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The 3rd edition of FIFA's The Best awards has announced the members of its World 11. Consisting of a vote that includes 25 000 professional footballers, this award honors who they believe represent the best of the best in each position. However, this year's edition proves to be extremely controversial, with both shocking snubs and surprise inclusions making headlines.
In goal, we have David De Gea (Spain - Manchester United). Despite not being nominated for the best goalkeeper award, he makes the cut here. In 37 appearances in the Premier League last season, he had a league-topping 18 clean sheets en route to the Red Devils' 2nd place finish.
However, his dismal World Cup which saw him let in 6 goals from 7 shots on net before crashing out in the round of 16 to hosts Russia makes him an odd choice for this position, with other candidates such as Thibaut Courtois (Belgium - Chelsea/Real Madrid), Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark - Leicester City), Jan Oblak (Slovenia - Atletico Madrid) and Hugo Lloris (France - Tottenham Hotspur) seemingly more fit for the prize.
The defense consists of Dani Alves (Brazil - PSG), Raphael Varane (France - Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Spain - Real Madrid) and Marcelo (Brazil - Real Madrid). The inclusion of 3 Real Madrid defenders is no surprise, as Los Blancos won their 3rd consecutive Champions League title.
Varane especially stood out this year, as he was an integral part of France's World Cup winning side. Alves is a bit of surprise, considering that he completely missed this summer's showpiece in Russia, with others such as Dani Carvajal (Spain - Real Madrid), Joshua Kimmich (Germany - Bayern Munich) and Kyle Walker (England - Manchester City) performing better, both domestically and internationally.
The central midfielders are Luka Modric (Croatia - Real Madrid) and N'Golo Kanté (France - Chelsea), both of whom have played phenomenally this past season. Modric is in the midst of the best patch of his career, winning the Champions League, UEFA's best player award and the World Cup Golden Ball after guiding his Croatia side to the final, as well as being named to FIFA's The Best Men's Player 3-man shortlist. Could he win it all?
As for Kanté, his rise has been nothing short of meteoric. Since winning back-to-back Premier League titles as well as a PFA Player of the Year award, he's blossomed into one of the world's best midfielders. Tireless and dogged on the pitch, yet sweet and humble off it, he helped France win the world cup and Chelsea to win the FA Cup.
The attack features 5 time Ballon d'Or/FIFA Best Men's Player winner Lionel Messi (Argentina - FC Barcelona) in a number 10 role after grabbing the European Golden Shoe for the second time in a row en route to a domestic league and cup double where he lost only 1 game all season. He was very controversially left off FIFA's 3-man shortlist this year despite all that, mainly due to his early World Cup exit and Barcelona's shocking UCL elimination at the hands of Roma.
Playing just in front of him is reigning Best Men's Player champion and fellow 5-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal - Real Madrid/Juventus). The favorite again for this year's main prize, his Champions League and World Cup heroics, including his now famous hat-trick against Spain, could easily net him his 3rd consecutive title as the world's best after being named as one of the 3 finalists.
On the right, they are joined by prodigious wonderkid Kylian Mbappé (France - PSG), who after becoming the world's second most expensive player ever, winning the World Cup and taking home the Best Young Player award at the event, all at the age of 19, already finds himself among the world's elite.
Eden Hazard (Belgium - Chelsea) makes up the left wing, mainly due to his efforts in Russia where he led the Belgians to their best ever finish and a bronze medal. However, many critics do not believe this is enough, citing his sub-par performance in both the Premier League and the Champions League. They point to a very surprising omission in Mohamed Salah (Egypt - Liverpool), who despite his record-breaking goalscoring campaign in England, making it to the UCL final and being nominated for the Best Men's Player Award, was not named to the World 11.
