Star forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi led the 55-man list of FIFA World XI nominations announced by FIFPro here on Thursday
Cristiano Ronaldo. File pic/AFP
ADVERTISEMENT
Star forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi led the 55-man list of FIFA World XI nominations announced by FIFPro here on Thursday.
A total of 25,000 professional footballers took part in a poll to nominate the best players. The footballers who received most votes in their line are on the list of 55.
Ronaldo (4) and Messi (5) share nine Ballon d'or amongst them and are favourites to add one more to the tally during the next award ceremony.
"FIFPro and its affiliated player associations invited professional footballers worldwide to pick a team of 1 goalkeeper, 4 defenders, 3 midfielders and 3 attackers who were the best at their position during the 2016-2017 season," FIFPro said in a statement.
Real Madrid dominated the list after winning both La Liga and the Champions League in 2016-17, with Keylor Navas, Dani Carvajal, Marcelo, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Casemiro, Isco, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo all in line to make the XI.
Pepe is listed as both a Real Madrid player and a Besiktas player, after moving to the Turkish team in the summer.
Champions League runners-up and Serie A champions Juventus had four players on the list comprising Gianluigi Buffon, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and Paulo Dybala.
English Premier League (EPL) champions Chelsea have three nominees in Eden Hazard, David Luiz and N'Golo Kante.
David De Gea, Antonio Valencia, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Romelu Lukaku (previously with Everton), Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic (formerly of Chelsea) represent Manchester United.
Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are nominated from Arsenal, while Philippe Coutinho is the only Liverpool player on the list.
Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe is the youngest player on the list, at the age of 18, fresh from sealing a loan move to PSG from Monaco. The teenager scored 27 goals in 60 games for the French champions last season.
However, Claudio Bravo, Hector Bellerin, Kevin de Bruyne, Dimitri Payet, David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Jamie Vardy are among the 12 players who were included last time but missed out this year.
The 2016 World 11 included Manuel Neuer, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Andrés Iniesta, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The following is the list of 55 players:
Goalkeepers
Gianluigi Buffon-Italy, Juventus
David De Gea-Spain, Manchester United
Keylor Navas-Costa Rica, Real Madrid
Manuel Neuer-Germany, Bayern Munich
Jan Oblak-Slovenia, Atletico Madrid
Defenders
David Alaba-Austria, Bayern Munich
Jordi Alba-Spain, Barcelona
Dani Alves-Brazil, Paris Saint-Germain
Jerome Boateng-Germany, Bayern Munich
Leonardo Bonucci-Italy, Juventus/AC Milan
Dani Carvajal-Spain, Real Madrid
Giorgio Chiellini-Italy, Juventus
Diego Godin-Uruguay, Atletico Madrid
Mats Hummels-Germany, Bayern Munich
Philipp Lahm-Germany, Bayern Munich (Retired)
David Luiz-Brazil, Chelsea
Marcelo-Brazil, Real Madrid
Javier Mascherano-Argentina, Barcelona
Pepe-Portugal, Real Madrid/Besiktas
Gerard Pique-Spain, Barcelona
Sergio Ramos-Spain, Real Madrid
Thiago Silva-Brazil, Paris Saint-Germain
Samuel Umtiti-France, Barcelona
Antonio Valencia-Ecuador, Manchester United
Raphael Varane-France, Real Madrid
Midfielders
Thiago Alcantara-Spain, Bayern Munich
Sergio Busquets-Spain, Barcelona
Casemiro-Brazil, Real Madrid
Philippe Coutinho-Brazil, Liverpool
Eden Hazard-Belgium, Chelsea
Andres Iniesta-Spain, Barcelona
Isco-Spain, Real Madrid
N'Golo Kante-France, Chelsea
Toni Kroos-Germany, Real Madrid
Nemanja Matic-Serbia, Chelsea/Manchester United
Luka Modric-Croatia, Real Madrid
Mesut Ozil-Germany, Arsenal
Paul Pogba-France, Manchester United
Marco Verratti-Italy, Paris Saint-Germain
Arturo Vidal-Chile, Bayern Munich
Forwards
Gareth Bale-Wales, Real Madrid
Karim Benzema-France, Real Madrid
Edinson Cavani-Uruguay, Paris Saint-Germain
Paulo Dybala-Argentina, Juventus
Antoine Griezmann-France, Atletico Madrid
Zlatan Ibrahimovic-Sweden, Manchester United
Harry Kane-England, Tottenham Hotspur
Robert Lewandowski-Poland, Bayern Munich
Romelu Lukaku-Belgium, Manchester United
Kylian Mbappe-France, Paris Saint-Germain
Lionel Messi-Argentina, FC Barcelona
Neymar-Brazil, Paris Saint-Germain
Cristiano Ronaldo-Portugal, Real Madrid
Alexis Sanchez-Chile, Arsenal
Luis Suarez-Uruguay, Barcelona
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
