December 2 – The 55-player shortlist for the FIFA/FIFpro world eleven for 2016, to be announced in early January at a gala ceremony in Zurich, is as expected dominated by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich players with England captain Wayne Rooney left off the list for the first time in the award’s history.
The Manchester United striker, struggling to get into his club team on a regular basis, failed to receive enough votes from his peers. Italy’s Andrea Pirlo has also missed out, despite featuring on every shortlist since the award’s inception in 2005.
The award is decided by 25,000 professionals from around 70 countries who select their ultimate starting line-up for the year by choosing one goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards.
Christiano Ronaldo and Gianluigi Buffon are now the only two players to have been nominated by FIFPro’s members in every year of the award.
Nine players make their debuts on the shortlist: Serge Aurier, Hector Bellerin, Leonardo Bonucci, Kevin De Bruyne, Paulo Dybala, Antoine Griezmann, N’Golo Kante, Dimitri Payet and James Vardy.
Surprisingly, Vardy’s Leicester teammate Riyad Mahrez is not among those nominated despite winning England’s Professional Footballers Association player of the year prize and featuring in promotional material for the joint FIFA/FIFPro’s award.
There was not a single player nominated who does not play their club football in Europe. One wonders if FIFA’s top brass have still to realise that football is played elsewhere, and not just in playgrounds. A comparison with UEFA.com’s team of the year voting is worth making – certainly it is more plural in terms of players and doesn’t pretend to be uncomfortably passing itself of as world team of the year
FIFA FIFPro World XI award shortlist
Goalkeepers (5)
Claudio Bravo (Chile/FC Barcelona/Manchester City), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/Juventus), David de Gea (Spain/Manchester United), Keylor Navas (Costa Rica/Real Madrid), Manuel Neuer (Germany/FC Bayern Munich).
Defenders (20)
David Alaba (Austria/FC Bayern Munich), Jordi Alba (Spain/FC Barcelona), Serge Aurier (Côte d’Ivoire/Paris Saint-Germain), Hector Bellerìn (Spain/Arsenal), Jerome Boateng (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy/Juventus), Daniel Carvajal (Spain/Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Italy/Juventus), Dani Alves (Brazil/FC Barcelona/Juventus), David Luiz (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain/Chelsea), Diego Godin (Uruguay/Atlético Madrid), Mats Hummels (Germany/Borussia Dortmund/FC Bayern Munich), Philipp Lahm (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Marcelo (Brazil/Real Madrid), Javier Mascherano (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Pepe (Portugal/Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Spain/FC Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Spain/Real Madrid), Thiago Silva (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain), Raphael Varane (France/Real Madrid).
Midfielders (15)
Xabi Alonso (Spain/FC Bayern Munich), Sergio Busquets (Spain/FC Barcelona), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea), Andres Iniesta (Spain/FC Barcelona), N’Golo Kante (France/Leicester City/Chelsea), Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid), Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid), Mesut Ozil (Germany/Arsenal), Dimitri Payet (France/West Ham United), Paul Pogba (France/Juventus/Manchester United), Ivan Rakitic (Croatia/FC Barcelona), David Silva (Spain/Manchester City), Marco Verratti (Italy/Paris Saint-Germain), Arturo Vidal (Chile/FC Bayern Munich).
Strikers (15)
Sergio Aguero (Argentina/Manchester City), Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Paulo Dybala (Argentina/Juventus), Antoine Griezmann (France/Atlético Madrid), Gonzalo Higuain (Argentina/Napoli/Juventus), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Paris Saint-Germain/Manchester United), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/FC Bayern Munich), Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Thomas Muller (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Neymar (Brazil/FC Barcelona), Alexis Sanchez (Chile/Arsenal), Luis Suarez (Uruguay/FC Barcelona), Jamie Vardy (England/Leicester City).