Credit: X
Football fans questioned Lionel Messi’s nomination in the 2023 FIFA FIFPRO World XI on X (formerly Twitter). World XI is the only global football awarded decided exclusively by professional football players. In the 2023 edition of the awards, more than 28,000 professional footballers voted for their favourite team of the year. In the men’s category of the 2023 FIFA FIFORO World XI, 23 men made it to the cut by receiving the most votes from their peers.
The requirement for the same is that the player must have appeared in at least 23 official matches from December 19, 2022 to August 20, 2023. The list of names nominated for the 2023 FIFA FIFPRO World XI includes one goalkeeper, three defenders, three midfielders, and three forwards, while one outfield player with the highest votes will be included in the team at their respective position.
Check the 2023 FIFA FIFPRO Men's World XI shortlist:
The final spot in the World 11 will be assigned to the remaining outfield player with the next highest number of votes. The final World 11 will be announced on January 15, 2024, Monday, at The Best FIFA Football Awards in London, England.
Fans react to Lionel Messi's nomination
Lionel Messi, the 2022 World Cup winning captain received his record-extending 17th nomination for the same, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo’s 16th nomination. This didn’t go well with the fans, and they questioned Messi’s nomination citing that the Argentina international didn’t achieve much in 2023 to have been worth of a nomination. Here’s how the fans reacted to the Inter Miami captain 's nomination.
Notably, Messi is among the list of forwards, who have been nominated for World 11, including Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/Al-Ittihad, France), Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur/Bayern Munich, England), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr, Portugal) and Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid, Brazil).
