The FIFPro announced the Men's and Women's FIFA World Team of the Year 2024 nominees on Monday. The star Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah was a shock absentee from the 26 nominees list for the Men's World 11 but the veteran Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were surprisingly included.
Inter Miami's Messi and Al-Nassr's Ronaldo were the only two non-European club players to make the prestigious list. The struggling Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe was the obvious inclusion among 8 forward nominees which was missing Salah's name.
The 32-year-old Egyptian legend has been in the form of his life with 11 goals and 7 assists in the English Premier League 2024-25 season. Salah was on the scoresheet in Liverpool's last two games against Spanish champions Real Madrid and English champions Manchester City but it was not enough to make the shortlist for FIFA's Team of the Year 2024.
Notably, Virgil van Dijk was the only Liverpool to make the list on Monday. The Reds are dominating the English Premier League with 9 points clear at the top and are the only team to win all of their UEFA Champions League games so far. But, the FIFPro Best XI, voted by professional footballers, stunned the Liverpool fans with their nominees yet again.
2024 FIFPRO Men’s World 11 Finalists
Goalkeepers
- Ederson (Manchester City, Brazil)
- Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa, Argentina)
- Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich, Germany)
Defenders
- Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid, Spain)
- Ruben Dias (Manchester City, Portugal)
- Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool, Netherlands)
- Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen, Netherlands)
- Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid, Germany)
- William Saliba (Arsenal, France)
- Kyle Walker (Manchester City, England)
Midfielders
- Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, England)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium)
- Phil Foden (Manchester City, England)
- Toni Kroos (Real Madrid, Germany)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia)
- Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich, Germany)
- Rodri (Manchester City, Spain)
- Federico Valverde (Real Madrid, Uruguay)
Forwards
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway)
- Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England)
- Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain/Real Madrid, France)
- Lionel Messi (Inter Miami, Argentina)
- Cole Palmer (Manchester City/Chelsea, England)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr, Portugal)
- Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid, Brazil)
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain)
The FIFPro, International Federation of Professional Footballers, revealed that 28,000 players from 70 countries voted for the nominee's selection and the final World XI will be announced on December 9.
