft and mercurial: now, hes adding the output with his numbers in Germany among the very best in the world.
Though hes still one of the best right-wingers on Earth, Olise has moved central to the no.10 position at times under Vincent Kompany, where he started to dictate games for Bayern Munich and hell be expected to start for France at World Cup 2026.
Watching him progress to a world-class level has been a joy.
3. Mohamed Salah
We can talk about his finishing ability, his movement, his speed or his knack of beating full-backs, but what Mohamed Salah has achieved since returning to the Premier League is testament to his incredible mentality.
Hes fourth on the all-time scorers list in the division all from the right flank hes managed to transform the way that wingers are viewed and he almost singlehandedly won Liverpool the league last season with an unbelievable individual campaign that will go down in history.
Now that time could well be up at Anfield, attention turns to his national team and establishing a legacy with the Pharaohs: hes never won an international tournament and with AFCON coming up before what would well be his last World Cup, Salah still has time to write a few more pages in the history books.
2. Bukayo Saka
Arsenal have signed wonderkids from Real Madrid, strikers who have scored 100 goals in two years and �100m box-to-box England regulars but their best player is still a kid from Hale End whose outstanding trait is that he simply always makes the right decision.
Bukayo Saka is a special winger: he can beat a man on either side, has two trademark finishes the left-footed curl from the right half-space and the right-footed smash into the roof of the net and his passing is as measured and composed as he is. But fittingly for a wonderkid lauded for his GCSE results when he burst onto the scene, its his intelligence that sets him apart.
Others may be stronger, quicker or more powerful (not many, though), but no one uses what they have better than Saka does.
1. Lamine Yamal
The youngest footballer ever nominated for the Ballon dOr, Lamine Yamal is still only 18 years old and already looks like hes been playing at the very top level for a decade or longer. Yes, we know you know that but its still normalised that a talent this good is this young.
Yamal is generational: thats a word thats chucked around these days, but hes simply unstoppable. The Barcelona teen can beat you for pace or with a pass: hes boundlessly creative, he has a rocket in his locker and as a winger, he can beat you inside or out. Even when Barcelona were dumped out of the Champions League in a 7-6 aggregate tie to Inter Milan, the teenager was tearing his opponents apart time and time again.
How good could he become? Hes already his clubs and countrys best player and potentially the best in the world. Lionel Messi: hes coming for your legacy
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