Players from more than 60 countries participating in FIFPro, including Portugal, chose three goalkeepers, three defenders, three midfielders and three forwards for the world’s best 11 for 2021/22, taking into account sporting achievements between 08 August 2021 and December 18, 2022, resulting in 26 nominees.
Cancelo, who left on loan to the Bavarians from Manchester City until the end of the season, and Ronaldo, who now represents the Saudis at Al Nassr, join names such as Brazil’s Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), France’s Kylian Mbappé (PSG) and Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), the Norwegian Erling Haaland (Manchester City), the Pole Robert Lewandowski (FC Barcelona), the Belgian Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City) or the Croatian Luka Modric, from Real Madrid, a club with more representatives.
The lineup of FIFPro nominees, which includes 26 footballers for the first time, includes three goalkeepers, eight defenders, eight midfielders and seven forwards with the most votes, including Lionel Messi (PSG), Enzo Fernández, who left Benfica to join Chelsea move , and Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa), three players who became world champions last December when they played for Argentina in Qatar.
The big news are Spaniards Pedri and Gavi, from FC Barcelona, Uruguayan Fede Valverde, from Real Madrid, Moroccan Achraf Hakimi, from PSG, and Frenchman Theo Hernandez, from AC Milan.
Messi and Ronaldo are the players who most often appeared in the ‘eleven’, both with 15, four more than Spaniard Sérgio Ramos (PSG), while Modric aspires to be one of the 11 most voted players for the sixth time.
Compared to last year’s selection, the Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, the Austrian David Alaba, the Italians Leonardo Bonucci and Jorginho, the Portuguese Rúben Dias and the Frenchman N’Golo Kante were not among the candidates.
The best ’11’ of the 2021/22 season will be announced on February 27 at FIFA’s ‘The Best’ gala in Paris.
– List of the 26 players nominated for the best 11 of the year:
– Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) and Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa).
– Defenders: João Cancelo (Bayern Munich), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool), Josko Gvardiol (Leipzig), Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain), Theo Hernández (AC Milan), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid) and Thiago Silva (Chelsea).
– Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Dortmund), Casemiro (Manchester United), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Enzo Fernández (Chelsea), Gavi (FC Barcelona), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Pedri (FC Barcelona) and Fede Valverde (Real Madrid).
– Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Robert Lewandowski (FC Barcelona), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain), Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr).
Source: DN
