Best footballer from each continent right now
Football is a global sport and you can find fans of the game in every nook and cranny of the world. The beautiful game is arguably the most popular sport on the planet and we're just coming off a summer with two high-profile continental tournaments.
Euro 2020 and Copa America 2021 saw some of the best teams in the world compete for continental glory. We also got to see some of the best footballers in the world squaring off against each other.
European club football is viewed as the gold standard but other continents are not too far behind them in producing world-class talent. Without further ado, let's take a look at the best footballers from each continent. (In the spirit of competition and for the sake of this list, we're grouping Australia and Asia together).
#5 Asia/Australia - Son Heung-Min (South Korea/Tottenham Hotspur)
Son Heung-Min has become one of the Premier League's best forwards in recent years. The South Korean international has struck up a wonderful partnership with Harry Kane and will go down as one of their best players of the Premier League era.
Son possesses great technique and is excellent with the ball at his feet. He consistently gets the better of defenders thanks to his excellent footwork and pace which renders him hard to keep up with.
The 29-year-old scored 22 goals and provided 17 assists in 51 appearances across all competitions for Tottenham Hotspur in the 2020-21 season.
Detractors are quick to write Spurs off as a one-man army that's heavily reliant on Harry Kane. While Kane is absolutely world-class, if you've seen how Spurs play, then you'll know just how good and important Son is to the side.
In 93 appearances across all competitions for his national side, Son has scored 27 goals and provided 17 assists as well.
Closest competitor: Hwang Hee-chan (South Korea/RB Leipzig)
#4 North America - Christian Pulisic (United States/Chelsea)
For a man of his talent, Christian Pulisic was rather sparingly used in the 2020-21 season. But given Chelsea's attacking wealth, it doesn't come as much of a surprise. The 22-year-old has still made quite an impact at Stamford Bridge since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2019.
He has scored 18 goals and provided 14 assists in 79 appearances across all competitions for the Blues so far. Nicknamed 'Captain America', Pulisic is easily the most exciting player to have emerged from North America in the recent past.
Closest competitor: Alphonso Davies (Canada/Bayern Munich)