The FIFPRO World 11 represents the best team of the year as voted by professional footballers worldwide.
Established in 2005, this prestigious award gives active professional players the unique opportunity to vote for their peers, making it one of the most respected accolades in football.
The voting system for 2024 involved over 21,000 professional footballers from around the globe casting their votes for the best players in each position.
Each player selects one goalkeeper, three defenders, three midfielders, and three forwards who they believe performed best during the calendar year.
The formation traditionally follows a 4-3-3 system, though variations can occur based on voting patterns.
In 2019, Liverpool dominated the FIFPRO World 11 with Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, and Sadio Mané all making the team following their Champions League triumph.
The 2020 edition saw Thiago Alcântara, Virgil van Dijk, and Alisson Becker selected. In 2021, Mohamed Salah earned his place in the team. The 2022 team featured both Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.
This year, only Virgil van Dijk was voted in the Best XI by his peers.
However, the rankings of the voting have been made available, showing how close the other Liverpool stars were to making it in the squad.
Which Liverpool players were in contention?
The big question would be Mohamed Salah, who has made a good argument as the best player of 2024/25 so far.
Mohamed Salah’s exceptional output continues to impress, having concluded the previous campaign with 25 goals and 14 assists across 44 matches.
The Egyptian has maintained his remarkable form, already accumulating 15 goals and 12 assists in just 21 games during the current season.
Incredibly, he comes behind the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Cole Palmer.
He came in 9th place during the voting, suggesting it is more a popularity contest than anything else.
🚨 Revealed: Here’s how 21,266 professional men’s footballers voted in the 2024 FIFPRO #World11. pic.twitter.com/zp5WsYrlnN
— FIFPRO (@FIFPRO) December 10, 2024
Meanwhile, Alisson Becker came in at fourth place in the voting, behind Manuel Neuer, Emi Martinez, and Ederson.
The Liverpool pair were the only two to make the top 10 amongst the voting.
Although it’s voted by professional footballers, the presence of Lionel Messi and Ronaldo being so high up when they are not in Europe’s Top Five leagues shows that a certain level of bias even exists among players.
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