It's been revealed how Liverpool stars voted for the FIFA Best awards after Mohamed Salah missed out on being named in the team of the year, with Cole Palmer taking his spot
Mohamed Salah gestures
Mohamed Salah missed out on the FIFA Men's Best 11(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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Conor Bradley snubbed voting for Mohamed Salah for a spot in the FIFA Best Men's XI award at this year's ceremony. One of the most prestigious individual honours a player can receive, the FIFA Best Awards falls just shy of the Ballon d'Or in terms of notoriety.
Over the last nine years, the world's football governing body has put together a lavish ceremony to celebrate the best-performing players, as voted by a captain, a coach and a press member of each nation worldwide. Ousmane Dembele ultimately received the reward of Men's Best player thanks to his exploits with Paris Saint-Germain and France, while Spanish wonderkid Lamine Yamal took the silver podium place.
Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid also finished third in the rankings after a whirlwind debut season with Los Blancos. However, Salah, who was voted as fourth in line to deserve this year's Ballon d'Or, didn't even make the FIFA Best Men's XI side, despite an incredible 2024/25.
Last term, the Egyptian was instrumental in Liverpool clinching the Premier League title, contributing 29 goals and 18 assists from 38 appearances for the Reds. But recency bias may have had a part to play in missing out on his place in the privy XI, given that the voting only took place last month, and Salah has endured a less than fruitful term in 2025/26.
This season to date, the 33-year-old has just four goals and three assists to show for his efforts in the Premier League, finding himself benched by Arne Slot in the club's last four league outings. Bizarrely, Cole Palmer was instead included on the right-hand side of the pitch in Salah's spot in the awards, despite racking up just 15 goals and nine assists for Chelsea last season - 23 contributions shy of the Liverpool star's haul.
Thanks to the transparency of the award, football fans are able to see who voted for who in November's poll, with six Liverpool stars involved overall. That's thanks to Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, Andy Robertson and Bradley all being captains of their respective national teams.
And barring Salah, who selflessly didn't vote for himself, Bradley was the only Liverpool player not to give the seasoned veteran the nod - the Northern Irishman instead opting for Yamal as his player of the year, sticking Salah second in his favouring.
Here's how all of the Liverpool players voted:
How Liverpool players voted in the FIFA Best Awards
How Liverpool players voted in the FIFA Best Awards
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Elsewhere, Liverpool stars also had the chance to vote for their coach of the year, a number of the aforementioned players backing Arne Slot for the honour, while others opted for Luis Enrique, who ultimately won the award, thanks to his remarkable achievements with PSG.
Van Dijk, Szoboszlai and Robertson all picked the Dutchman with their votes, while Endo, Salah and Bradley instead selected Enrique following his Champions League win with PSG earlier this year. It comes as the Reds will have to adapt to life without Salah, after the talisman jetted off to AFCON to represent his nation.
He will miss Liverpool's upcoming clashes with Tottenham, Wolves and Leeds United as a result, but could also miss matches against Fulham, Arsenal, Barnsley and Burnley depending on how far Egypt progresses through the tournament, which comes to a close on January 18.
Conor Bradley applauds
Conor Bradley didn't vote for Salah or Arne Slot
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The forward's future at Anfield has also been cast into speculation given his damning comments on Slot in the wake of Liverpool's 3-3 draw with Leeds earlier this month. Salah spoke to the media in the aftermath of the match for which he was benched, claiming that he had no relationship with his head coach and that the weekend's match with Brighton could be his last with the club.
However, the pair held clear-the-air talks, leading to Salah's involvement in the squad for the victory over Brighton, having previously been excluded from the victory over Inter Milan in the Champions League.
He came on early in the match with Brighton after an injury to Joe Gomez and set up Hugo Ekitike's second. The forward has now departed for the African Cup of Nations, where he could miss as many as eight matches if Egypt reach the final.
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