Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the legendary Swedish striker turned pundit for FOX Sports at the 2026 World Cup, has unveiled his list of the world’s top five current footballers. Notably absent from his selections is Lionel Messi, whom Ibrahimovic places in a category entirely of his own.
Ibrahimovic revealed his choices following France’s dominant 3-0 victory over Sweden in the Round of 32, a match that saw Kylian Mbappe score a brace. The former AC Milan and Manchester United star highlighted the strength of the French attack in particular.
Zlatan’s surprising selections and Messi’s “own class”
Ibrahimovic’s top five players are:
- Ousmane Dembele
- Michael Olise
- Kylian Mbappe
- Lamine Yamal
- Erling Haaland
Explaining his choices, Ibrahimovic stated, “Take the five best players in the world, three of them are in [France’s] attack: Dembele, Olise and Mbappe.” He elaborated on Messi’s exclusion, saying, “[Lamine] Yamal and [Erling] Haaland, I would say, because Messi is in his own class… but three of the top five are in [France’s] attack.”
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Ibrahimovic’s list notably omits several high-profile players, including Harry Kane, Declan Rice, Vinicius Jr, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Kane, for instance, enjoyed a prolific 2025-26 season, scoring 61 goals in 51 games.
France’s dominant display and attacking cohesion
France’s performance against Sweden underscored Ibrahimovic’s assessment of their attacking prowess. Kylian Mbappe was the star of the show, bagging two goals, which brings his total to 18 World Cup goals. He is now level with Lionel Messi on six goals in the race for the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot, with Messi currently holding 19 World Cup goals overall.
Bradley Barcola scored France’s other goal, while Michael Olise contributed two assists and Ousmane Dembele set up Mbappe’s opener. Ibrahimovic praised the French attackers for their collective spirit, contrasting it with previous high-profile trios.
“It’s not easy to make that combination. We have an example when PSG had Mbappe, Messi and Neymar. It was not working 100 per cent,” Ibrahimovic noted. “But with France, they don’t have this ego, who will be the one. They also do their jobs off the ball, which is more important than on the ball because we know what they can do on the ball. They can decide the game by themselves – all of them. So, it’s scary.”
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France, widely regarded as the tournament’s standout team so far, will now face Paraguay in their last 16 tie at the Philadelphia Stadium.
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