# FIFA 100

* This article is part of a series about Pelé
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The FIFA 100 is a list compiled by Brazilian professional footballer Pelé featuring his choices of the "greatest living footballers" at the time of its release. The list was unveiled on 4 March 2004 during a gala ceremony at the Natural History Museum in London, England, as part of the celebrations commemorating the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international governing body of football.
The figure 100 does not refer number of players nominated in the list, which is actually 125. Pelé was asked by FIFA to select 50 active players and 50 retired players from a shortlist of 300, but found it too difficult to limit himself and therefore picked 50 current and 75 former players. The list contains 123 men and two women (Michelle Akers and Mia Hamm).
The list was controversial. Writing in the Evening Standard, politician turned football pundit, David Mellor, felt the selections were politically motivated rather than being made on purely footballing grounds. He suggested the geographical spread of inclusions indicated the list came from then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter rather than Pelé himself. BBC columnist Tim Vickery expressed similar assertions.
Brazilian midfielder Gérson, who played alongside Pelé at the 1966 and 1970 FIFA World Cups, reacted to his omission by tearing up a copy of the list on a Brazilian television programme. Marco van Basten and Uwe Seeler refused to take part in the project on a point of principle.

## Players

Players appearing in the FIFA 100 list :
| Image | Player | Nationality | Position | Status (in 2004) |
| | Gabriel Batistuta | Argentina | Forward | Active |
| | Hernán Crespo | Argentina | Forward | Active |
| | Alfredo Di Stéfano | Argentina | Forward | Retired |
| | Mario Kempes | Argentina | Forward | Retired |
| | Diego Maradona | Argentina | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Daniel Passarella | Argentina | Defender | Retired |
| | Javier Saviola | Argentina | Forward | Active |
| | Omar Sívori | Argentina | Forward | Retired |
| | Juan Sebastián Verón | Argentina | Midfielder | Active |
| | Javier Zanetti | Argentina | Defender/Midfielder | Active |
| | Jan Ceulemans | Belgium | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Jean-Marie Pfaff | Belgium | Goalkeeper | Retired |
| | Franky Van der Elst | Belgium | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Carlos Alberto | Brazil | Defender | Retired |
| | Cafu | Brazil | Defender | Active |
| | Falcão | Brazil | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Júnior | Brazil | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Pelé | Brazil | Forward | Retired |
| | Rivaldo | Brazil | Midfielder/Forward | Active |
| | Rivellino | Brazil | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Roberto Carlos | Brazil | Defender | Active |
| | Romário | Brazil | Forward | Active |
| | Ronaldinho | Brazil | Midfielder/Forward | Active |
| | Ronaldo | Brazil | Forward | Active |
| | Djalma Santos | Brazil | Defender | Retired |
| | Nílton Santos | Brazil | Defender | Retired |
| | Sócrates | Brazil | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Zico | Brazil | Midfielder/Forward | Retired |
| | Hristo Stoichkov | Bulgaria | Forward | Retired |
| | Roger Milla | Cameroon | Forward | Retired |
| | Elías Figueroa | Chile | Defender | Retired |
| | Iván Zamorano | Chile | Forward | Retired |
| | Carlos Valderrama | Colombia | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Davor Šuker | Croatia | Forward | Retired |
| | Josef Masopust | Czech Republic | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Pavel Nedvěd | Czech Republic | Midfielder | Active |
| | Brian Laudrup | Denmark | Forward/Midfielder | Retired |
| | Michael Laudrup | Denmark | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Peter Schmeichel | Denmark | Goalkeeper | Retired |
| | Gordon Banks | England | Goalkeeper | Retired |
| | David Beckham | England | Midfielder | Active |
| | Bobby Charlton | England | Midfielder/Forward | Retired |
| | Kevin Keegan | England | Forward | Retired |
| | Gary Lineker | England | Forward | Retired |
| | Michael Owen | England | Forward | Active |
| | Alan Shearer | England | Forward | Active |
| | Eric Cantona | France | Forward | Retired |
| | Marcel Desailly | France | Defender | Active |
| | Didier Deschamps | France | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Just Fontaine | France | Forward | Retired |
| | Thierry Henry | France | Forward | Active |
| | Raymond Kopa | France | Forward | Retired |
| | Jean-Pierre Papin | France | Forward | Retired |
| | Robert Pires | France | Midfielder | Active |
| | Michel Platini | France | Forward | Retired |
| | Lilian Thuram | France | Defender | Active |
| | Marius Trésor | France | Defender | Retired |
| | David Trezeguet | France | Forward | Active |
| | Patrick Vieira | France | Midfielder | Active |
| | Zinedine Zidane | France | Midfielder | Active |
| | Michael Ballack | Germany | Midfielder | Active |
| | Franz Beckenbauer | Germany | Defender | Retired |
| | Paul Breitner | Germany | Midfielder/Defender | Retired |
| | Oliver Kahn | Germany | Goalkeeper | Active |
| | Jürgen Klinsmann | Germany | Forward | Retired |
| | Sepp Maier | Germany | Goalkeeper | Retired |
| | Lothar Matthäus | Germany | Midfielder/Defender | Retired |
| | Gerd Müller | Germany | Forward | Retired |
| | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | Germany | Forward | Retired |
| | Uwe Seeler | Germany | Forward | Retired |
| | Abedi Pele | Ghana | Forward | Retired |
| | Ferenc Puskás | Hungary | Forward | Retired |
| | Roberto Baggio | Italy | Forward/Midfielder | Active |
| | Franco Baresi | Italy | Defender | Retired |
| | Giuseppe Bergomi | Italy | Defender | Retired |
| | Giampiero Boniperti | Italy | Forward | Retired |
| | Gianluigi Buffon | Italy | Goalkeeper | Active |
| | Alessandro Del Piero | Italy | Forward | Active |
| | Giacinto Facchetti | Italy | Defender | Retired |
| | Paolo Maldini | Italy | Defender | Active |
| | Alessandro Nesta | Italy | Defender | Active |
| | Gianni Rivera | Italy | Defender | Retired |
| | Paolo Rossi | Italy | Forward | Retired |
| | Francesco Totti | Italy | Forward/Midfielder | Active |
| | Christian Vieri | Italy | Forward | Active |
| | Dino Zoff | Italy | Goalkeeper | Retired |
| | Hidetoshi Nakata | Japan | Midfielder | Active |
| | George Weah | Liberia | Forward | Retired |
| | Hugo Sánchez | Mexico | Forward | Retired |
| | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | Forward | Retired |
| | Dennis Bergkamp | Netherlands | Forward | Active |
| | Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | Forward | Retired |
| | Edgar Davids | Netherlands | Midfielder | Active |
| | Ruud Gullit | Netherlands | Midfielder | Retired |
| | René van de Kerkhof | Netherlands | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Willy van de Kerkhof | Netherlands | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Patrick Kluivert | Netherlands | Forward | Active |
| | Johan Neeskens | Netherlands | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Netherlands | Forward | Active |
| | Rob Rensenbrink | Netherlands | Forward | Retired |
| | Frank Rijkaard | Netherlands | Midfielder/Defender | Retired |
| | Clarence Seedorf | Netherlands | Midfielder | Active |
| | Jay-Jay Okocha | Nigeria | Midfielder | Active |
| | George Best | Northern Ireland | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Romerito | Paraguay | Forward | Retired |
| | Teófilo Cubillas | Peru | Forward | Retired |
| | Zbigniew Boniek | Poland | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Eusébio | Portugal | Forward | Retired |
| | Luís Figo | Portugal | Midfielder | Active |
| | Rui Costa | Portugal | Midfielder | Active |
| | Roy Keane | Republic of Ireland | Midfielder | Active |
| | Gheorghe Hagi | Romania | Midfielder | Retired |
| | Rinat Dasayev | Russia | Goalkeeper | Retired |
| | Kenny Dalglish | Scotland | Forward | Retired |
| | El Hadji Diouf | Senegal | Forward | Active |
| | Hong Myung-bo | South Korea | Defender | Active |
| | Emilio Butragueño | Spain | Forward | Retired |
| | Luis Enrique | Spain | Midfielder/Forward | Active |
| | Raúl | Spain | Forward | Active |
| | Rüştü Reçber | Turkey | Goalkeeper | Active |
| | Emre Belözoğlu | Turkey | Midfielder | Active |
| | Andriy Shevchenko | Ukraine | Forward | Active |
| — | Michelle Akers | United States | Midfielder/Forward | Retired |
| | Mia Hamm | United States | Forward | Active |
| | Enzo Francescoli | Uruguay | Midfielder | Retired |

## Statistics

Footballers by nationality :
| Rank | Nationality | No. |
| 1 | Brazil | 15 |
| 2 | France | 14 |
| 2 | Italy | 14 |
| 4 | Netherlands | 13 |
| 5 | Argentina | 10 |
| 5 | Germany | 10 |
| 7 | England | 7 |
| 8 | Belgium | 3 |
| 8 | Denmark | 3 |
| 8 | Portugal | 3 |
| 8 | Spain | 3 |
| 12 | Chile | 2 |
| 12 | Czech Republic | 2 |
| 12 | Turkey | 2 |
| 12 | United States | 2 |
| 16 | Bulgaria | 1 |
| 16 | Cameroon | 1 |
| 16 | Colombia | 1 |
| 16 | Croatia | 1 |
| 16 | Ghana | 1 |
| 16 | Hungary | 1 |
| 16 | Japan | 1 |
| 16 | Liberia | 1 |
| 16 | Mexico | 1 |
| 16 | Nigeria | 1 |
| 16 | Northern Ireland | 1 |
| 16 | Paraguay | 1 |
| 16 | Peru | 1 |
| 16 | Poland | 1 |
| 16 | Republic of Ireland | 1 |
| 16 | Romania | 1 |
| 16 | Russia | 1 |
| 16 | Scotland | 1 |
| 16 | Senegal | 1 |
| 16 | South Korea | 1 |
| 16 | Ukraine | 1 |
| 16 | Uruguay | 1 |
Footballers by playing position :
| Position | No. |
| Goalkeeper | 9 |
| Defender | 20 |
| Midfielder | 43 |
| Forward | 53 |
Footballers by birth decade :
| Decade | No. |
| 1920s | 5 |
| 1930s | 7 |
| 1940s | 15 |
| 1950s | 22 |
| 1960s | 35 |
| 1970s | 37 |
| 1980s | 4 |