Liverpool's Mohamed Salah misses out on FIFPro World XI

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 17 January 2022

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah is left out of the FIFPro Men's World XI at the The Best awards, despite being one of the three finalists for the overall Player of the Year award.

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah has been left out of the FIFPro Men's World XI at the The Best awards, despite being one of the three finalists for the Player of the Year award.

FIFA named an unorthodox 3-3-4 formation for their annual XI, with Salah's fellow finalists Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi making the cut in the attacking quartet.

However, Salah himself was conspicuous by his absence, with the final two places in attack being taken by Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Borussia Dortmund's Erling Braut Haaland.

Ronaldo is one of five Premier League players to make the XI, playing in front of an all-English-based midfield of Jorginho, N'Golo Kante and Kevin De Bruyne.

Kante and Jorginho both helped Chelsea to Champions League glory in May, with Jorginho following that up by winning Euro 2020 with Italy, while De Bruyne helped Manchester City to the Premier League title.

De Bruyne is joined by clubmate Ruben Dias, while Italian duo Gianluigi Donnarumma and Leonardo Bonucci and Real Madrid's David Alaba complete the lineup.

Chelsea bosses Thomas Tuchel and Emma Hayes earlier won the Men's and Women's Coach of the Year awards, while there was more success for the Blues with Edouard Mendy being named the goalkeeper of the year.

FIFPRO Men's World XI 2021: Donnarumma; Alaba, Dias, Bonucci; Jorginho, Kante, De Bruyne; Ronaldo, Haaland, Lewandowski, Messi