Jude Bellingham and Lionel Messi were among those included in a Manchester City-dominated FIFPro World XI at The Best FIFA awards this evening.
Pep Guardiola's treble-winners had six players included in the best team of 2023, having lifted the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League last season.
In doing so, the Citizens became only the second English club to complete that particular treble, after Manchester United in 1999.
A panel consisting of players, managers, fans and experts chose a team which includes six Man City players - the most from one club in a FIFPro World XI since Guardiola's Barcelona side.
City provided the entire three-man defence in an attacking 3-3-4 formation, with John Stones, Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias all getting the nod.
🚨 Introducing the 2023 FIFA FIFPRO Men's #World11, voted for exclusively by players.#TheBest | @FIFAWorldCup | @FIFAcom pic.twitter.com/nZjisXo8OQ
— FIFPRO (@FIFPRO) January 15, 2024
Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne were named in midfield, while Erling Haaland's 52 goals in 53 games across all competitions earned him one of the four attacking berths.
Haaland is up for The Best Men's FIFA Player of the Year award, and his two rivals for that top prize - Inter Miami's Lionel Messi and Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe - were also named among the forwards.
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior rounds off the front four, just one day after scoring a first-half Clasico hat-trick to steer Los Blancos to Spanish Super Cup glory against Barcelona.
The Brazilian is one of three Real Madrid players included, alongside England international Jude Bellingham and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
FIFPro World Cup 2023: Courtois; Stones, Walker, Dias; Bernardo, Bellingham, De Bruyne; Haaland, Mbappe, Messi, Vinicius
Barney Corkhill
