- Professional footballers were invited to vote for their FIFPRO team of the year
- Jude Bellingham was the only Englishman to enter the 11-star mix
- Lionel Messi was left without the honor for the first time in 17 years
It has been confirmed that Jude Bellingham got more votes than any other star to be in the 2024 FIFPRO World XI.
The Real Madrid and England star received 11,176 votes to enter the lineup, meaning 53 percent of voters back him.
It’s a special honor considering Ballon d’Or hero Rodri, Champions League winner Vinicius Junior and the prolific Erling Haaland all made the team.
Bellingham was the only English star to enter the mix.
FIFPRO is the international federation of professional footballers and offers players the opportunity to vote each year for their favorite stars, choosing three players in each position, divided into goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards.
According to the FIFPRO publication the team announced on Monday, its World XI was chosen by 21,266 players worldwide.
Jude Bellingham got more votes than any other player to be in the 2024 FIFPRO World XI
Bellingham was the only Englishman: five Premier League stars and six Real Madrid players made the cut.
In a historic moment, Lionel Messi missed the team for the first time in 17 years.
Messi, whose first appearance in the FIFPRO World XI was in 2007, has been a fixture in the front row every year since, but this time he was not selected ahead of Man City’s Haaland or Real Madrid duo Kylian Mbappé and Vini Jr.
His all-time teammate Cristiano Ronaldo enjoyed a 16-year run in the team, which is selected and voted for by the players themselves and was first launched in 2005, before failing to make the cut in 2023.
Rodri’s Ballon d’Or triumph over Vinicius Jr caused huge controversy last month after Real Madrid opted to boycott the ceremony, but the president of the reigning Champions League winners, Florentino Pérez, will no doubt be delighted to see six representatives of Los Blancos in the 2024 World XI.
Bellingham joined his Bernabeu teammates Mbappé, Vinicius Jr, Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rudiger and retired German international Toni Kroos in receiving the honor of being inducted.
Meanwhile, Kevin De Bruyne and Ederson were selected alongside Haaland and Rodri from Manchester City, who won an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title under Pep Guardiola last season.
Phil Foden, who was crowned PFA Player of the Year at the end of last season, perhaps considers himself unlucky not to be selected, as does Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah after another remarkable year at Anfield.
Salah’s Reds teammate Virgil van Dijk entered the XI for the fourth time in what is his first appearance since 2022, partnering Rudiger and Carvajal in a back three.
De Bruyne, 33, and Mbappé, 25, have the most appearances of any player in the 2024 squad, with each receiving the honor five times.
The Belgian playmaker has been named in every lineup since 2020, and now has as many appearances as Chelsea legend John Terry and Spain’s World Cup-winning captain Iker Casillas.
