Lionel Messi beats Ronaldo in top 100 players of the 21st century

- Lionel Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi, Ronaldinho and Iniesta are the best five players in the world

- The Independent released a list of the best 100 players in the world in the 21st century

- The likes of Kaka, Zidane, Ronaldo de Lima, Henry and Cannavaro also made the list

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Lionel is Messi is the best footballer in the 21st century ahead of his closest rival Cristiano Ronaldo, according to the Independent.

The news outlet broke down its selection process by having each player assigned a number of points determined by their rank.

The likes of former Barcelona trio Xavi Hernandez, Ronaldinho and Andres Iniesta completed the top five rankings.

Here are the top 100 players in the 21st century listed by The Independent:

100. Yaya Toure

99. Harry Kane

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98. Daniele De Rossi

97. Bastian Schweinsteiger

96. Vincent Kompany

95. Karim Benzema

94. Sol Campbell

93. Pepe

92. Edwin van der Sar

91. Arturo Vidal

90. Angel di Maria

89. Diego Forlan

88. Radamel Falcao

87. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

86. Robin van Persie

85. Carlos Tevez

84. Gaizka Mendieta

83. Virgil van Dijk

82. Hernan Crespo

81. Rio Ferdinand

80. Toni Kroos

79. Juan Roman Riquelme

78. Thomas Muller

77. Mohamed Salah

76. Diego Godin

75. David Silva

74. Eden Hazard

73. Cesc Fabregas

72. Deco

71. Lilian Thuram

70. Nemanja Vidic

69. Marcelo

68. Ryan Giggs

67. Antoine Griezmann

66. Clarence Seedorf

65. Wesley Sneijder

64. Gabriel Batistuta

63. Fernando Torres

62. Ruud van Nistelrooy

61. Claude Makelele

60. Sergio Aguero

59. Cafu

58. Miroslav Klose

57. Kevin de Bruyne

56. Henrik Larsson

55. Xabi Alonso

54. Dennis Bergkamp

53. Gareth Bale

52. Gerard Pique

51. Robert Lewandowski

50. Javier Zanetti

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49. Didier Drogba

48. Michael Ballack

47. Oliver Kahn

46. Ashley Cole

45. Pavel Nedved

44. N'Golo Kante

43. Kylian Mbappe

42. Alessandro Del Piero

41. Alessandro Nesta

40. Patrick Vieira

39. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

38. Roberto Carlos

37. Rivaldo

36. Roy Keane

35. John Terry

34. Paul Scholes

33. David Villa

32. Iker Casillas

31. Francesco Totti

30. Arjen Robben

29. Wayne Rooney

28. Raul Gonzalez

27. Manuel Neuer

26. Paolo Maldini

25. Dani Alves

24. Carles Puyol

23. Frank Lampard

22. Luka Modric

21. Samuel Eto'o

20. Neymar

19. Andrei Shevchenko

18. Steven Gerrard

17. Sergio Busquets

16. Luis Suarez

15. Luis Figo

14. Philipp Lahm

13. Gianluigi Buffon

12. Sergio Ramos

11. Andrea Pirlo

10. Fabio Cannavaro

9. Kaka

8. Zinedine Zidane

7. Thierry Henry

6. Ronaldo

5. Andres Iniesta

4. Ronaldinho

3. Xavi Hernandez

2. Cristiano Ronaldo

1. Lionel Messi

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were way off target when UEFA announced their best forward for the 2019-20 season.

The Barcelona star was ranked fifth with 33 points while the Juventus striker was in the eighth position earning just 18 points.

Bayern Munich Robert Lewandowski was the top marksman in Europe last season scoring 55 goals in all competitions.

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Source: Legit.ng