Top 10 left-footed players in world football today: Saka, Foden among absentees

Our top 10 left-footed players in world football today have all made a resounding impact on a game that values versatility and unpredictability. But who comes out on top?

Of course, left-footed players are in the minority, but they prove invaluable at times, especially when they can play in an inverted role, bomb forward as a traditional winger, and launch Exocets like a prime Kevin Sheedy or John Arne Riise.

Neither of those particular examples makes this list, as it is all about the here and now.

So, without further ado, we present our top 10 sensational southpaws.

Please also note that our picks have been inspired by who ranked where in the 2025 Ballon d'Or, the prestigious trophy awarded to the player deemed the best in the world at the time, based on certain odds from various bookmakers.

The likes of Arsenal and Manchester City stars Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden miss out because of this.

*Includes only goals classed as a ‘left-footed shot’ on Transfermarkt.

Top 10 left-footed players in world football today: Our picks

10) Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)

Many regard him as the best player of all time, and Lionel Messi still ranks on our list despite being at the final stage of his phenomenal footballing career.

The Inter Miami star has still not lost his technical ability, and makes the MLS his personal playground at times. It should also be noted that Messi is currently the record Ballon d'Or holder, having won the prestigious trophy an astonishing eight times in his footballing career so far.

He is the only player on this list not to rank in the top 30 of the 2025 Ballon d'Or rankings. Although Messi is ranked number ten in this list, if we were looking at this beyond the Ballon d'Or rankings, it would be difficult to place him anywhere other than first.

Yes, he has lost pace, strength and endurance in recent times, but his left foot is as wand-like as ever. While Messi is active, he has the best left foot in the game, period.

He showed that at the World Cup too, racking up eight goals and four assists as he helped Argentina to a second successive World Cup final, unfortunately losing out this time 1-0 to Spain.

9) Michael Olise (Bayern Munich)

Our first and only representative from the Bundesliga on this list is Bayern Munich and France international winger Michael Olise. They won the Bundesliga again at a canter, and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, where Olise was on target against eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.

Indeed, he enjoyed a superb debut season out in Germany in 2024/25, helping Bayern wrestle the title back from rivals Bayer Leverkusen.

Olise is a player with a lot of flair and trickery, while he is also very dangerous from a dead ball, as shown on a number of occasions in the Premier League in his days as a Crystal Palace player. Nonetheless, he is also still relatively young, and it is somewhat scary to think that he has not quite hit his prime just yet.

Olise has helped inspire Bayern to a near-perfect start to the 2025/26 season, where the Bavarians had won almost every single game they had played in all competitions.

Olise impressed at the World Cup too, notching up five assists for France, but ultimately it was not enough as they were knocked out in the semi-final 2-0 by Spain.

8) Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

It is amazing to think that Manchester City and Norway international superstar Erling Haaland is only in eighth place the list. Indeed, he has been scoring goals for fun ever since making the switch to the Etihad Stadium from Borussia Dortmund.

Haaland's goals helped the Cityzens win an unprecedented treble in the 2022-23 season, and he currently holds the record for most goals scored in a single Premier League campaign (36).

Haaland enjoyed a great individual 2025-26 season with City, where he finished as the top scorer in the Premier League, while also picking up both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

He also helped lead Norway to the top of their World Cup qualifying group, where they qualified for their first World Cup since 1998! The Vikings did well too thanks to Haaland's help, as his seven goals fired them to the quarter-finals, where they eventually lost out 2-1 to England after extra-time.

7) Fabian Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain)

Fabian Ruiz was part of an instrumental midfield that helped PSG win an unprecedented treble in the 2024/25 season.

Ruiz did not play as well last season, but he still ended it on a high by helping PSG to back-to-back European triumphs.

He was also a key player for Spain in their Euro 2024 triumph and he had a similar impact at the 2026 World Cup as well, where he help Spain win the trophy for the second time in the national team's history, with an especially impressive performance in their 2-0 win over France in the semi-final.

6) Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain)

Our second of two defenders on this list is the flying PSG full-back Nuno Mendes.

Widely regarded as one of if not the best in his position in the world, the left-back helped the Parisians win a memorable treble in the 2024/25 campaign, and also won the Nations League with Portugal.

Mendes was selected by his country to play in the 2026 World Cup, after helping PSG win back-to-back Champions League titles and another Ligue 1 triumph.

However, Portugal crashed out in the round of 16 1-0 to Spain, which was a disappointment for them considering their high expectations.

5) Cole Palmer (Chelsea)

Cole Palmer's form dipped towards the end of the 2024-25 season, but there is still no denying that the Chelsea man is a super talent. Palmer made somewhat of a mark in the 2025-26 Premier League campaign despite nursing an injury in its early stages.

A further blow for Palmer was that he was not selected in England's World Cup squad either, but there is no doubting his talent when he is fit.

In his debut campaign for the Blues, he produced an alarming number of goals and assists, and has undoubtedly been one of the Premier League's best players over the last two seasons, while he also helped win the Conference League and Club World Cup, scoring a brace in the final of the latter to help beat tournament favourites PSG 3-0.

4) Raphinha (Barcelona)

Raphinha was simply instrumental in Barcelona's La Liga triumph and Champions League run in the 2024-25 campaign.

The Brazilian not only lights up the big stage with his flair and trickery, but he has also backed it up with a phenomenal number of goals and assists in a Barca shirt, continuing his fine form into the 2025-26 season, with an even more impressive start to the 2026-27 season.

Raphinha represented Brazil at the World Cup, but unfortunately his tournament was cut short with an injury, and the Selecao certainly suffered without him as they were knocked out 2-1 by Norway in the round of 16.

3) Mohamed Salah (Trabzonspor)

Considering the 2024/25 season that he had, it seems so harsh to only have Mohamed Salah in third place in this list. The Egyptian King put up exceptional numbers for Liverpool in terms of goals and assists, as the Reds won the Premier League title.

He also equalled the Premier League record for most goal contributions in one single season, notching up a combined 47 goals and assists in total in the 2024-25 campaign.

However, Salah and Liverpool made a disappointing defence to their title, and the Egyptian had an overall poor last season, leading to him making a controversial public outburst having been named on the bench for three matches in a row.

He represented his country at the World Cup and Egypt were so close to knocking out reigning world champions Argentina in the round of 16, going two goals up with Salah highly influential, but were eventually pegged back to a 3-2 defeat in cruel circumstances.

Salah joined Trabzonspor in Turkey for the 2026/27 season, and it has been interesting to see him in a new environment.

2) Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)

Lamine Yamal is simply a phenomenon considering his tender years, and finished in second place in the Ballon d'Or rankings after an astonishing performance against Inter Milan in the semi-final first-leg of the Champions League in the 2024-25 season, where Barcelona drew 3-3 at home.

He helped Barcelona secure another La Liga title in 2025-26, and was promised to star at the World Cup with Spain.

Although it was not Yamal's best tournament, not helped by the injury he carried into the World Cup, he still showed glimpses of his quality in helping La Roja win it.

The Spanish prodigy has shone for both club and country on the biggest of stages already, and has such a big future ahead of him, with the present already being as bright as possible since Yamal is the main favourite to win the 2026 Ballon d'Or.

1) Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain)

Ousmane Dembele had an outstanding season in 2024-25 and capped it off by winning the Ballon d'Or. He helped PSG wrap up a historic treble, and his volume of goals since the turn of the year has been pivotal.

Unfortunately, Dembele suffered from injuries in the 2025-26 campaign, scuppering his chances of winning back-to-back Ballons d’Or.

However, he still managed to have a major impact at the end of the season, scoring in the Champions League final as PSG recorded back-to-back trophies in the competition following a penalty shootout win against Arsenal.

Dembele also represented France at the World Cup, scoring a hat-trick in the group stage, but despite racking up the goals for Les Bleus, he could not help them reach what would have been a third successive World Cup final.