Frenkie de Jong is the only Dutch player who has a chance to be included in the star team of 2021 in January. FIFA and FIFPro, the worldwide players’ union, officially announced this on Tuesday. A total of 23 players are included on the shortlist for next month’s election. The 2021 Men’s World 11 will be announced on January 17, 2022 at The Best FIFA Football Awards.
Virgil van Dijk was still part of the star ensemble in 2020, but this year the center defender of Liverpool does not have to count on anything. FIFA and FIFPro have asked football players around the world to indicate their favorite player per line. This resulted in a shortlist with 23 names. Over the past 17 years, the provisional roster has consisted of 55 players, but FIFA now wants to move towards a more realistic situation, as most squads now consist of 23 players. In total, 18,947 players from 69 countries voted.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player who has been nominated every year since the star team’s inception in 2005. For Lionel Messi it is already the sixteenth election. It is striking that Mohamed Salah, the weekly star of Liverpool, is not part of the 23-man selection. Dani Alves, who had no club for months and has now returned to Barcelona, has been added to the list. De Jong encounters competition in midfield from Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets.
Among the women, in terms of Dutch people, there is only a nomination for Vivianne Miedema. Arsenal’s top striker has to compete at the forefront with Pernille Harder (Chelsea), the Samantha Kerr (Chelsea), Marta (Orlando Pride), Alex Morgan (Tottenham Hotspur), Gabrielle Onguene (CSKA Moscow) and Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign).
The full FIFA and FIFPro roster:
Goal: Alisson Becker (Liverpool), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Édouard Mendy (Chelsea)
Defense: David Alaba (Real Madrid), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Dani Alves (Barcelona), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
Midfield: Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), Jorginho (Chelsea), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
Attack: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain). Germain) and Neymar (Paris Saint Germain).