The top 72 Forwards in the World

I've split the "end of 2011/12 - start of 2012/13  positional rankings" into the following:

Forwards, which will be mostly strikers but maybe also some players here and there who people may view as wingers or attacking midfielders, but if they are generally the most attacking players on their teams I've included them here. Goalscorers.

Attacking midfielders/Wingers I've combined since there is so much positional overlap between those players. Some of the most goalscoring central midfielders will also be included here as well as among the other midfielders.

Midfielders will be primarily central midfielders but also various all-rounders capable of wide-play or in primarily defensive or attacking roles. Some will also be ranked as attacking midfielders.

Centrebacks almost goes without saying but as usual be aware a few has also recieved ranking boosts because they're also good fullbacks.

Fullbacks like with the wingers both left and right sided players.


  
The World's top 72 Forwards (End of 2011/12 - Start of 2012/13):

 1 Lionel Messi - Argentina - Barcelona
2 Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal - Real Madrid
3 Wayne Rooney - England - Manchester United
4 Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Sweden - Milan/PSG?
5 Robin Van Persie - Netherlands - Arsenal
6 Sergio Aguero - Argentina - Manchester City
7 Edinson Cavani - Uruguay - Napoli
8 Karim Benzema - France - Real Madrid
9 Radamel Falcao - Colombia - Atletico Madrid
10 Gonzalo Higuain - Argentina - Real Madrid
11 Luis Suarez - Uruguay - Liverpool
12 Carlos Tevez - Argentina - Manchester City
13 Samuel Eto'o - Cameroun -Anzhi
14 Neymar - Brazil - Santos
15 Marco Reus - Germany - Mönchengladbach/Dortmund
16 Fernando Llorente - Spain - Athletic Bilbao
17 Didier Drogba - Ivory Coast - Chelsea/Shanghai Shenhua
18 Robert Lewandowski - Poland - Dortmund
19 Thomas Müller - Germany - Bayern München
20  Klaas Jan Huntelaar - Netherlands - Schalke 04
21 Mario Gomez - Germany - Bayern München
22 David Villa - Spain - Barcelona
23 Lisandro Lopez - Argentina - Lyon
24 Emmanuel Adebayor - Togo - Tottenham/Manchester City?
25 Diego Milito - Argentina - Inter
26 Javier Hernandez - Mexico - Manchester United
27 Hulk - Brazil - FC Porto
28 Stevan Jovetic - Montenegro - Fiorentina
29 Edin Dzeko - Bosnia/Herzegovina - Manchester City
30 Antonio Di Natale - Italy - Udinese
31 Ezequiel Lavezzi - Argentina - Napoli/PSG
32 Giuseppe Rossi - Italy - Villarreal
33 Dimitar Berbatov - Bulgaria - Manchester United
34 Alexandre Pato - Brazil - Milan
35 Demba Ba -Senegal - Newcastle
36 Raul - Spain - Schalke 04/Al Sadd
37 Miroslav Klose - Germany - Lazio
38 Danny Welbeck - England - Manchester United
39 Mario Balotelli - Italy - Manchester City
40 Lukas Podolski - Germany -FC Köln/Arsenal
41 Andre Schürrle - Germany - Leverkusen
42 Fernando Torres - Spain -Chelsea
43 Roberto Soldado - Spain - Valencia
44 Danny - Portugal - Zenit
45 Antonio Cassano - Italy - Milan
46 Diego Forlan - Uruguay - Inter/Internacional
47 Papiss Cisse - Senegal - Freiburg/Newcastle
48 Olivier Giroud - France - Montpellier/Arsenal
49 Luis Fabiano - Brazil - Sao Paulo
50 Mirko Vucinic - Montenegro - Juventus
51 Landon Donovan - USA - LA Galaxy
52Oscar Cardozo - Paraguay - Benfica
53 Giampaolo Pazzini - Italy - Inter
54 Kevin Gameiro - France - PSG
55 Leandro Damião - Brazil - Internacional
56 Jonas - Brazil - Valencia
57 Alexandr Kerzhakov - Russia - Zenit
58Alvaro Negredo - Spain - Sevilla
59 Mario Mandzukic - Croatia - Wolfsburg/Bayern München
60 Andrei Arshavin - Russia - Arsenal/Zenit
61 Francesco Totti - Italy - Roma
62 Seydou Doumbia - Côte d'Ivoire - CSKA Moscow
63 Loic Remy - France - Marseille
64 Clint Dempsey - USA - Fulham
65 Luuk de Jong - Netherlands - Twente/Borussia Mönchengladbach
66 Nikica Jelavic - Croatia - Everton
67 Michu - Spain - Rayo Vallecano
68 Daniel Sturridge - England - Chelsea
69 Ivica Olic - Croatia - Bayern München/Wolfsburg
70 Fred - Brazil - Fluminense
71 Moussa Sow - Senegal - Fenerbahce
72 Fabrizio Miccoli - Italy - Palermo
73 Lucas Barrios - Paraguay - Dortmund/Guangzhou