Forget Haaland, Kane & Mbappe – Raphinha is world football’s best forward

Take a look at any Ballon d’Or power rankings and the same three names dominate. Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane .

If there’s to be an outsider, Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal – last year’s runner-up – appears to be it.

Mea Culpa . That includes ourselves. That’s our top three, with Yamal in fourth.

Raphinha doesn’t even make our top 10. You won’t find the Brazilian’s name in many other top 10 lists, either.

To be fair, the forward has endured a slow, injury-hit first half of the season. With the likes of Michael Olise and Luis Diaz shining, it was all too easy to overlook a sidelined player.

We fully expect things to change as we approach the business end of the 2025-26 campaign and this summer’s World Cup. Spoiler alert: Raphinha will definitely feature in our upcoming January update of the Ballon d’Or rankings.

You have to account for the way these things work as opposed to the way they should work. Mohamed Salah and Raphinha failing to make last year’s podium was extremely harsh, given their historic campaigns for Liverpool and Barcelona , respectively.

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick recognises that.

“When you see the matches he played, how many goals he scored, assists he has, it’s unbelievable. More, it’s influence (he had on) the team. This is really not fair to him,” he told reporters when the FIFPRO World 11 was unveiled back in November.

“For me it’s a joke, I cannot believe he’s not in the best XI because after this season he deserved it, it’s unbelievable.”

You always expect a manager to go to bat for their players. But Flick’s staunch endorsement of Raphinha goes to the very heart of what makes him special.

Any coach’s dream. Not only does he contribute consistently in terms of end product, but he also makes the team tick.

He’s arguably the most important player for Flick’s thrilling high-wire Barcelona . They are night and day with and without him. He sets the emotional tone.

Just look at how the team stuttered in his absence in the autumn.

A hamstring injury left him sidelined for the 2-1 defeat at home to PSG and the shock 3-3 draw with Club Brugge.

Barcelona were effectively out of the game – limp, two goals down and reduced to 10 men – when he was introduced in the final half hour of their particularly poor showing away to Chelsea.

In La Liga, there was a disastrous 4-1 defeat to Sevilla. A deserved 2-1 defeat away to Real Madrid in stark contrast to their four Clasico victories – all of which featured Raphinha in resplendent form, notching five goals and two assists – under Flick last season.

Without Raphinha , Barca were a rabble. Utterly incapable of going deep in the Champions League, likely to be found out by any serious opponent.

Now he’s back and they’re once again looking like the thrilling side that were a whisker away from reaching last season’s final.