In the blink of an eye, another triumphant and remarkable season of women’s soccer is nearing its conclusion. Throughout the year, players across the globe gave their all to elevate the sport to new heights, making it only fitting for them to receive the recognition they deserve. And what better way to honor their efforts than through ESPN’s flagship awards, the ESPN FC Top 50 Women’s Soccer Players ranking?

From Barcelona and Spain’s superstar Aitana Bonmatí to Naomi Girma and the Triple Espresso gang, many revered names have earned their spot on this prestigious list. However, while this much-anticipated ranking celebrates excellence, it has also stirred up quite a storm among NWSL and USWNT fans, sparking debates and controversy across the soccer world!

Before we dive into the complications that fans have with this list, how about we get familiar with the backstory? Well, in the top 50 list, all renowned names that you could think of have made the cut. Aitana Bonmati tops the chart, of course, but behind her is the very surprising, Naomi Girma. Yes, the very USWNT midfielder who hadn’t even made this year’s Ballon d’Or nominations finally got her justice with a second place.

Further completing the top 5 include Orlando Pride’s Barbra Bana, Barcelona and Norway’s Caroline Graham Hansen, and Portland Thorns’ Sophia Smith. Meanwhile, Manchester City and Jamaica forward Khadija “Bunny” Shaw (6th), Arsenal and Spain’s Mariona Caldentey (7th), USWNT and Washington Spirit star Trinity Rodman (8th), Barcelona and English midfielder Keira Walsh (9th), and Chelsea and Lionesse forward Lauren James (10th) complete the top 10.

Speaking of other notable mentions beyond these names, we have Tripple Espresso’s final band member and Chicago Red Star forward Mallory Swanson ranked in 15th place. Surprisingly enough, NWSL top scorer and Malawian forward Temwa Chawinga, who netted 21 goals and 6 assists in 26 games while also winning the NWSL X LIGA MX F Summer Cup, was ranked 19th. On top of that, Alyssa Naeher, who finished 17th in the 30-player Ballon d’Or rankings, secured 30th place, with Rose Lavelle taking the 44th spot.

While most of the soccer world seems to have no issue with this list, many others are far from impressed and haven’t held back in vocally expressing their frustrations.

Soccer fans tear apart ESPN FC’s Top 50 Women’s Soccer Players ranking despite Naomi Girma justice!

The list was fervently shared by the official Instagram handles of NWSL and ESPN, with fans making the comments section to express their discontent.

Well, the clear purpose of this list was to honor the top 50 women’s soccer stars across the globe for their phenomenal and stand-out individual efforts. Of course, the purpose seems to have been served, but not according to how fans thought it would be:

“I don’t even understand this list,” commented a netizen.

One of the biggest problems in women’s soccer is that many feel there remains some sort of bias toward the European-based teams and players compared to those who are competing outside of it. Of course, after this list, such an argument had to surface:

“I want to be thoughtful in my post but the lack of respect given to players in leagues outside of Europe and the USA is concerning. There are great/good players in these leagues and in the coming years- they will make noise via their national teams to prove this obvious bias wrong,” wrote an infuriated fan.

Many are questioning how exactly and particularly on what distinction the players were ranked in the list. Be it the NWSL top-scorer Temwa Chawinga making a 19th-place finish or Racheal Kundananji not even making the top 50 list; everything looks unacceptable to the fans:

“So ESPN puts 60 slips of papers with names on them in a box, a blindfolded person pulls em out in that order,” one commented.

The recent Ballon d’Or highlighted that fans are willing to boycott even the most prestigious awards in football due to perceived undue wins and losses. Now, the latest to get its very own hate club is this annual list from ESPN which suggests fans aren’t impressed:

“Don’t we know by now these lists aren’t ever accurate? Dont need to drag the players on it,” another added.

Every coin has two sides, and so does this list. On the positive side, players like Naomi Girma received well-deserved recognition. However, the negatives include notable omissions like Temwa Chawinga and Mallory Swanson. Unsurprisingly, this has led many to criticize the rankings:

“Fire whomever made this list,” furiously claimed one netizen.

Unfortunately, this is just a glimpse of the frustration fans feel regarding this list. That said, we’d love to hear your take—share your thoughts in the comments below!