Barcelona and Real Madrid dominate FIFPro award list
Twelve Bernabéu players and eight from Camp Nou are among 55 finalists, with nine players representing Spain in the running.Champions League Final: Real Madrid - Liverpool
The International Federation of Professional Footballers, which presides over the FIFPro Awards, has announced its 55-player list of nominees for the FIFPro World XI 2017.
Among them are nine Spanish players, all of whom represent either Real Madrid or Barcelona, except for David de Gea (Manchester United) and Thiago Alcántara (Bayern Munich).
Of the 55 players, almost half (23) ply their trade in the Spanish top flight with 12 Real Madrid player and eight from Barça on the list.
Real Madrid top list for number of players
Zinedine Zidane’s European and Liga champions are the most numerous club with Marcelo, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal, Isco, Karim Benzema, Rapahel Varane, Keylor Navas and Luka Modric all making the cut.
Barcelona are also well-represented by Luis Suárez, Gerard Piqué, Leo Messi, Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta, Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti and Javier Mascherano.
Atlético have only three players on the long-list: Jan Oblak, Diego Godín and Antoine Griezmann.
The 2016 FIFPro World XI for 2016 was: Manuel Neuer, Dani Alves, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Andrés Iniesta, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Complete list of nominees
Keepers
Gianluigi Buffon - Italy, Juventus
David de Gea - Spain, Manchester United
Keylor Navas - Costa Rica, Real Madrid
Manuel Neuer -Germany, FC Bayern Munich
Jan Oblak - Slovenia, Atlético Madrid
Defenders
David Alaba - Austria, FC Bayern Munich
Jordi Alba - Spain, FC Barcelona
Dani Alves - Brazil, PSG
Jérôme Boateng - Germany, FC Bayern Munich
Leonardo Bonucci - Italy, AC Milan
Dani Carvajal - Spain, Real Madrid
Giorgio Chiellini - Italy, Juventus
Diego Godín - Uruguay, Atlético Madrid
Mats Hummels - Germany, FC Bayern Munich
Phillipp Lahm - Germany, FC Bayern Munich
David Luiz - Brazil, Chelsea FC
Marcelo - Brazil, Real Madrid
Javier Mascherano - Argentina, FC Barcelona
Pepe - Portugal, Besiktaş
Gerard Piqué - Spain, FC Barcelona
Sergio Ramos - Spain, Real Madrid
Thiago Silva - Brazil, PSG
Samuel Umtiti - France, FC Barcelona
Antonio Valencia - Ecuador, Manchester United
Raphaël Varane - France, Real Madrid
Midfielders
Thiago Alcántara - Spain, FC Bayern Munich
Sergio Busquets - Spain, FC Barcelona
Casemiro - Brazil, Real Madrid
Philippe Coutinho - Brazil, Liverpool FC
Eden Hazard - Belgium, Chelsea FC
Andrés Iniesta - Spain, FC Barcelona
Isco - Spain, Real Madrid
N'Golo Kanté - France, Chelsea FC
Toni Kroos - Germany, Real Madrid
Nemanja Matić - Serbia, Manchester United
Luka Modrić - Croatia, Real Madrid
Mesut Özil - Germany, Arsenal
Paul Pogba - France, Manchester United
Marco Verratti - Italy, PSG
Arturo Vidal - Chile, FC Bayern Munich
Forwards
Gareth Bale - Wales, Real Madrid
Karim Benzema - France, Real Madrid
Edinson Cavani - Uruguay, PSG
Paulo Dybala - Argentina, Juventus
Antoine Griezmann - France, Atlético Madrid
Zlatan Ibrahimović - Sweden, Manchester United
Harry Kane - England, Tottenham Hotspur
Robert Lewandowski - Poland, FC Bayern Munich
Romelu Lukaku - Belgium, Manchester United
Kylian Mbappé - France, PSG
Lionel Messi - Argentina, FC Barcelona
Neymar - Brazil, PSG
Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal, Real Madrid
Alexis Sánchez - Chile, Arsenal
Luis Suárez - Uruguay, FC Barcelona