FIFA announces "power ranking" of players in the World Cup; understand

FIFA announced this Thursday (4) a new individual performance rating system that will evaluate players participating in the 2026 World Cup based on objective data collected during matches.

Called FIFA Power Rankings, the system will use advanced algorithms and statistics to create a list of the 100 best-performing players in the tournament. The rankings will be updated after each game in the competition, which starts next week in North America and will feature 48 teams.

According to a statement released by the entity, the ranking will be based on exclusive match data collected by FIFA and will offer an objective analysis of athletes' performance in fundamental areas of football.

The project was developed by experts in the sport under the supervision of Arsène Wenger, who currently holds the position of director of global football development at the entity.

"Performance will no longer be judged by opinion alone. With the new FIFA Power Rankings, each player will be analyzed using objective game data in the areas of attack, creativity and defense, setting a new global standard for individual evaluation in football," said Wenger.

In each match, outfield players who reach the minimum participation time will receive grades from zero to 10 in three main categories: attack, creativity and defense. Goalkeepers will be evaluated on two aspects: performance in possession and goal protection.

The ranking will be announced after all teams have played their first match at the World Cup. From that moment on, the ranking will be updated at the end of each match in the tournament.

With 10 for Neymar, Brazilian team announces number for World Cup 2026

Source: CNN