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FIFA 15: Player rankings cause debate as Ozil ranks above Neymar and Rooney edges out Aguero

A demo of the game was released on Xbox One today

Simon Rice
Thursday 11 September 2014 16:30 BST
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The launch of FIFA 15 is drawing nearer and now the top 50 players in the latest edition of the series are known.

Predictably, it's led to much debate within the football and gaming communities.

Lionel Messi pips Ballon d'Or holder Cristiano Ronaldo to the title of best ranked player. With the Barcelona magician appearing on the cover of the latest title, it was perhaps an unsurprising call.

Arjen Robben, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Manuel Neuer complete a top five that's difficult to take issue with.

However, a little further down there are a number of ratings that have raised eyebrows.

Chelsea winger Eden Hazard completes the top 10 which places him ahead of Gareth Bale, Real Madrid's world's most expensive player, who is 14th. It also makes the Belgium international the best player in the Premier League according to the developers.

Meanwhile, whilst Wayne Rooney is considered the third best striker at Manchester United behind Robin van Persie and recent arrival Radamel Falcao, the Manchester United captain is considered better than the lethal Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero with the duo 23rd and 24th respectively.

Elsewhere, in the midfield department the ageing Xavi is one place ahead of Manchester City linchpin Yaya Toure.

Though perhaps most surprisingly among the rankings is that Mesut Ozil, the World Cup winner who's failed thus far to justify his huge price tag since moving to Arsenal, is higher than Barcelona and Brazil striker Neymar.

FIFA 15 is released on September 26 in the UK, however the demo of the game was today launched on Xbox One. It's expected to appear on Playstation 4 tomorrow.

Top 10

1. Lionel Messi - FC Barcelona (Spain)

2. Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid (Spain)

3. Arjen Robben - Bayern Munich (Germany)

4. Zlatan Ibrahimović - Paris Saint-Germain (France)

5. Manuel Neuer - Bayern Munich (Germany)

6. Andrés Iniesta - FC Barcelona (Spain)

7. Luis Suárez - FC Barcelona (Spain)

8. Bastian Schweinsteiger - Bayern Munich (Germany)

9. Franck Ribéry - Bayern Munich (Germany)

10. Eden Hazard - Chelsea FC (England)

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