During a World Cup with remarkable victories, Germany proved to have the best team. Also, according to many of the record number of 22,723 professional footballers who participated in the vote for the 2014 World 11, three Germans were the best in their position: Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm and Toni Kroos.
Kroos was one of four debutants. The others were Angel Di Maria, Arjen Robben and David Luiz. The Brazilian defender had a good season at Paris Saint-Germain, next to fellow Brazilian and World 11 player Thiago Silva, but he was also the face of the humiliating 7-1 defeat against Germany in the World Cup semifinal.
Robben was the heart and soul of the Dutch national team, which claimed the third spot at the World Cup and got some sort of sweet revenge for the 2010 defeat in the final against Spain, by trashing them with 5-1 in their opening game.
| Goalkeeper: | Manuel Neuer | |||
| Defenders: | Philipp Lahm | David Luiz | Thiago Silva | Sergio Ramos |
| Midfielders: | Angel Di Maria | Toni Kroos | Andres Iniesta | |
| Forwards: | Cristiano Ronaldo | Lionel Messi | Arjen Robben |
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It is always interesting to see which players have just missed out on a selection for the World 11. That's why FIFPRO once again published a ranking of all players. Well, almost all players: the ones who didn't make the top 10 were only ranked on alphabetical order.
The battle for the fourth defender position was very close, with only 86 and 149 votes seperating Lahm from Marcelo and David Alaba respectively.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic only came 200 votes short of claiming a second World 11 award.
Goalkeepers
1. Manuel Neuer (Germany, FC Bayern Munich)
2. Thibaut Courtois (Belgium, Chelsea FC)
3. Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid CF)
4. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, Juventus)
5. Claudio Bravo (Chile, FC Barcelona)
Defenders
1. Thiago Silva (Brazil, Paris Saint-Germain FC)
2. Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid CF)
3. Philipp Lahm (Germany, FC Bayern Munich)
4. David Luiz (Brazil, Paris Saint-Germain FC)
5. Marcelo (Brazil, Real Madrid CF)
6. David Alaba (Austria, FC Bayern Munich)
7. Daniel Alves (Brazil, FC Barcelona)
8. Mats Hummels (Germany, Borussia Dortmund)
9. Vincent Kompany (Belgium, Manchester City FC)
10. Jordi Alba (Spain, FC Barcelona)
Jérôme Boateng (Germany, FC Bayern Munich)
Daniel Carvajal (Spain, Real Madrid)
Filipe Luis (Brazil, Chelsea)
Diego Godín (Uruguay, Atletico Madrid)
Branislav Ivanovic (Serbia, Chelsea)
Javier Mascherano (Argentina, FC Barcelona)
Pepe (Portugal, Real Madrid)
Gerard Piqué (Spain, FC Barcelona)
Raphaël Varane (France, Real Madrid)
Pablo Zabaleta (Argentina, Manchester City)
Midfielders
1. Andrés Iniesta (Spain, FC Barcelona)
2. Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid CF)
3. Angel Di Maria (Argentina, Manchester United FC)
4. Luka Modric (Croatia, Real Madrid CF)
5. Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast, Manchester City FC)
6. Xabi Alonso (Spain, FC Bayern Munich)
7. Andrea Pirlo (Italy, Juventus)
8. Xavi Hernández (Spain, FC Barcelona)
9. Paul Pogba (France, Juventus)
10. James Rodriguez (Colombia, Real Madrid CF)
Cesc Fàbregas (Spain, Chelsea FC)
Eden Hazard (Belgium, Chelsea FC)
Mesut Özil (Germany, Arsenal FC)
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany, FC Bayern Münich)
Arturo Vidal (Chile, Juventus)
Forwards
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid CF)
2. Lionel Messi (Argentina, FC Barcelona)
3. Arjen Robben (The Netherlands, FC Bayern Munich)
4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Paris Saint-Germain FC)
5. Neymar Jr. (Brazil, FC Barcelona)
6. Luis Suárez (Uruguay, FC Barcelona)
7. Diego Costa (Spain, Chelsea FC)
8. Gareth Bale (Wales, Real Madrid CF)
9. Thomas Müller (Germany, FC Bayern Munich)
10. Karim Benzema (France, Real Madrid CF)
Sergio Agüero (Argentina, Manchester City FC)
Robert Lewandowski (Poland, FC Bayern Munich)
Marco Reus (Germany, Borussia Dortmund)
Franck Ribéry (France, FC Bayern Munich)
Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United FC)
