Megan Rapinoe tops FIFA 21 rankings

FIFA rankings manage to somehow be both a fake-ish stat with no bearing on the real world and also the cause of some of the most heated debates on the internet, probably because they do purport to be based somewhat on reality, as Goal explained in fantastic detail here. This year, Megan Rapinoe tops the list of USWNT players included in the game with a 93 rating, with Aussie Sam Kerr nipping at her heels with 92. Here’s the top players they provided:

1. Megan Rapinoe (USA): 93
2. Sam Kerr (AUS): 92
3. Wendie Renard (FRA): 92
4. Vivianne Miedema (NED): 91
5. Amandine Henry (FRA): 91
6. Dzsenifer Marozsán (GER): 91
7. Lucy Bronze (ENG): 90
8. Eugénie Le Sommer (FRA): 90
9. Caroline Graham Hansen (NOR): 90
10. Tobin Heath (USA): 90
11. Alex Morgan (USA): 90
12. Lieke Martens (NED): 89
13. Almuth Schult (GER): 89
14. Christine Sinclair (CAN): 89
15. Julie Ertz (USA): 88

Leaving aside that it would be real nice to be able to see the top 100 women in a searchable and sortable database like the men have, the #1 question on everyone’s lips right now is: where is Crystal Dunn?? Of all the Americans not to crack the top 15, they’ve left out the most versatile and dependable player the United States has right now, someone who has completed the absolutely mindblowing feat of completely excelling in defensive, midfield, and forward positions in a mix of club and international performances.

Also, if we’re looking at all the Americans (Rapinoe, Heath, Morgan, Ertz), they’re maybe not ranked on this list in order of their current performance value, particularly given both Rapinoe and Morgan have been out for various reasons. Alex Morgan, of course, made a whole entire other human being, which is an extremely valid reason to be out, and after her long absence we are correspondingly excited to see her start playing for Tottenham. And 2019 World Cup Megan Rapinoe lives strong and bright in our minds (long may she reign), so it’s understandable that the reigning FIFA women’s player of the year is at the top of the list, especially if you assume that EA’s staff aren’t paying particularly close attention to the women for whatever reasons. But there is maybe some wiggle room here where their rankings are concerned, and where on the list they land.

At the very least, getting into fights over the women’s rankings too means people a) have watched them enough to have opinions and b) have enough passion about women’s soccer to send an ALL CAPS tweet to a total stranger. And that’s not a bad thing. What would be bad is if they left Rose Lavelle out of the top 25. We’ll see.