Manchester United talisman Wayne Rooney, who on Thursday was announced by newly appointed England manager Gareth Southgate as the skipper of the national team, doesn't find a place in the FIFA FIFPro team of the year shortlists, as revealed by the FIFA website. Rooney has not found a place among the shortlists for the first time in the 12 years.
Instead, it is Premier League champions Leicester City's hotshot striker Jamie Vardy who earned a place among 15 other forwards, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Overall, 55 footballers have made it to the list and the final FIFA FIFPro World XI 2016 will be revealed at the FIFA Ballon d'Or ceremony in Zürich, Switzerland, in January 2017.
As expected, the highest representation in the shortlists remained from Spanish giants Barcelona, who have 12 of their players competing for places in the World XI 2016. Real Madrid are represented by 10 players. Real's Cristiano and Juventus legend Gigi Buffon have made it to the list yet again. They are the only two players to have been ever-present among the shortlists since the FIFA awards were named in 2005.
The FIFA FIFPro World XI is decided by the players, for the players. It involves votes from more than 25,000 professional footballers from over 75 different countries. They each select one goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards.
Complete list of players shortlisted
Goalkeepers (5): Claudio Bravo (Chile/FC Barcelona/Manchester City),Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/Juventus), David de Gea (Spain/Manchester United), Keylor Navas (Costa Rica/Real Madrid) and Manuel Neuer (Germany/FC Bayern Munich).
Defenders (20): David Alaba (Austria/FC Bayern Munich), Jordi Alba (Spain/FC Barcelona), Serge Aurier (Côte d'Ivoire/Paris Saint-Germain), Héctor Bellerìn (Spain/Arsenal), Jérôme Boateng (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy/Juventus), Daniel Carvajal (Spain/Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Italy/Juventus), Dani Alves (Brazil/FC Barcelona/Juventus), David Luiz (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain/Chelsea), Diego Godín (Uruguay/Atlético Madrid), Mats Hummels (Germany/Borussia Dortmund/FC Bayern Munich), Philipp Lahm (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Marcelo (Brazil/Real Madrid), Javier Mascherano (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Pepe (Portugal/Real Madrid), Gerard Piqué (Spain/FC Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Spain/Real Madrid), Thiago Silva (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain) and Raphaël Varane (France/Real Madrid).
Midfielders (15): Xabi Alonso (Spain/FC Bayern Munich), Sergio Busquets (Spain/FC Barcelona), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea), Andrés Iniesta (Spain/FC Barcelona), N'Golo Kanté (France/Leicester City/Chelsea) Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid), Luka Modrić (Croatia/Real Madrid), Mesut Özil (Germany/Arsenal), Dimitri Payet (France/West Ham United), Paul Pogba (France/Juventus/Manchester United), Ivan Rakitić (Croatia/FC Barcelona), David Silva (Spain/Manchester City), Marco Verratti (Italy/Paris Saint-Germain) and Arturo Vidal (Chile/FC Bayern Munich).
Strikers (15): Sergio Agüero (Argentina/Manchester City), Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Paulo Dybala (Argentina/Juventus), Antoine Griezmann (France/Atlético Madrid), Gonzalo Higuaín (Argentina/Napoli/Juventus), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden/Paris Saint-Germain/Manchester United), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/FC Bayern Munich), Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Thomas Müller (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Neymar (Brazil/FC Barcelona), Alexis Sánchez (Chile/Arsenal), Luis Suárez (Uruguay/FC Barcelona) and Jamie Vardy (England/Leicester City).
(Source: FIFA website)
