With six newcomers around Palmer
©TM/IMAGO
Over 20,000 professional footballers from 68 countries voted for the “FIFPRO Men’s World 11” – without representatives from Germany and the Bundesliga. Unsurprisingly, Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain dominate the only global award that is awarded exclusively by the players themselves. The team value of the eleven with players from seven nations is over 1.2 billion euros.
The decisive factor in the election was the performance of the footballers between July 15, 2024 and August 3, 2025. Gianluigi Donnarumma (market value 40 million euros; now Manchester City/Italy), Achraf Hakimi (MW 80 million; Morocco), Nuno Mendes (MW 75 million; Portugal), Vitinha (MW 90 million; Portugal) and Ousmane Dembélé (MW 100 million; France) form the PSG block. Real Madrid is represented twice by Jude Bellingham (MW 180 million; England) and Kylian Mbappé (MW 180 million; France), just as Spanish arch-rivals FC Barcelona are represented by Pedri (MW 140 million; Spain) and Lamine Yamal (MW 200 million; Spain). The selection is completed by Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk (MW 23 million; Netherlands) and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (MW 120 million; England).
Lamine Yamal and Bellingham are the two most valuable players in the world, while Erling Haaland (Man City), valued at 180 million euros just like the Englishman, is missing from the “FIFPRO Men’s World 11”. In total, four professionals were chosen from the top 10 of the world’s most valuable footballers. Newcomers to the team are Palmer, Mendes, Vitinha, Pedri, Lamine Yamal and Dembélé. Lamine Yamal replaces Mbappé as the youngest elected player in history.
Palmer, one of the six debutants, said: “Being part of the FIFPRO world selection is of course a great honor and being chosen by the other players is a great feeling. They clearly know what it takes to play at a high level. Being chosen by them is an indescribable feeling.” Each participating player was allowed to vote for three outstanding footballers in the goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and striker categories via a secure digital platform. FIFPRO is the international union of professional footballers.