Football First Report’s version of the 2019 World XI team

The FIFA FIFPro World XI team was announced on the 23rd of September, 2019 amidst wide disagreement over the inclusion of a few Real Madrid players. 

We at Football First Report have taken this opportunity to rectify some of the wrongful inclusions in this year’s iteration of the World XI team. Here is FFR’s World XI team: 

Note: This article was originally published on 5th October, 2019.

GK: Alisson Becker 

The Brazil and Liverpool shot-stopper won 3 Golden Gloves last season – the Champions League Golden Glove, the Copa America Golden Glove & the Premier League Golden Glove. Need we say more? 

RB: Joshua Kimmich

While Kimmich has been deployed in the Central Defensive Midfield role this season, he played largely as Bayern Munich’s first choice right back in the 2018/19 season where he had 13 assists to his name in the Bundesliga, only behind Jadon Sancho’s 14. He helped his club manage a clean sheet against mighty Liverpool at Anfield but the void left by his absence due to suspension in the second leg at the Allianz Arena was severe as they succumbed to a 1-3 loss against the eventual winners. 

CB: Vigil Van Dijk 

The man was responsible for single-handedly solving Liverpool’s defensive frailties. He won the UCL and the UEFA Super Cup with Liverpool. He won almost every individual accolade other than the Best FIFA Men’s Player, should have won that too. 

CB: Matthijs de Ligt

A ball-playing defender who neutralized the attacking lineups of Real Madrid and Juventus, de Ligt secured a big-money move to Turin following his heroics at the Champions League for Ajax. Aside from his midfielder like passing, he is a beast in the air as seen in his winning goal against Juventus at Turin (if you can’t beat ‘em, sign ‘em, eh?). To top it off, he won the 2018 Golden Boy Award. 

LB: Andy Robertson 

Equally adept at attacking and defending, the energetic defender has massively improved his form and continues to terrorize defenders and attackers alike. Aside from his Champions League win with Liverpool, he secured 11 assists in the last Premier League term and helped maintain an impressive 19 clean sheets. 

CM: Frenkie de Jong

Winner of the UEFA Best Midfielder of the Season (2018/19) and the Eredivisie Player of the Season (2018/2019) awards, de Jong deserves the golden spot in the center of the field. He registered the highest dribbles success rate among all players with 20+ dribbles in the Champions League 2018-19 campaign at 75% (tied with Bernardo Silva).

LAM: Eden Hazard

Hazard was the Commander-in-Chief of Chelsea’s Premier League campaign last season with his involvement in 49.2% of all Chelsea goals. He recorded the highest number of total goals and assists in the league – 31 (16 goals, 15 assists). As a result, he won the 2018-19 PFA Fans’ Player of the Year Award. Additionally, he won the Europa League Player of the Season award. 

RAM: Bernardo Silva 

Silva was lauded with the Manchester City Player of the Year award in a season where City won the domestic treble (2018/19). He won the first-ever UEFA Nations League with Portugal and was adjudged as the best player. 

LW: Raheem Sterling 

Sterling’s trickery on the wings coupled with his newfound goal-scoring prowess landed him the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year award and the PFA Young Player of the Year award in the Premier League for the 2018/19 season. In the goals + assists department, he was the most prolific amongst the All-Star ensemble of City’s attacking players with 25 goals and 18 assists. 

RW: Mohamed Salah

Salah was the joint highest scorer in the Premier League with 22 goals to his name in the 2018/19 season. He was the most prolific Liverpool player in the 2018/19 campaign with 27 goals and 13 assists in all competitions including a goal in the final of the UCL against Spurs. 

CF: Lionel Messi 

While certainly controversial, Messi has been declared as the Best FIFA Men’s Player for the 2018/19 season. While this title should have gone to Van Dijk, from an attacking standpoint, the Argentinian is second to none. He won the Golden Shoe with 36 La Liga goals in the 2018/19 season and was the top goal scorer in the UCL with 12 goals to his name.