Messi and Ronaldo headline The Best FIFA Men's 11 nominations

By: Shawn
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the 77 finalists vying for the Best FIFA Men's 11 in 2024.

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Getty Images (2)

Messi, the star of Inter Miami and Argentina, was left off the 30-man shortlist for this year's Ballon d'Or, but he made up for it by being nominated for both the Best FIFA Men's Player and the Best FIFA Men's 11. He is joined in the running for the team award by his longtime opponent Ronaldo, who scored 50 goals for Al-Nassr previous season.

The nominees are divided into position groups. Along with Messi and Ronaldo, the offensive alternatives include Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Viktor Gyokeres, and Spain's Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, who spurred La Roja to victory at Euro 2024. However, Salah and Lewandowski have been left out.

In midfield, Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga will garner a lot of votes after leading Los Blancos to La Liga and Champions League triumph. Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba are outstanding defensive alternatives, while Emiliano Martinez is up against Andriy Lunin, Unai Simon, Giorgi Mamardashvili, and others for the goalkeeper position.

The Best Fifa Men's 11 shortlist in full - all 77 players

Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ederson, Andriy Lunin, Mike Maignan, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Emiliano Martinez, David Raya, Unai Simon, Yann Sommer, Ronwen Williams

Defenders: Manuel Akanji, Alessandro Bastoni, Gleison Bremer, Liberato Cacace, Dani Carvajal, Dante, Alphonso Davies, Ruben Dias, Federico Dimarco, Jeremie Frimpong, Alejandro Grimaldo, Achraf Hakimi, Mats Hummels, Alistair Johnston, Aymeric Laporte, Gabriel Magalhaes, Nicolas Otamendi, Nino, Antonio Rudiger, William Saliba, Jonathan Tah, William Troost-Ekong

Midfielders: Luciano Acosta, Thiago Almada, Alex Baena, Jude Bellingham, Hakan Calhanoglu, Eduardo Camavinga, Phil Foden, Ganso, Toni Kroos, Takefusa Kubo, Fermin Lopez, Martin Odegaard, Dani Olmo, Cole Palmer, Christian Pulisic, Declan Rice, Rodri, James Rodriguez, Fabian Ruiz, Federico Valverde, Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka

Forwards: Akram Afif, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, German Cano, Artem Dovbyk, Viktor Gyokeres, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Ademola Lookman, Lautaro Martinez, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Jamal Musiala, Soufiane Rahimi, Rodrygo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Salomon Rondon, Bukayo Saka, Luis Suarez, Vinicius Jr, Ollie Watkins, Nico Williams, Lamine Yamal

Voting is now open on FIFA's website for the Men's 11, along with a host of other awards, with the ceremony set to take place in January.

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