The 2023 FIFPRO’s Men’s Best XI has been announced with treble-winners Manchester City dominating the line-up.
The FIFPRO men’s World XI was announced at The Best awards on Monday, with Manchester City’s treble-winning squad dominating. John Stones, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, and Erling Haaland were all named in the team.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabai has seemed to move him out of the limelight, while Messi still shines in MLS for Inter Miami. Meanwhile, Real Madrid are firmly represented with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, midfielder Jude Bellingham and winger Vinicius Jr.
However, the biggest takeaway from the XI is the oddity of the formation, with a 3-3-4 taking shape. Manchester City makes up the entire defense, with Walker, Stones and Dias all representing the backline, and has two more central with Silva and De Bruyne, alongside Bellingham.
The attack sports City’s Haaland and Madrid’s Vinicius, alongside PSG’s Kylian Mbappe and Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi. It’s a worthy front-four, but a lopsided XI. Regardless of that, though, how can you leave one of them out? What an XI.
The FIFPRO men’s Best XI award only took into account the performances of the 2023 calendar year, meaning Argentina’s World Cup win was not part of the voting process.
FIFA’s The Best awards will continue throughout Monday afternoon, but each respective player in the XI will return to the pitch shortly. Real Madrid will take on Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey on Thursday, while Inter Miami and Messi make their 2024 debut Friday, against the El Salvador national team. Manchester City, meanwhile, have a nice long break at the moment, with their next match coming in 11 days against Tottenham in the FA Cup. Then, it’s PSG vs Orleans in the Coupe de France on Saturday.