So you’re looking for the best floorball players in the world. The crème-de-la-crème, the best of what floorball has to offer. Then you’re at the right address!
Featured image by Per Wiklund
In this article, we’re giving you all the information you want to know and much more. It’s not just a list, it’s a guide.
The list has been compiled by InnebandyMagazinet and covers the whole of 2019. But for a year, the players listed below can call themselves the best in their field.
READ – Top 10 floorball players 2019
Without further ado, here are the world’s best floorball players in the world in 2020 (chosen based on their game in 2019). At the bottom of the article, you’ll even find a bonus!
10. Sami Johansson, Finland & Classic (Finland)
Sami Johansson, born June 27, 1993, is the first one on this list. He made it to the top 10 for the first time in his career. With Finland, he won the gold medal at two consecutive WFCs, in 2016 and 2018. During these tournaments, the forward scored 5 (5+0) and 11 (8+3) points.
With his club Classic, Johansson won the Salibandyliiga last season by beating TPS in a best-of-7 series 4-1. Currently – although this hasn’t been taken into account for this top 10 player election – Johansson is leading the Salibandyliiga with at the moment of writing 72 points (52+20) after 22 games.
In the video below, you can see Johansson score 8+2 points in one game, in the Salibandyliiga match between Classic and Steelers.
9. Peter Kotilainen, Finland & Happee (Finland)
Peter Kotilainen has been on his best during the last two WFCs. In 2016, this brought him to the 4th place of the top 10 players worldwide, and the same position was reached in 2018. Now, he’s fallen back a bit, but still at the honorable 9th place.
At the WFC 2016, Kotilainen scored 16 (10+6) points in just six games. He became the tournament’s top scorer and MVP. In 2018, 7 (5+2) points were added to his total, but his focus will be on December 2020: the WFC Helsinki.
During the current season, Kotilainen has been injured for quite a while. However, with only 13 games played (out of the possible 25 so far), he gained 32 (20+12) points and reached the second spot of the top scorer’s list of his team Happee. Happee has only just made it to the playoffs spots; the team ends up at 8th (or potentially 7th) place in the Salibandyliiga.
Kotilainen’s life hasn’t been easy for him. In ‘My Story’, he speaks about it and tells how floorball has helped him. In case you’ve never seen this short (6 min) documentary: we would highly recommend watching it!
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8. Eero Kosonen, Finland & SPV (Finland)
After three years in the highest parts of the top 10, Eero Kosonen has now fallen back a few spots. The goalie from SPV and the Finnish national team ranked 10th place in 2015, 2nd in 2016, 4th in 2017 and even became the world’s best player in 2018. Now, we find him in the 8th spot.
As numbers 1-7 are all field players, Kosonen remains the best goalkeeper in the world. His role, however, has become smaller. With SPV, he made it to 12 games so far, four less than his goalie colleague Rasmus Hasu. His save rate in the Salibandyliiga currently is 77.37%, with the playoffs getting close now. SPV, ranked 7th, will probably face Oilers of EräViikingit in the quarterfinals of these playoffs.
7. Alexander Galante Carlström, Sweden & IBF Falun (Sweden)
Alexander Galante Carlström has been one of the greatest players of the last decade. His glory years – based on this ranking, that is – were 2015 (runner-up), 2016 and 2017 (both times world’s best). In 2018, Galante fell back to 8th place, but now he (slightly) rose again, to 7th place.
Last year, ACG became Falun’s top scorer in the SSL with 78 (54+24) points. Only Johannes Wilhelmsson (Höllviken, 86 points) and Albin Sjögren (79) stayed ahead of him in the SSL top scorer’s ranking, although both of them played three games more.
During the 2019 Euro Floorball Tour (EFT) in Tampere, Galante Carlström became the top scorer by scoring 6 (4+2) points in 3 games. In the current SSL season, Galante is on fire: after 28 games he’s scored 72 (56+16) points, seven more than #2 Gustav Fritzell. His 56 goals alone would have put him in the top 5 of the top scorer’s list already!
AGC has been delivering goals for a long, long time now. Here are some of his incredible goals from the past.
6. Nico Salo, Finland & Classic (Finland)
The Finnish Nico Salo has been in the top 10 for the last years. In 2016 and 2017, he became 5th, followed by the 6th place in 2018 and now again the 6th place.
Salo, who recently turned 26, is an all-round player. Sometimes, he can be found in defense, while on other moments he’s playing as a forward. His biggest successes in 2019 were winning the Euro Floorball Tour with Finland and the Champions Cup with Classic.
5. Tobias Gustafsson, Sweden & Storvreta IBK (Sweden)
The 2017/2018 SSL Player of the Year Tobias Gustafsson finds himself back at the 5th place of this year’s Top 10, slightly higher than his 8th place in 2017.
The defender – although he’s played on every position except for goalkeeper – joined Storvreta in 2017 when he made the move from Linköping. He won the SSL with Storvreta, just like the 2020 edition of the Champions Cup.
With more than 50 games played for the Swedish national team, Gustafsson is one of the experienced players. He’s won two silver medals at the WFCs 2016 and 2018, but will be eager to make it to the final WFC 2020 selection for his third shot at gold.
4. Krister Savonen, Finland & SV Wiler-Ersigen (Switzerland)
Krister Savonen remains one of the best floorball players in the world, throughout the years. He became #7 in 2016, runner-up in both 2017 and 2018, followed by a #4 spot in the last election. His move from Classic to Wiler-Ersigen – just like #3 in this list Joonas Pylsy did – was quite the surprise, but with 58 points in 22 games, Wiler showed itself as the strongest team – with Savonen as one of the key players.
The still only 25-year-old (he turns 26 in May) won the WFC twice, in 2016 and 2018, and is aiming for his third golden medal during the WFC 2020 in home country Finland. But first, his goal is to win the Swiss NLA and become the champion of Switzerland, after winning the Finnish league with Classic last year.
3. Joonas Pylsy, Finland & SV Wiler-Ersigen (Switzerland)
Joonas Pylsy is an unofficial Friend of FloorballToday and we have had the pleasure of doing many articles and interviews with him. He never made it to the top 10 before, so becoming the best Finnish player and the #3 best player in the world is a huge success for the compact center.
In the video below you can see Pylsy from his time in Finland, when he gave six assists in just one game.
In the summer of 2019, Pylsy announced he would transfer to Wiler-Ersigen in Switzerland. With Wiler, he’s now hunting for the gold after winning the competition. He became Wiler’s top scorer with 36 (21+15) points in 22 games, putting him at sixth place in the NLA’s top scorer’s ranking. Might his stick be the secret of his success? We asked him, read his answer here.
2. Alexander Rudd, Sweden & Storvreta IBK (Sweden)
Alexander Rudd’s career has had its ups and downs but right now it’s definitely in an uptrend. Known as one of the best centers of his time, the tall player mostly can be found as a forward.
If you don’t know Rudd by now, the following video is a must-watch. See for yourself how it seems nearly impossible to get the ball from this incredible player.
Alexander Rudd is best known for his space creating and ball holding abilities together with a very keen sense of the game including passes. Some would say, impossible to defend. A player who developed his own unconventional style of play.
In penalty shots both for his club Storvreta as the Swedish national team, Rudd is the one who usually takes the penalty shots. His wide reach combined with his great technique makes it (incredibly) tough for goalies to find an answer to these penalty shots!
1. Emil Johansson, Sweden & IBF Falun (Sweden)
Is it a surprise that Emil Johansson won the prize for best floorball player in the world? Yes, and no. It is a surprise in that all these players are top-class but it’s not a surprise if we look at how Emil Johansson has crushed the whole year 2019.
First of all, he was awarded defender of the SSL season 2018/2019 as well as player of the season. He ended on the 4th place in the SSL point league – as a defender. In 30 games, Johansson scored 26 times and gave 44 assists.
This season (as of February 2020) he already accumulated enough points to be on the 5th place in points, one of the reasons Falun is currently in a solid first position. Johansson is the leader in the top assist ranking (together with his teammate Omar Aldeeb), with 35 assists so far!
Remarkably, he plays with a very interesting stick. Want to know more? Then you really have to check out our stick length article!
BONUS: All Top 10 players in one video
Our friends from FGFloorball made this fantastic video:
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