Erling Haaland tops list of global sports stars

Erling Haaland has come out on top of an analysis of all the world’s sportspeople, suggesting that he is currently the number one athlete on the planet.

The Manchester City striker topped Twenty First Group’s list of Sportspeople Quality Rankings. He beats Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic and Australian golfer Lydia Ko to the number one spot.

The report explains: “Erling Haaland’s staggering scoring record in club football’s two strongest competitions elevates him to the top of our Sportspeople Quality Rankings.”

It continues: “Alexia Putellas is football’s highest-ranked female player, as the player who makes Barcelona, the world’s strongest team, click.”

Here’s the top ten in full…

1. Erling Haaland

2. Novak Djokovic

3. Lydia Ko

4. Iga Swiatek

5. Jon Rahm

6. Alexia Putellas

7. Daniil Medvedev

8. Mohamed Salah

9. Nikola Jokic

10. Rashid Khan

How are the top sportspeople calculated?

Comparing athletes is an extremely difficult task and comparing competitors from different sports is almost impossible. However the Twenty First Group draws together performance analytics of athletes around the world and has created a system to rank their respective achievements.

They explain: “Our Sportspeople Quality ranking looks at how dominant athletes are in their individual sports, and compares them to recognise the highest performers across global sports as a whole.”

With this in mind, Haaland’s position at the top of the list should not come as a huge surprise.

The Norwegian forward has already broken the goalscoring record in the Premier League, often considered the highest-quality football league, in his first year in the competition.

Not only that, but he has carried his fine form into the Champions League, where he is competing against the vast majority of the world’s top players. He has scored 12 goals in nine Champions League games this season and already holds a number of goal scoring records in football’s flagship club competition.