“Made by some biased fan” – Official 2023 FIFA Men’s World 11 list featuring Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi triggers fans

Despite playing in less competitive leagues, Messi and Ronaldo were nominated.

“Made by some biased fan” – Official 2023 FIFA Men’s World 11 list featuring Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi triggers fans

Fans called out the nominations of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. (Image via Goal.com)

Federation Internationale des Associations de Footballeurs Professionnels, more commonly known as FIFPRO, is the player global representative body of players across 66 nations. Formed in 1965, the body decided to let all players vote for their best combined Playing XI of the year. 

Since 2005, over 28,000 players voted for their best playing XI every year and have organized the voting every year. Twelve out of the 23 nominated players for 2023 are from the Premier League, while the remaining are from leagues across the world. Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Lionel Messi, who don’t play in Europe, are also among the nominees. Their performances from the period of 19th December 2022 to 20th August 2023 were taken into consideration. 

YouTube video

FIFA FIFPRO Men’s World XI Nominations: 

FS Video

Goalkeepers:

  • Thibaut Coutrois
  • Ederson Moraes
  • Emi Martinez

Defenders: 

  • Ruben Dias
  • Virgil van Dijk
  • Eder Militao
  • Toni Rudiger
  • John Stones
  • Kyle Walker

Midfielders: 

  • Jude Bellingham
  • Kevin De Bruyne
  • Ilkay Guendogan
  • Luka Modric
  • Rodri
  • Bernardo Silva
  • Fede Valverde

Forwards: 

  • Karim Benzema
  • Erling Haaland
  • Harry Kane
  • Kylian Mbappe
  • Lionel Messi
  • Cristiano
  • Vinicius Jr

Although many fans were content with most of the nominations, there was an outrage over Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi being nominated. 

Fans are divided over the nominations of football icons 

Ever since he fell out with Erik Ten Hag, Cristiano Ronaldo was exiled from the first team and made to move away. He finally found the Saudi club, Al Nassr, as the perfect destination. He has been playing for them since January 2023.

Mohamed Salah Victor Osimhen
Mohamed Salah and Victor Osimhen were snubbed from the FIFPRO World XI. (Images via Goal.com)

Lionel Messi spent about five months with PSG before moving to David Beckham’s Inter Miami. During this time, he played only six matches for both clubs. Fans were surprised when Messi and Ronaldo were nominated instead of players like Mohamed Salah, Bukayo Saka, Victor Osimhen, and Alisson.

People questioned the selection process, wondering why Ronaldo and Messi were chosen. Some even suggested that if FIFPRO was interested in players from the EFL Championship, they should consider selecting players from there instead.

Here are some of the fans’ reactions: 

https://twitter.com/Ayo4884/status/1742554723629011086?s=20
https://twitter.com/Smuzz__/status/1742548963327136074?s=20
https://twitter.com/Leons_Logic/status/1742561751659393076?s=20

The FIFPRO World 11 will be announced on 15th January 2024 at The Best FIFA Football Awards, London. Along with that, many other FIFA awards, like The Best FIFA Men’s Player and more will be awarded. 

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