FIFA held their annual ‘The Best’ awards on Monday night.Robert Lewandowski was the big winner, claiming the men’s Best Player accolade ahead of Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah.The Bayern Munich striker was also named in the FIFA FIFPRO Men's World 11.ENTER GIVEAWAYSince 2005, FIFA have named their world XI and it always creates plenty of arguments between football fans. It may be voted by the footballers themselves but that’s not to say we all have to agree with it.And it’s no different this year.Firstly, they’ve opted for the rarely-seen 3-3-4 formation to try and squeeze as many attacking stars in the line-up as possible.
But we also think there’s a number of absentees who deserve their place in the team.
So, here’s what the FIFA World XI SHOULD have looked like.
Goalkeeper: Edouard Mendy
The Chelsea goalkeeper was actually voted FIFA’s Best Goalkeeper but missed out on a place in the XI to Gianluigi Donnarumma. That proves the Champions League winner deserved his place in the line-up.
Defenders: Ruben Dias, Antonio Rudiger, Leonardo Bonucci
We’re also going with three at the back but with Chelsea’s Rudiger replacing David Alaba.
Dias and Bonucci are deserving of their place having had fantastic years. But we did Rudiger - who played a big role in Chelsea winning the Champions League - deserves to be involved ahead of Alaba.
Midfielders: Jorginho, N'Golo Kante, Kevin De Bruyne, Thomas Muller
We refuse to play a 3-3-4 formation so have picked four midfielders. Okay, we’re squeezing Muller in as a midfielder.
Jorginho, Kane and De Bruyne were the three midfielders already picked in the World XI and we can’t argue with their inclusions.
But we think Muller also deserved a place. Let’s not forget that he smashed the Bundesliga assist record, racking up 32 in the calendar year of 2021. He played a huge role in Bayern Munich dominating the German league once again.â¨â¨
Strikers: Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah
These three players were the top three in terms of voting for ’The Best’ men’s player - need we say any more?
The fact Salah missed out on a place in the XI is nothing short of a disgrace, in truth.
Sure, the likes of Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe may consider themselves unlucky but you simply can’t include Messi, Lewandowski or Salah.
Our World XI
So, here is GIVEMESPORT’s World XI. â¨â¨We’ve made four changes to the line-up with Mendy, Rudiger, Muller and Salah replacing Donnarumma, Alaba, Ronaldo and Haaland.
Are we right? Or did the voting players get it spot on?