—- 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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