Salah removed, Ronaldo and Messi included in the list of 23 best players in the world

December 15, 2021 08:34

Striker Mohamed Salah has been left out of the shortlist of 23 best players in the world voted by FIFPro (World Federation of Professional Footballers).

Salah bị gạch tên, Ronaldo và Messi góp mặt trong danh sách 23 cầu thủ xuất sắc nhất thế giới

The World Football Federation recently announced the squad of 23 best players in the world, in which Chelsea, after a year of excellent performance, is the team with the most representatives with 4 players, equal to PSG and... Barcelona, a team in crisis.

Four Chelsea players made the shortlist: Edouard Mendy, Jorginho, N'Golo Kante and Romelu Lukaku. Meanwhile, other Premier League representatives Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City each had two players selected.

Barcelona's inclusion of four players on the list has come as a surprise to many, following a poor year for the Catalan giants both on and off the pitch. The Catalan club are currently eighth in La Liga, 18 points behind leaders Real Madrid.

Recently, Barcelona also had to stop at the Champions League group stage for the first time in two decades. The list of 4 names belonging to Barca's staff honored by FIFPro is Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong, Jordi Alba and the newly signed player, Dani Alves.

Despite the crisis, Barca still contributed 4 names.

The surprises did not stop there, when star Mohamed Salah, the player who exploded in Liverpool's colors, is the soul of the Merseyside team and is leading the Premier League's scoring list, was inexplicably left out. Meanwhile, superstars Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have both been in the team of the year 14 times, will be aiming for their 15th time when their names are on the shortlist.

This is the first time in 17 years that FIFA has selected a 23-man squad to resemble a regular team list, instead of the usual 55-man shortlist. Under this format, the goalkeeper, three defenders, three midfielders and three forwards who receive the most votes in their positions will be selected for the team of the year.

Twelve of the 23 players on this year's shortlist were on last year's list, with Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kevin De Bruyne all making the team of the year a year ago. Meanwhile, Thiago Alcantara, Alphonso Davies, Virgil van Dijk, Joshua Kimmich and Sergio Ramos were on last year's team but not even on the shortlist this year.

Best Team of 2020:

Alisson Becker, Alexander-Arnold, Davies, Van Dijk, Ramos, Alcantara, De Bruyne, Kimmich, Lewandowski, Messi, Ronaldo.

Shortlist:

Goalkeeper:

Alisson Becker (Brazil / Liverpool FC)

Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy / AC Milan / Paris Saint-Germain)

Édouard Mendy (Senegal/Chelsea FC)

Defender:

David Alaba (Austria / FC Bayern Munich / Real Madrid CF)

Jordi Alba (Spain / FC Barcelona)

Trent Alexander-Arnold (England / Liverpool FC)

Dani Alves (Brazil / São Paulo FC / FC Barcelona)