Seven French world champions among top players in FIFA FIFPro awards poll
—- Seven players of France’s World Cup winning team are among the 55 professional footballers who received most votes from their peers in the vote for the FIFA FIFPro World 11.
FIFPro and its affiliated player associations invited professional footballers worldwide to pick a team of one goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders and three attackers who were the best at their position during the 2017-2018 season.
In total, 25,000 footballers from 65 countries selected their eleven. The players who received most votes in their line are on the list of 55.
The seven French World Cup winners on this exclusive list are Antoine Griezmann, N’Golo Kante, Kylian Mbappe, Benjamin Pavard, Paul Pogba, Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane.
Karim Benzema is the eight Frenchman on the list, but he formed no part of the French World Cup squad. The striker did win a third consecutive Champions League title with Real Madrid.
The World 11 will be unveiled by FIFA and FIFPro during the Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony in London on Monday September 24.
The 55 most voted players are:
Name – country, previous team/current team
Goalkeepers (5)
Gianluigi Buffon – Italy, Juventus/Paris Saint-Germain
Thibaut Courtois – Belgium, Chelsea/Real Madrid CF
David De Gea – Spain, Manchester United FC
Keylor Navas – Costa Rica, Real Madrid CF
Marc-Andre ter Stegen – Germany, FC Barcelona
Defenders (20)
Jordi Alba – Spain, FC Barcelona
Dani Alves – Brazil, Paris Saint-Germain
Daniel Carvajal – Spain, Real Madrid CF
Giorgio Chiellini – Italy, Juventus FC
Virgil van Dijk – The Netherlands, Southampton/Liverpool
Diego Godin – Uruguay, Atletico Madrid
Mats Hummels – Germany, FC Bayern Munchen
Joshua Kimmich – Germany, FC Bayern Munchen
Dejan Lovren – Croatia, Liverpool FC
Marcelo – Brazil, Real Madrid CF
Yerry Mina – Colombia, FC Barcelona/Everton FC
Benjamin Pavard – France, VfB Stuttgart
Gerard Pique – Spain, FC Barcelona
Sergio Ramos – Spain, Real Madrid CF
Thiago Silva – Brazil, Paris Saint-Germain
Kieran Trippier – England, Tottenham Hotspur
Samuel Umtiti – France, FC Barcelona
Raphaël Varane – France, Real Madrid CF
Sime Vrsaljko – Croatia, Atletico Madrid/Internazionale
Kyle Walker – England, Manchester City FC
Midfielders (15)
Sergio Busquets – Spain, FC Barcelona
Casemiro – Brazil, Real Madrid CF
Philippe Coutinho – Brazil, Liverpool/FC Barcelona
Kevin De Bruyne – Belgium, Manchester City FC
Eden Hazard – Belgium, Chelsea FC
Andres Iniesta – Spain, FC Barcelona/Vissel Kobe
Isco – Spain, Real Madrid CF
N’Golo Kante – France, Chelsea FC
Toni Kroos – Germany, Real Madrid CF
Nemanja Matic – Serbia, Manchester United FC
Luka Modric – Croatia, Real Madrid CF
Paul Pogba – France, Manchester United FC
Ivan Rakitic – Croatia, FC Barcelona
David Silva – Spain, Manchester City FC
Arturo Vidal – Chile, FC Bayern Munchen/FC Barcelona
Forwards (15)
Karim Benzema – France, Real Madrid CF
Edinson Cavani – Uruguay, Paris Saint-Germain
Paulo Dybala – Argentina, Juventus FC
Antoine Griezmann – France, Atletico Madrid
Harry Kane – England, Tottenham Hotspur
Robert Lewandowski – Poland, FC Bayern Munchen
Romelu Lukaku – Belgium, Manchester United FC
Mario Mandzukic – Croatia, Juventus FC
Sadio Mane – Senegal, Liverpool FC
Kylian Mbappe – France, Paris Saint-Germain
Lionel Messi – Argentina, FC Barcelona
Neymar Junior – Brazil, Paris Saint-Germain
Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal, Real Madrid CF/Juventus FC
Mohammed Salah – Egypt, Liverpool FC
Luis Suarez – Uruguay, FC Barcelona
Facts and Figures:
The list of 55 includes 16 new names compared to the 2017 list. 5 of them were on previous lists: Thibaut Courtois (2014), Kevin De Bruyne (2016), Mario Mandzukic(2013), Ivan Rakitic (2015, 2016) and David Silva (2011, 2012, 2015, 2016).
Some 11 players make their debut on the list: Virgil van Dijk, Joshua Kimmich, Dejan Lovren, Sadio Mane, Yerry Mina, Benjamin Pavard, Mohammed Salah, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Kieran Trippier, Sime Vrsaljko and Kyle Walker.
Among the 16 players who did not return from the previous list is Leonardo Bonucci, who was on last year’s World 11.
Four more former World 11 award winners missed the cut: Manuel Neuer (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016), Philipp Lahm (2013, 2014), David Luiz (2014) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic(2013). Philipp Lahm retired from football.
The 11 other players are: David Alaba, Thiago Alcantara, Gareth Bale, Jerome Boateng, Javier Mascherano, Jan Oblak, Pepe, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Antonio Valencia and Marco Verratti.
Two players have been on every list of 55 since the first World 11 in 2004-2005: Gianluigi Buffon and Cristiano Ronaldo.
This is the 14th edition of the World 11. The award was established by FIFPro, the World Players’ Union, in 2005, and later merged with FIFA in 2009.
Spain is the country with most players on the List, 9, followed by World Cup winners France (8) and Brazil (6). World Cup runner-up Croatia has 5 and bronze medalist Belgium (4).
All 11 players who started for Real Madrid in the Champions League final made the list of 55. Barcelona also have 11 players of last season’s squad mentioned on the list.Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool are third with 5 players each.
The list includes 25 players who appeared in Spain’s La Liga last season, which is most of all leagues. The English Premier League is second with 18. France’s Ligue 1 and Germany’s Bundesliga have 5, and Italy’s Serie A 4.
The 2016-2017 World 11 included Gianluigi Buffon, Dani Alves, Leonardo Bonucci, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr.
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