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| 사진=FIFPro |
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Again, there were no Koreans in the world's best soccer player candidate.
The International Footballers Association (FIFpro) announced the list of World Best Eleven candidates on the 27th (Korea time). Eleven of the 26 players released this time will be included in the World Best Eleven.
First, Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City), Alisson Becker (Liverpool) and Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) were named in the goalkeeping category. Alisson and Courtois are also world-class goalkeepers, but Donnarumma, the goalkeeper who led Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to the treble last season, is likely to win the award.
Ashraf Hakimi, Marquinoz, Nunu Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain), William Saliba (Arnall), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Real Madrid), and Pau Kubarsi (Barcelona) were selected as candidates for the defender category.
With three players likely to be selected in the defensive category, Hakimi and Mendes are highly likely to win the award. He showed great performance at PSG and is the best left and right fullback in the world at this point. Van Dijk's chances of winning at center-back seem high.
The competition for midfielders is also quite fierce. Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde (Real), Luca Modric (AC Milan), João Neves, Vitinha (PSG), Pedri (Barcelona), and Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli) were the candidates. Considering the contribution of PSG players, the possibility of Vitinha and Neves winning the award should be high, but World Best Eleven is often more popular than players. In that context, it would not be strange for Real's Bellingham or Barcelona's Pedri to take a place.
There are some controversial candidates in the striker's group. If you look at the candidates first, they include Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nasr), Usman Dembele (PSG), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Kylian Mbappe (Real), Hafinya, Ramin Yamal (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) and Elling Holan (Man City).
It is controversial that EO Ronaldo and Messi are still on the rise as candidates. Khvicha Kravatshelia, who played very well at PSG last season, is also absent, and Ronaldo, who plays in Saudi Arabia, and Messi in the United States do not seem qualified. Since FIFPro World's Best Eleven is conducted only by voting professional players, the selection of Messi and Ronaldo can only be seen as reflecting the popularity of the two players still high.
Vinicius Junior, Holan, Mbappe, Bellingham, Toni Kroos, Rodri, The Bruyne, Van Dyck, Antonio Rudiger, Dani Carvajal and Ederson were named in the 2024 FIFPro Team of the Year.
Since 2024, FIFPro has not been selected with FIFA, but has been announcing the World Best Eleven separately. There were no Korean players on the list of 26 candidates announced last year.
The Korean player has not been named as a World Best Eleven candidate for Son Heung-min last time in 2020. It was quite controversial that Kim Min-jae, who played an active role in Naples in 2023, was excluded from the World Best Eleven candidate.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
