On March 4, 2004, at a gala ceremony in London, to mark the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international governing body of football (soccer) revealed the FIFA 100. The list contains the world-renowned Brazilian striker Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". The figure 100 refers to the 100th anniversary of FIFA and not the number of players listed, which is actually 125. Apparently Pelé found it too difficult to list just 100. The list contains 123 professional men and 2 women players (Michelle Akers and Mia Hamm both from the United States). 50 of the players are still active with the remaining 75 retired from the game.

Some football observers have questioned the selection methodology of the list. David Mellor, former politician turned football pundit, wrote in his column in the Evening Standard, that he felt the selections were politically motivated rather than made on purely footballing grounds. He suggested that the selections looked as if they came from the pen of the FIFA Executive Committee rather than Pelé. As evidence for this, Mellor noted the wide geographical spread of the selected players. A true selection would be more heavily biased to South America and Europe, he claimed.

The Americas

Argentina

• Gabriel Batistuta
• Hernán Crespo
• Mario Kempes
• Diego Maradona
• Daniel Passarella
• Javier Saviola
• Omar Sivori
• Alfredo Di Stefano
• Juan Sebastián Veron
• Javier Zanetti

Brazil

• Carlos Alberto
• Cafú
• Roberto Carlos
• Falcão
• Junior
• Pelé
• Rivaldo
• Romário
• Ronaldinho
• Ronaldo
• Djalma Santos
• Nilton Santos
• Sócrates
• Zico

Chile

• Elías Figueroa
• Iván Zamorano

Colombia

• Carlos Valderrama

Mexico

• Hugo Sánchez

Paraguay

• Romerito

Peru

• Teófilo Cubillas

United States

• Michelle Akers
• Mia Hamm

Uruguay

• Enzo Francescoli

Western Europe

Belgium

• Jan Ceulemans
• Franky van der Elst
• Jean-Marie Pfaff

Denmark

• Brian Laudrup
• Michael Laudrup
• Peter Schmeichel

England

• Gordon Banks
• David Beckham
• Bobby Charlton
• Duncan Edwards
• Kevin Keegan
• Gary Lineker
• Michael Owen
• David Seaman
• Alan Shearer

France

• Eric Cantona
• Marcel Desailly
• Didier Deschamps
• Just Fontaine
• Thierry Henry
• Raymond Kopa
• Jean-Pierre Papin
• Robert Pires
• Michel Platini
• Lilian Thuram
• Marius Tresor
• David Trézéguet
• Patrick Vieira
• Zinedine Zidane

Germany

• Michael Ballack
• Franz Beckenbauer
• Paul Breitner
• Oliver Kahn
• Jürgen Klinsmann
• Sepp Maier
• Lothar Matthäus
• Gerd Müller
• Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
• Uwe Seeler

Republic of Ireland

• Roy Keane

Italy

• Roberto Baggio
• Franco Baresi
• Giuseppe Bergomi
• Giampiero Boniperti
• Gianluigi Buffon
• Giacinto Facchetti
• Paolo Maldini
• Alessandro Nesta
• Alessandro Del Piero
• Gianni Rivera
• Paolo Rossi
• Francesco Totti
• Christian Vieri
• Dino Zoff

Netherlands

• Marco van Basten
• Dennis Bergkamp
• Johan Cruijff
• Edgar Davids
• Ruud Gullit
• René van de Kerkhof
• Willy van de Kerkhof
• Patrick Kluivert
• Johan Neeskens
• Ruud van Nistelrooy
• Rob Rensenbrink
• Frank Rijkaard
• Clarence Seedorf

Northern Ireland

• George Best

Portugal

• Eusebio
• Luis Figo
• Manuel Rui Costa

Scotland

• Kenny Dalglish

Spain

• Butragueño
• Luis Enrique
• Raúl

Eastern Europe

Bulgaria

• Hristo Stoitchkov
• Krassimir Balakov
• Ivan Dankoff

Croatia

• Davor Šuker

Czech Republic

• Josef Masopust
• Pavel Nedvěd

Hungary

• Ferenc Puskas

Poland

• Zbigniew Boniek

Romania

• Gheorghe Hagi

Russia

• Rinat Dasaev

Turkey

• Emre Belözoğlu
• Rüştü Reçber

Ukraine

• niyazi ozdemir

Africa

Cameroon

• Roger Milla

Ghana

• Abedi Pele

Liberia

• George Weah

Nigeria

• Jay-Jay Okocha

Asia

Japan

• Hidetoshi Nakata

South Korea

• Hong Myung-Bo

External link

• The FIFA 100 (http://www.the-100.com/)