The Players Try their Luck at Picking the World XI

By: Bob | October 6th, 2006

Putting together a team with the 11 best players in the world is always a fun way to pass the time at a pub with your mates because there will be no shortage of disagreements over who should and shouldn’t be on the team. Everyone has an opinion on who are the best of the best, including the players themselves.

The 43,000 players from the 40 football federations that make up FIFPro (Fédération Internationale des Associations de Footballers Professionnels) have cast their ballots to determine the World XI. The final winners will be announced on November 6, but it is worth taking a look at the 55 players who have been short-listed.

The finalists come entirely from four leagues: Seria A, La Liga, Bundesliga and England’s Premiership. The team with the most players nominated is Chelsea, which has eight players on the list. AC Milan has seven, Barcelona six, while Juventus and Bayern Munich have five apiece.

As for nationality, Italy and Brazil each have ten nominees, France has seven and England six.

Here’s the complete list:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/ Juventus), Petr Cech (Czech Republic/ Chelsea), Nelson de Jesus Silva ‘Dida’ (Brazil/ AC Milan), Jens Lehmann (Germany/ Arsenal), Edwin van der Sar (Holland/ Manchester United)

Defenders: Roberto Ayala (Argentina/ Valencia), Marcos Evangelista de Moraes’Cafú’ (Brazil/ AC Milan), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy/ Juventus), Roberto Carlos da Silva (Brazil/ Real Madrid), Cícero João de Cezare ‘Cicinho’ (Brazil/ Real Madrid), Ashley Cole (England/ Arsenal), Rio Ferdinand (England/ Manchester United), William Gallas (France/ Chelsea), Fabio Grosso (Italy/ Palermo), Philipp Lahm (Germany/ Bayern Munchen), Ferreira Lucio (Brazil/Bayern Munchen), Rafael Márquez (Mexico/ Barcelona), Marco Materazzi (Italy/ Inter), Luís Miguel Brito Garcia Monteiro (Portugal/ Valencia), Alessandro Nesta (Italy/ AC Milan), Carles Puyol (Spain/ Barcelona), Willy Sagnol (France/ Bayern Munchen), John Terry (England/ Chelsea), Lilian Thuram (France/ Juventus), Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy/ Juventus).

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Germany/ Bayern Munchen), Anderson Deco (Portugal/ Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Spain/ Arsenal), Luis Figo (Portugal/ Inter), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy/ AC Milan), Steven Gerrard (England/ Liverpool), Ricardo Kaká (Brazil/ AC Milan), Frank Lampard (England/ Chelsea), Claude Makalele (France/ Chelsea), Andrea Pirlo (Italy/ AC Milan), Juan Ramon Riquelme (Argentina/ Villareal), Francesco Totti (Italy/ AS Roma), Patrick Vieira (France/ Juventus), Zé Roberto (Brazil/ Bayern Munchen) and Zinedine Zidane (France/ Real Madrid).

Forwards: Adriano (Brazil/ Inter), Hernan Crespo (Argentina/ Chelsea), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast/ Chelsea), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon/ Barcelona), Thierry Henry (France/ Arsenal), Miroslav Klose (Germany/ Werder Bremen), Lionel Messi (Argentina/ Barcelona), Arjen Robben (Holland/ Chelsea), Ronaldinho (Brazil/ Barcelona), Ronaldo (Brazil/ Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/ Manchester United), Wayne Rooney (England/ Manchester United), Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine/ AC Milan), Luca Toni (Italy/ Fiorentina), Fernando Torres (Spain/ Atletico Madrid).