What’s the story?
The World FIFPro World XI has been announced by FIFA, with the headline news being that no Premier League player managed to make the final XI. The side is dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona players, with Manuel Neuer and Dani Alves the only non-La Liga players.
In case you didn’t know…
The FIFPro World XI is a very presitigious award for footballers, since it is voted for by their peers. Over 26,000 professional footballers vote for the best player in each position, taking into account performances in the period from 1st December, 2015 to 28th November 2016.
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The heart of the matter
La Liga provide 9 players of the FIFPro, which could have been 10 had Dani Alves not left Barcelona. Thiago Silva, Paul Pogba and Neymar Jr. are the three players to have missed out on the award from last year’s XI, with Gerard Pique, Toni Kroos and Luis Suarez coming in.
From the 55 man shortlist, Real Madrid have 5 players, with Barcelona supplying 4 players, with Juventus and Bayern Munich supplying the other two. The biggest shock was the omission of Antoine Griezmann from the FIFPro XI.
The Barcelona players were unable to attend the ceremony and sent a video message courtesy Andres Iniesta.
Here are the 11 best players in the world :
| Position | Player Name | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Manuel Neuer | Bayern Munich |
| Right Back | Dani Alves | Juventus |
| Centre Back | Gerard Pique | FC Barcelona |
| Centre Back | Sergio Ramos | Real Madrid |
| Left Back | Marcelo | Real Madrid |
| Midfielder | Toni Kroos | Real Madrid |
| Midfielder | Luka Modric | Real Madrid |
| Midfielder | Andres Iniesta | FC Barcelona |
| Forward | Luis Suarez | FC Barcelona |
| Forward | Lionel Messi | FC Barcelona |
| Forward | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
What next?
It is hard to see anybody dislodging this XI, especially with Paul Pogba being the highest rated EPL player. All of these players are in the prime of their career, and are experiencing great form currently, with
Sportskeeda’s Take
There are some big omission’s in this XI, especially with Antoine Griezmann also nominated for the Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award. Diego Godin, Neymar are also some of the other big names that miss out, but overall this was a deserving list, especially given La Liga’s dominance in Europe, with Real Madrid winning the UEFA Champions League.
It could be hard for any of us to come up with a better team than this.
