It is time for our sixth edition of the best 100 female footballers in the world and here are the judges who took part in this year’s jury.
Our panel includes some of the most respected and influential women and men within the game, including the NWSL championship-winning coach Juan Carlos Amorós, Champions League-winning coach Jonatan Giráldez, Serie A-winning coach Alessandra Spugna, USWNT interim head coach Twila Kilgore and many more.
We are also privileged to have had a whole host of respected media personalities on the panel as ever, plus several former players who played at the highest level, including former Champions League winner and England international Izzy Christiansen, as well as double Champions League winner Marith Müller-Prießen, Brazil great Sissi and Canada centurion Amy Walsh. They feature on a 112-strong panel of judges who voted for the top 100 female footballers of 2023.
Their votes have been counted to determine the No 1 player of the year after a year which saw a spectacular World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand.
The countdown begins on Tuesday 9 January with Nos 100-71. On Wednesday we will reveal Nos 70-41, on Thursday Nos 40-11 before the top 10 on Friday to complete this year’s list.
The judges are listed in alphabetical order by category.
Players
Izzy Christiansen Former England international; Champions League winner with Lyon
Theresa Eslund Former Denmark international; Euro 2017 finalist and five-time Elitedivisionen winner
Ode Fulutudilu Former South Africa international; represented her country at the 2019 World Cup
Marith Müller-Prießen Former Germany international; two-time Champions League winner with Duisburg and Frankfurt
Jenny Ruiz Williams Former Mexico international; earned 36 senior caps and represented Seattle Reign in the NWSL
Essi Sainio Former Finland international; earned 48 senior caps and played professionally in Germany and Sweden
Sissi Former Brazil international; won the Golden Boot at the 1999 World Cup
Amy Walsh Former Canada international; earned 102 senior caps and represented her country at two World Cups and the 2008 Olympic Games
Ana Paola López Yrigoyen Former Mexico international; played for Pumas and Pachuca in the Liga MX
Coaches
Margaret Aka Women’s football consultant at OFC; former Papua New Guinea head coach
Juan Carlos Amorós NJ/NY Gotham FC head coach
Natalia Arroyo Real Sociedad head coach
Natalia Astrain Former USA Under-17 and Barcelona head coach
Alex Basimanebotlhe Botswana assistant head coach
Collin Bell Korea Republic head coach
Victoria Boardman North Carolina Courage assistant head coach
Shilene Booysen Wadi Degla head coach
Mariana Cabral Sporting CP head coach
Lisa Cole Zambia assistant head coach
Lluís Cortés Saudi Arabia head coach
Sabrina Eckhoff Wolfsburg assistant head coach
Peter Gerhardsson Sweden head coach
Jonatan Giráldez Barcelona head coach
Ann-Helén Grahm Former Sweden, Scotland, Finland and Tigres UANL assistant head coach
Rita Guarino Internazionale head coach
Amy Harrison FC Nordsjælland assistant head coach
Martin Ho SK Brann head coach
Erwan Huet Le Havre and Haiti assistant head coach
Louis Hunt San Diego Wave assistant head coach
Samira Hurem Bosnia and Herzegovina head coach
Per Inge Jacobsen Norway Under-23 head coach
Twila Kilgore USA interim head coach
Jonne Kunnas Finland assistant head coach
Roos Kwakkenbos Netherlands Under-19 head coach
Amandine Miquel Stade de Reims head coach
Joe Montemurro Juventus head coach
after newsletter promotion
Mike Norris Portland Thorns head coach
Tanya Oxtoby Northern Ireland head coach
Mark Parsons Former Washington Spirit, Netherlands and Portland Thorns head coach
Pablo Piñones-Arce Hammarby head coach
Pedro López Ramos Mexico head coach
Kristian Mørch Rasmussen Denmark assistant head coach
Roger Reijners Fortuna Sittard head coach
Guillermo Schiltenwolf Wellington United head coach
Björn Sigurbjörnsson UMF Selfoss head coach
Tatiele Silveira Colo Colo head coach
Kat Smith Western United head coach
Myles Smith Al-Ittihad assistant head coach
Alessandro Spugna Roma head coach
Becki Tweed Angel City FC head coach
Fabiola Vargas Former Necaxa, Tijuana and Atlas head coach
Robert Vilahamn Tottenham Hotspur head coach
Javier Visea Real Betis assistant head coach
Randy Waldrum Nigeria head coach
Dragiša Zečević Serbia head coach
Abdullah Abdullah Journalist in UAE for ESPN and Equalizer Soccer
Samuel Ahmadu Journalist in Nigeria for NigeriaFootball and SavidNews
Helene Altgelt Journalist in Germany for 90min
Melanie Anzidei Journalist in the USA for the Athletic
Esther Appiah-Fei Journalist in Ghana for Olympics and various outlets
Javiera Court Arrau Journalist in Chile and women’s football documentary producer
Romain Balland Journalist in France for Eurosport and various outlets
Annika Becker Journalist in Germany for Sportschau and various outlets
Selim Ben Hmida Journalist in Turkey for TotalAnalysis
Alex Bishop Journalist in Japan for the Asian Game and various outlets
Mica Cannataro Journalist in Argentina for Diario Ole and various outlets
Anna Carreau Journalist in France for RMC Sport, Eurosport and various outlets
Syanie Dalmat Journalist in France for L’Équipe
Seraina Degen Journalist in Switzerland for SRF Sport
Eileen Doeker Journalist in Germany for Sky Sports Germany
Cheryl Downes Journalist in Australia for Beyond 90
Mia Eriksson Journalist in Sweden for various outlets
Ryan Fenix Journalist in the Philippines for GMA News Online
Tamerra Griffin Journalist in the USA for the Athletic and various outlets
Semra Hunter Broadcaster in Spain for La Liga TV, ITV and various others
Alex Ibaceta Journalist in the UK for Dazn Football and various others
Caleb Jephte Pierre Journalist in Haiti for various outlets
Harjeet Johal Journalist in Canada for Equalizer Soccer and various outlets
Meaghen Johnson Journalist in Canada for TSN
Mariam Kourabi Journalist in Canada for SHEScoresBangers Podcast
Rich Laverty Journalist in the UK for various outlets
Sophie Lawson Journalist in the UK for ESPN
Samantha Lewis Journalist in Australia for ABC Sport
Gianluca Lia Journalist in Malta for Times of Malta
Marissa Lordanic Journalist in Australia for ESPN and various outlets
David Menayo Journalist in Spain for Marca
Sofie Engberg Munch Journalist in Denmark for TV 2 Sport
Unnati Naidu Journalist in India for ATA Football and Dazn Football
Blair Newman Women’s football analyst and scout in the UK
Chibuogwu Nnadiegbulam Journalist in Nigeria for Ladies March and various outlets
Teo Pellizzeri Journalist in Australia for 10 Australia
Annemarie Postma Journalist in the Netherlands for various outlets
Ameé Ruszkai Journalist in the UK for Goal.com and Indivisa
Romina Sacher Journalist for Goal.com and various outlets
Alícia Soares Journalist in Brazil for Planeta Futebol and Vavel
Courtney Stith Journalist in the USA for CBS Sports and various outlets
Megan Swanick Journalist in the USA for various outlets
Maria Tikas Journalist in Spain for Diario Sport
Joanna Tokarska Journalist in Poland for TVP Sport
Assile Toufaily Journalist in France for Forbes Sport
Hania Urbaniak Journalist in Poland for various outlets
Amber Van Lieshout Journalist in the Netherlands for Vrouwen Voetbal Nieuws
Rivkah op het Veld Journalist in the Netherlands for NOS Sport
Amanda Viana Journalist in Brazil for Dazn Football and various outlets
Raffaella Volpiana Journalist in Brazil for Planeta Futebol and various outlets
Julia Wanjeri Journalist in Kenya for JWSports1 and various outlets
Lucy Ward Broadcaster in the UK for Dazn, TNT Sports, Prime Video and various outlets
Adriana Wehrens Journalist in Germany for 90min
Suzanne Wrack Journalist in the UK for the Guardian
Bi Yuan Journalist in China for Titan Sports, Beijing, and various outlets
Ayishatu Zakaria Ali Journalist in Ghana for 90min and various outlets
Amanda Zaza Journalist in Sweden for SVT
