Together, the English and German champions had seven players on this special team.
Four players who won the European Champions League with Bayern were in the World 11: Thiago Alcántara, Robert Lewandowski, Joshua Kimmich and Alphonso Davies.
“I am definitely living my football dream right now,” Davies told FIFPRO. “At the age of 19 I have already won many football trophies with the team and individually as well. To be put in the World 11 is very nice.”
And his teammate Kimmich added: “As a little boy, I always looked at the World 11. Back then, it appeared to be so far out of my reach. To be part of that team now, with all these big names, is a great feeling.”
“It’s a big honour and it’s a privilege,” Alcántara told FIFPRO. “This kind of recognition is so huge that you must share it with all the people that are in the background working with you and supporting you all those years. I’m happy with it, but I’m more happy when it comes as a collective prize, for sure.”
After winning the Champions League, Alcántara moved from Bayern to Liverpool. Three of his new teammates are also in the World 11: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk.
The 16th edition of the World 11 included six players who made their first appearance on the team: Alcántara, Alexander-Arnold, Davies, Lewandowski, Kimmich, and De Bruyne.
Sergio Ramos collected his 11th award, and is third on the all-time list of World 11 appearances behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, each with 14. “I want to dedicate this award to all the victims of the coronavirus and to all those families who have suffered from it; a very big hug for all of them,” Ramos said. “I also want to congratulate my teammates in the World 11 and all the women who have won the World 11 award as well. For me it is a privilege to be part of this eleven."
List of 55
The closest battle for a spot in the World 11 was between two teammates: Bayern’s Alphonso Davies and David Alaba. The Canadian defender beat his Austrian colleague by 275 votes.
Of all players, De Bruyne received most votes. The Belgian midfielder is followed by Becker and Ramos.
New voting procedure
FIFPRO decided to finetune the voting procedure. We asked the players to pick the three most outstanding players in the following lines: goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards. The goalkeeper, as well as the three defenders, three midfielders and three forwards who received the most votes were selected for the World 11. The remaining spot in the World 11 was assigned to the outfield player with the next highest number of votes.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and health and safety restrictions, FIFPRO also decided to organise an online vote. Previously FIFPRO Member Unions always visited the players at their clubs to distribute and collect paper voting ballots.
