Every year, FIFA fans wait in anticipation for EA Sports to release the player ratings for the latest edition of the franchise.

The battle for top spot is always dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, with the former edging his eternal rival by one on FIFA 20.

On FIFA 21, it's going to be no different, because the two superstars are still the best players on the planet - despite both being in their 30s.

But this year, we think a few players are going to run the pair mighty close in the ratings battle, with two players just one less than Ronaldo.

That's our prediction anyway and you can view our attempt to name the 30 highest-rated players on FIFA 21 below.

30-21

Casemiro with Real Madrid

Casemiro - 88

FIFA 20 rating - 87

Sergio Busquets - 88

FIFA 20 rating - 89

Ederson - 88

FIFA 20 rating - 88

N'Golo Kante - 88

FIFA 20 rating - 89

Paul Pogba - 88

FIFA 20 rating - 88

Pogba with Man Utd

Bruno Fernandes - 88

FIFA 20 rating - 85

Heung-min Son - 88

FIFA 20 rating - 87

Sergio Aguero - 88

FIFA 20 rating - 89

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 88

FIFA 20 rating - 88

Luis Suarez - 88

FIFA 20 rating - 89

Suarez with Barcelona

We're predicting a significant upgrade for Fernandes, with Son and Casemiro the two others in this section receiving boosts after their brilliant performances in 2019/20.

Suarez, Aguero (bit harsh, we know), Kante and Busquets all see their ratings decreased by one in our predictions.

20 -11

Dybala with Juventus

Paulo Dybala - 88

FIFA 20 rating - 88

Marc-Andre ter Stegen - 89

FIFA 20 rating - 90

Toni Kroos - 89

FIFA 20 rating - 88

Mohamed Salah - 89

FIFA 20 rating - 90

Raheem Sterling - 89

FIFA 20 rating - 88

Sterling with Man City

Eden Hazard - 89

FIFA 20 rating - 91

Harry Kane - 89

FIFA 20 rating - 89

Karim Benzema - 89

FIFA 20 rating - 87

Thibaut Courtois - 90

FIFA 20 rating - 88

Alisson Becker - 90

FIFA 20 rating - 89

Alisson at the Ballon d'Or ceremony

A decrease of two for Hazard, but we think his Real Madrid teammates Benzema and Courtois will make up for that by having their ratings increased by two following their exploits in 2019/20.

Kroos, Sterling and Alisson should receive small boosts as well, while we predict Ter Stegen and Salah will go in the opposite direction.

10-1

Ramos with Real Madrid

Sergio Ramos - 90

FIFA 20 rating - 89

Sadio Mane - 90

FIFA 20 rating - 88

Kylian Mbappe - 90

FIFA 20 rating - 89

Jan Oblak - 91

FIFA 20 rating - 91

Virgil van Dijk - 91

FIFA 20 rating - 90

Van Dijk with Liverpool

Robert Lewandowski - 91

FIFA 20 rating - 89

Neymar - 92

FIFA 20 rating - 92

Kevin De Bruyne - 92

FIFA 20 rating - 91

Cristiano Ronaldo - 93

FIFA 20 rating - 93

Lionel Messi - 94

FIFA 20 rating - 94

Messi with Barcelona

Messi to reign supreme once again, while we think both Neymar and De Bruyne will be just one behind Ronaldo on FIFA 21.

De Bruyne, Lewandowski, Mane, Van Dijk and Ramos are the top dogs we believe are in line for some upgrades.

Christian Eriksen, David De Gea, Manuel Neuer, Kalidou Koulibaly, Giorgio Chiellini, Antoine Griezmann and Luka Modric all featured in FIFA 20's top 30, but we think they'll miss out this time.