FIFPro World XI Nominees: Surprise Surprise!! Mo Salah not named in World XI squad for 2021 best players list, Barcelona gets 4 nominees: The 2021 Men’s FIFA FIFPro World 11 nominees have been announced, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo headlining the star-studded shortlist, but there was no room for Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
Still wondering how Mo Salah was not selected in the FIFPro World Men’s XI squad 🥴 pic.twitter.com/8zLTxkYJiA
— GOAL (@goal) December 14, 2021
FIFA announced a 23-man squad of the world’s best players on Tuesday, with Chelsea, Barcelona and PSG leading the way in terms of number of representatives the three clubs have four players in the squad.
⭐️ Here are the 23 nominees for the 2021 Men’s FIFA FIFPRO #World11!
The winners will be announced on 17.01.2022.
By the players, for the players.@FIFAcom pic.twitter.com/6lBPAoXlNO
— FIFPRO (@FIFPRO) December 14, 2021
FIFPro, the worldwide representative organization for 65,000 professional footballers, in conjunction with FIFA have announced the list of players who will be eligible for this year’s World 11 team.
Thousands of professional footballers from all over the world are part of the nomination process, and the players with the most votes are then listed among the 23 nominees.
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“We ask the players to select the three footballers who they think have been the best in their position during the 2020/2021 season. There are four positions: goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards,” a statement on FIFPro’s website read.
Here are the 23 nominated players:
Goalkeepers
Alisson Becker (Liverpool & Brazil), Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan/Paris Saint-Germain & Italy), Edouard Mendy (Chelsea & Senegal)
Defenders
David Alaba (Bayern Munich/Real Madrid & Austria), Jordi Alba (Barcelona & Spain), Dani Alves (Sao Paulo/Barcelona & Brazil), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool & England), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus & Italy), Ruben Dias (Manchester City & Portugal)
Midfielders
Sergio Busquets (Barcelona & Spain), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City & Belgium), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona & Netherlands), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United & Portugal), Jorginho (Chelsea & Italy), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea & France)
Forwards
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid & France), Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund & Norway), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich & Poland), Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan/Chelsea & Belgium), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain & France), Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain & Argentina), Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain & Brazil), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus/Manchester United & Portugal)
Eight forwards were named in 2021’s FIFPro’s 23-man squad, but impressive players like Mohamed Salah, Antonio Rudiger and Thomas Muller failed to make the cut despite brilliant displays, while Barcelona having four players on the list has come as a huge surprise to many, given their woeful year on and off the pitch. They currently sit eighth in LaLiga, a woeful 18 points off the pace of Real Madrid. Players representing Barcelona include the likes of Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong, Jordi Alba and returning hero Dani Alves.
Some Random Stats about this year’s FIFPro world 11:
- Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, both have 14 World XI awards, and will be aiming for a 15th when next month’s team is revealed.
- Sergio Ramos’ omission breaks a run of being in the world 11 for 10 straight years.
- Last year’s World 11 consisted of Becker, Alexander-Arnold, Davies, Van Dijk, Ramos, Alcantara, De Bruyne, Kimmich, Lewandowski, Messi and Ronaldo.
- There are three players, who are making their first appearance on the shortlist- Ruben Dias, Jorginho and Chelsea keeper Mendy.
The final squad is scheduled to be announced at The Best FIFA awards gala on 17 January 2022.
FIFPro World XI Nominees: Surprise Surprise!! Mo Salah not named in World XI squad for 2021 best players list, Barcelona gets 4 nominees-
