Costa Rican female midfielder Shirley Cruz is the thirteenth best player in the world this 2016 according to a poll carried out by the International Federation of Soccer History and Statistics (IFFHS).

Shirley Cruz plays and is the captain of the French club Paris Saint Germain and is back in the ranking after being left out in 2015, her best ranking was in 2014 when she ranked number nine. The poll was answered by experts in 56 countries.

European and US players top the list, German Dzsenifer Marozsan who plays for Frankfurt, holds the first position and added 80 points; second place is taken by Brazilian Marta Vieira da Silva.

U.S. players Carli Lloyd, Tobin Heath and Megan Rapinoe are the only other players besides Cruz from the CONCACAF area included in the ranking.

Cruz is 31 years old and has been playing in Europe for the past 8 years, she is also part of the Costa Rica female national soccer team.

A recent study published by UEFA, demonstrated that in the last four years, the number of professional female soccer players in Europe has duplicated, going from 1,303 in 2012/2013 season to 2,853 in 2016/2017.