PREMIER LEAGUE CLUBS boast the most players on the 55-man shortlist for the FIFA FIFPro World 11 for the first time in a decade.
La Liga, with 20 representatives, has been displaced after nine successive years as the best represented competition, with clubs in England’s top flight contributing 21 nominees.
Manchester City lead the Premier League with eight players in contention for a spot, including five first-time nominees: Ederson, Raheem Sterling, Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo.
The club’s captain, David Silva, misses out, but Sergio Aguero is back in the mix after being overlooked for the past two years.
European champions Liverpool are next best in England with seven, but neither club boast as many as Real Madrid (nine) or Barcelona (11).
New signings Frenkie de Jong and Antoine Griezmann boost Barca’s representation following a season in which the Spanish side made a stunning Champions League exit at the hands of the Reds.
More than 23,000 professional footballers voted on the list, which predictably includes names like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.
Thibaut Courtois, Philippe Coutinho, Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku are among the notable omissions.
The 2019 FIFA FIFPro World 11 will be revealed at The Best FIFA Football Awards in Milan on September 23.
Full FIFA FIFPro World 11 shortlist:
Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), David De Gea (Manchester United), Ederson (Manchester City), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)
Defenders: Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Dani Alves (Paris Saint-Germain/Sao Paulo), Joao Cancelo (Juventus/Manchester City), Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax/Juventus), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid/Inter), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Andrew Robertson (Liverpool), Alex Sandro (Juventus), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Ajax/Barcelona), Christian Eriksen (Tottenham), Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Real Madrid), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Arthur (Barcelona), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Dusan Tadic (Ajax), Arturo Vidal (Barcelona)
Forwards: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid/Barcelona), Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
Delighted for him!
South Africa European based coach, so back to Munster?
@Sean Fahey: jaysus. If your not going to say something constructive then don’t say anything at all.
@Anthony O Connell: with the new lineup of coaches at Munster and little gain this season you have to consider if we got it wrong with Felix?
I’m more and more convinced it’s the mentality and/or skills of the players plus the Munster style of play that is/was the problem. Not the coaching skills of Felix or Flannery.
Fair play to him. Hope he goes well.
Only Irish player with a RWC winners medal? :P