Reversal News Desk,
Lionel Messi is not in FIFPro’s best XI of the year!
You may ask why the exclamation mark. This is the first time since 2006 that the Argentine superstar is not in the best XI of the year selected by the footballers’ votes. Messi’s name was a constant in the XI for 17 consecutive years from 2007 to 2023. That streak was broken in 2024.
Messi’s ‘eternal rival’ Cristiano Ronaldo is also not in the best XI. However, Messi and Ronaldo made headlines a week ago when they were selected in the short list of 26. Among the players playing in leagues outside Europe, only Messi and Ronaldo made it to the short list.
The best XI of the year by FIFPro, the global association of professional footballers, released today is dominated by players from Real Madrid and Manchester City. Champions League winners Real have six players and Manchester City, who have won the English Premier League for the fourth time in a row, have four. The other player in the XI is Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
The six Real players include Toni Kroos, who will retire from football at the end of the 2023-24 season. The other five Real players are Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rudiger, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior. Of these, Mbappe played for French club PSG in the first half of the year. The four City players are Ederson, Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri.
Among them, Carvajal, Rudiger, Ederson and Rodri have been selected for the first time in FIFPro’s Best XI of the Year.
Like the boys’ XI, FIFPro also announced the women’s XI of the Year today. More than 28,000 professional footballers from 70 countries around the world voted in the Best XI of the Year election, both boys and girls. Those who played at least 30 matches from August 21, 2023 to July 14, 2024 were considered for this selection of the best XI.
