A total of 26,364 professional footballers from 68 countries decided on their 2015 FIFA FIFPRO World 11, which included four players from Spanish rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The two Spanish giants made a comeback and so did their stars. Barcelona won the Champions League, guided by its incredible frontline which consisted of Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr and Luis Suarez. Together they scored an amazing total of 122 goals during the course of a single season. However, that was not enough to get them all three in the World 11. Cristiano Ronaldo got in the way of Suarez.
The World 11 had three newcomers: Neymar Jr, Luka Modric and Paul Pogba. Also Dani Alves and Marcelo returned in the team after being absent in the previous year(s).
List of 55
Barcelona and Real Madrid both had eleven men on the List of 55 players who received most votes. Real even had five defenders on this list: Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Pepe and Marcelo.
There were no close calls in this edition: all eleven players who were selected for the World 11 received way more votes than their rivals. Toni Kroos came closest to a spot in the team. However, he would have needed 934 more votes if he were to beat his teammate Luka Modric to the final midfield position.
The largest margin was realised by Manuel Neuer, who was a stunning 9,931 votes ahead of David De Gea.
Three proud World 11 players: Paul Pogba, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr
FIFPRO and its member unions in Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain created videos of their champions voting: AA Gent, PSV and Real Madrid.
Also, the players union in Costa Rica visited Limon FC.
