Deciding the best right-wingers in the world certainly isn't an easy task to answer in the modern age. The role has become one of the most important in football – and with that, it's hard to quantify what makes a winger tick.
With 4-4-2 more or less resigned to history (we're aware of the irony!), a myriad of formations mean wide men are a different breed than the classic crossers of the 1990s. These days, they're also goalscorers, pressers, raumdeuters and more – and this lot represent the elite collection of difference-makers in the final third.
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How our experts decided the best right-wingers in the world
We asked our experts to provide a their own top 10 of right-wingers in the world, going by pure ability right now, their form over the last year or so and their historic achievements. Players who play in multiple positions have been considered across the pitch, appearing on the list in which they received the most votes.
Our esteemed team managed to come up with a long-list of 18 possible candidates. This was then whittled down to the top 10 based on an average scoring system.
We've covered the whole of the attack, too. Aside from right-wingers, we've listed the best left-wingers in the world and the best strikers in the world.
We've also ranked the best goalkeepers in the world, while in defence, we've sorted the best centre-backs in the world, we've ranked the best right-backs in the world and the best left-backs in the world. Ahead of them, we've got lists on the best defensive midfielders in the world, the best central midfielders in the world and the best attacking midfielders in the world.
10. Inaki Williams (Athletic Club)
Bilbao-born Williams has established himself as an Athletic legend and a La Liga hero across his 10-year career in the top flight so far. A pacy and versatile forward, Williams’ performances over his career have helped his club regularly fight for European football, while goals at crucial moments have helped cement his place in fans’ hearts.
Perhaps his greatest ability is his availability, with a six-year run of 251 consecutive appearances for the club before picking up an injury in 2023.
9. Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig, on loan from Paris Saint-Germain)
He shares his name with a Barcelona legend, has the La Masia education to match and is learning his trade at a Red Bull club before going back to Paris Saint-Germain. One wonders what kind of player Xavi Simons will be when he matures.
The Dutchman already typifies the Bundesliga bluster both on and off the ball, showing the kind of intensity and threat and that any top-level midfield needs. Now linked with the likes of Manchester City, it seems certain that he’ll go to the very top.
8. Lionel Messi (Inter Mami)
He’s approaching the winter of his career and we still can’t kick him off this list. Lionel Messi is eternal: he could be 50 years old and we’d still consider him.
The Flea only really plays walking football these days and yet he still plays with a majesty that only he possibly could. This summer’s Copa America triumph was the first time, really, that Argentina looked weaker for having to compensate for him – but he’s still got the best vision, first touch and pass outside of European football. Will he turn it back on for a World Cup in two years’ time? Don’t bet against it.
7. Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich)
Yet another dazzling talent perfected by Pep Guardiola, Leroy Sane offers a terrifying blend of raw, direct pace with dazzling technical ability to establish himself since his move to Manchester in 2016.
Having negotiated major injury issues over recent years, the German international finally looks back to his ruthless best at Bayern Munich as he continues to compete with a host of talented teammates for a starting spot out wide. Injuries undoubtedly robbed the world of seeing Sane at his absolute peak, although you’d still be hard-pressed to find a team who wouldn’t snatch him from Bavaria given half a chance.
6. Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain)
Once regarded as the most exciting young attacker on earth, Ousmane Dembele’s unusual development path has finally resulted in his finding his feet as a key cog in Paris Saint Germain’s frontline moving forward. Talent was never an issue for the Frenchman, with a dribbling ability and two-footedness that few on earth could compete with – but constant niggling injuries plagued his career following a career-defining €125 million move to Barcelona in 2017.
Now 27, Dembele still has plenty of his career ahead of him, while regular football at PSG will undoubtedly see him continue to grow closer to his lofty potential. It’s impossible not to imagine what a fully-fit Dembele could have achieved in an alternate universe, though…
5. Michael Olise (Bayern Munich)
Michael Olise is a leading figure in a rapidly emerging market of young, right-sided inside forwards taking the world by storm over the past few years.
The Frencham navigated injury issues over the past two seasons to announce himself as an elite-level talent at Selhurst Park, with his mazy dribbling ability and goalscoring ability firing Crystal Palace up the Premier League table before securing a move to Bayern Munich over the summer. With eight goal involvements in six games so far this season, Olise has shown no signs of struggling to cope with the demands of playing for a superteam, while the early knockings of a partnership with Harry Kane have caused plenty of excitement among the Bavarian fanbase.
4. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
Lamine Yamal’s performance for Spain against France in the Euro 2024 semi-final had echoes of Lionel Messi beating Kylian Mbappe in the World Cup final two years prior. Mbappe used to be the future: now, he’s already old news, with a 17-year-old ready to assume his throne, all things being right over the next few years.
We’ll see this match-up in future Clasicos and we can’t wait. Lamine Yamal is the complete winger: devastatingly creative, able to beat a man on either side, and unpredictable. Concerns over his workload are valid… but how can you drop a player this good?
3. Rodrygo (Real Madrid)
The 23-year-old Brazilian ticks every box you want to be ticked when it comes to elite wingers, but his work rate and versatility give him an extra dimension from several others on this list.
Rodrygo enjoyed the most prolific season of his career so far last year, operating on both flanks and in a central role. This summer’s arrival of Kylian Mbappe and Endrick means competition for the attacking spots at the Bernabeu will be more fierce than ever, but Rodrygo has the trust of Carlo Ancelotti and will play a significant role again.
2. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
He’s possibly the most important player in the Premier League. Bukayo Saka makes his team tick in a way that few others do, as he’s able to be the metronome for Arsenal’s tempo, the catalyst to drive them up the pitch and an asset in the press.
That’s without touching on the goals and assists, which are starting to flow. But best of all, the Starboy simply always makes the right decision. Saka’s brain is his biggest asset – and that’s why he’s destined to stay at the top for a long time to come.
1. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
It’s a testament to the Egyptian’s high standards that the 2023/24 campaign will go down as something of an off-year for Mohamed Salah. His tally of 18 Premier League goals was his lowest return since joining Liverpool in 2017, but that included an Africa Cup of Nations trip and subsequent hamstring injury as he missed the best part of three months.
He’s back to his best now, though. An ongoing contract impasse raises an intriguing question: how can Liverpool possibly let a winger this good go, despite his age? Salah is showing no signs of slowing down, instead showing new levels of creativity, as the consistent fulcrum in the Reds’ frontline. He is simply is Liverpool.
