While debate seems is often the aim and the enjoyment of awards and nominations in football, on occasion it leads to a questioning of the very process itself.
Of course all of these decisions are subjective and in the case of the FIFPro World XI, based on the votes of footballers. The nominations have been made for this year’s edition, with eight La Liga players making the cut. Perhaps the biggest talking point is the one who did not though.
Real Madrid and Barcelona were the only teams from Spain to have players involved with the eight nominations split between five from Spain’s capital, and three from the Catalan capital; Thibaut Courtois, Antonio Rudiger, Luka Modric, Fede Valverde, Pedri, Gavi, Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski.
A goalkeeper, three defenders, three midfielders and three forwards will be chosen based on the players that receive the most votes in their positions, with the final spot in the XI being awarded to the outfield player, regardless of position with the most votes.
As pointed out by Marca, the fact that Vinicius Junior is not amongst the nominees seems to baffle the mind, especially considering some of the other names involved. In his position, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Junior had far less consistent runs during the consideration period, which ran from August of 2021 to December 2022.
Vinicius has produced the most goals for Real Madrid after Karim Benzema during that period, and has a strong argument to say that he has been their second best player after the Ballon d’Or winner. It is also worth pointing out that Vinicius also scored the winner in the Champions League final and is Real Madrid’s top scorer this campaign.
Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois, Emiliano Martínez, Alisson.
Defenders: Antonio Rudiger, Theo Hernandez, Achraf Hakimi, Joao Cancelo, Alphonso Davies, Virgil van Dijk, Josko Gvardiol, Thiago Silva.
Midfielders: Luka Modric, Fede Valverde, Casemiro, Kevin de Bruyne, Enzo Fernandez, Jude Bellingham, Pedri, Gavi.
Forwards: Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Neymar Junior, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski.
Image via FADEL SENNA/AFP
