FIFPRO and FIFA asked professional footballers worldwide to vote for the World 11. We requested them to pick the three players who in their opinion where the most outstanding players during the 2020/2021 season in the following lines: goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards.
For the first time in 17 years, FIFPRO is updating the announcement about the most-voted players, reducing the shortlist from 55 to 23. This has been done to resemble a real-life “squad” which, usually for international competitions, is the number of players involved.
The three goalkeepers, six defenders, six midfielders and six forwards with the most votes earned a place in the 23-men World 11 “squad”. To complete this elite selection, the two remaining outfield players with the most votes were added.
The 23 players in the World 11 squad are:
In alphabetical order: name (club/current club, country)
Goalkeepers:
Alisson Becker (Liverpool FC, Brazil)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan/Paris Saint-Germain, Italy)
Edouard Mendy (Chelsea FC, Senegal)
Defenders:
David Alaba (FC Bayern Munich/Real Madrid, Austria)
Jordi Alba (FC Barcelona, Spain)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool FC, England)
Dani Alves (Sao Paulo/FC Barcelona, Brazil)
Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus FC, Italy)
Ruben Dias (Manchester City FC, Portugal)
Midfielders:
Sergio Busquets (FC Barcelona, Spain)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City FC, Belgium)
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United FC, Portugal)
Frenkie de Jong (FC Barcelona, The Netherlands)
Jorginho (Chelsea FC, Italy)
N'Golo Kante (Chelsea FC, France)
Forwards:
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus FC/Manchester United FC, Portugal)
Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund, Norway)
Robert Lewandowski (FC Bayern Munich, Poland)
Romelu Lukaku (Internazionale FC/Chelsea FC, Belgium)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain, France)
Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain, Argentina)
Neymar Junior (Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil)
Which of the 23 players will make the World 11?
The goalkeeper, three defenders, three midfielders and three forwards who received the most votes in their line will be selected for the World 11. The remaining spot in the World 11 will be assigned to the remaining outfield player with the next highest number of votes.
FIFA and FIFPRO will announce the 2021 Men’s World 11 on Monday 17 January 2022 during the ceremony of The Best FIFA Football Awards.
