FIFA 23 player ratings: Cristiano Ronaldo plummets | Karim Benzema rockets | plus highest climbers and surprise entries
While some of the rankings make sense, others left us scratching our heads. EA Sports has announced which players will earn the best ranks in FIFA 23 when the game hits globally on September 30.
The ratings for the game’s top 23 players were announced first, with all of the expected names dominating the high echelons of the list, while there is room for a few more odd additions as well.
After dominating the scene for many years, both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have found themselves falling down the overall list from FIFA 22 to FIFA 23 – the Portuguese superstar considerably more so than the Argentine.
Both have held the top slots for more than a decade, but a mix of new global players, time catching up with living legends, and performance adjustments are reshuffling the standings.
Several other notable figures have seen their status erode as power shifts at the very top of the professional game. Other top performers from previous season have seen significant increases in their metrics.
We’ve gone through the first batch of FIFA 23 ratings and selected some of the most important and interesting findings.
Karim Benzema emerges on top
After a season in which Benzema exceeded all expectations while leading the line for Real Madrid, winning LaLiga and the Champions League while scoring 44 goals in 46 games, it is scarcely surprising to see the French striker fly to the top of the FIFA rankings.
Rather than bouncing up a few rungs, the 34-year-old has had a very spectacular surge from a rather humble 14th-place rating in FIFA 22 all the way to the very top of the tree in FIFA 23 – the most astounding climb of any player in the Top 23.
This is because Benzema received the highest individual rating rise among the best players in the game, jumping two whole points from 89 to 91.
Messi retains Top 5 spot, but only just
After 13 years as a mainstay in the top two, Messi’s luster has begun to wane as professional football progressively transitions into a brave new age.
Nonetheless, while another sparring partner Cristiano Ronaldo has experienced a humiliating tumble from the pinnacle, Messi has managed to stay in the top five despite his individual rating dropping from 93 in FIFA 22 to 91 in FIFA 23.
However, the Paris Saint-Germain superstar is holding to his prized position by the thinnest of margins, as no fewer than five players with equal ratings of 90 are level-pegging behind him.
Ronaldo crashes down the order
Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United has been lackluster, with him largely starting from the bench this season. After seven appearances for United in all competitions, he has failed to score or assist this season. As a result, Ronaldo has given up his bronze medal in the FIFA 22 ratings (third with a rating of 91) and dropped all the way to eighth in FIFA 23 with a rating of 90.
This is his lowest FIFA player rating since FIFA 2011, when he had a meager total score of 87 in his second season at Real Madrid.
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Thibaut Courtois is the best goalkeeper in the game
In Real Madrid’s dominant victory over Liverpool in the 2021-22 Champions League final, the Belgian international proved crucial. Courtois has followed in the footsteps of colleague Benzema, rocketing up the rankings to claim the title of top goalkeeper in FIFA 23.
The 30-year-old behemoth is placed ninth overall, ahead of fellow Top 23 goalkeepers Manuel Neuer (10th), Alisson Becker (16th), Ederson (18th), and Jan Oblak (20th).
Sadio Mane is The Highest climbers
As previously stated, Benzema is by far the fastest riser in the Top 23, rising 13 spots from FIFA 22 to FIFA 23.
Courtois, a fellow Champions League finalist, has jumped ten places from 19th to ninth owing to a single point increase in his aggregate game rating (from 89 to 90). Meanwhile, Sadio Mane’s move from Liverpool to Bayern Munich appears to have coincided with a nine-place jump up the list this time around, from 22nd to 13th.
Harry Kane, The Biggest sliders
Though Ronaldo has dropped five places from third to eighth in the overall rankings, his fall is dwarfed by Harry Kane’s (eighth to 17th), N’Golo Kante’s (ninth to 19th), and Oblak’s (ninth to 20th) (seventh to 20th).
The most noticeable sliders, though, are goalkeeping duo Marc Andre ter Stegen and Gianluigi Donnarumma, who have both dropped out of the Top 23 after holding reasonably high places (11th and 13th, respectively) on last year’s list.
Erling Haaland, Surprise entries
The main surprise about Erling Haaland’s ranking is that it took him so long to break into the Top 23, having missed out completely in FIFA 22. Man City’s powerful attacker has started the season in blistering form and is now ranked 21st. Something tells us that number is only set to rise as his career goes from strength to strength.
Another unexpected name in the Top 23 is Paris Saint-Germain center-back Marquinhos, who has the same rating of 88 as Haaland and Toni Kroos.
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Full List
1. Karim Benzema – 91
2. Robert Lewandowski – 91
3. Kylian Mbappe – 91
4. Kevin De Bruyne – 91
5. Lionel Messi – 91
6. Mohamed Salah – 90
7. Virgil van Dijk – 90
8. Cristiano Ronaldo – 90
9. Thibaut Courtois – 90
10. Manuel Neuer – 90
11. Neymar Jr. – 89
12. Son Heung-min – 89
13. Sadio Mane – 89
14. Joshua Kimmich – 89
15. Casemiro – 89
16. Alisson Becker – 89
17. Harry Kane – 89
18. Ederson – 89
19. N’Golo Kante – 89
20. Jan Oblak – 89
21. Erling Haaland – 88
22. Toni Kroos – 88
23. Marquinhos – 88
