Fifa’s annual ceremony in Zurich concluded with Lionel Messi picking up an unprecedented fifth World Player of the Year, as the Barcelona star piped teammate Neymar and arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo to the coveted gong.
Messi wasn’t the only person to be celebrated. As part of the annual ceremony that has grown in its significance and standing in world football, Fifa also released the Team of the Year, as voted for by professional footballers.
Using the statistically calculated ranking system at WhoScored.com’s disposal, we opted to see if there were any players overlooked in the XI, selecting the highest rated players to have featured in at least 20 league matches across Europe’s top five leagues and in both European competitions in the same parameter of dates used by Fifa.
Other than the front three, there are surprises all over the pitch. Jordan Amavi’s inclusion may divide opinion when you consider Aston Villa haven’t won a game since the opening day of the season, but only 10 of his 33 appearances in the year in question came during his Villa career.
In fact, his performances at Nice last season made him the highest rated player in Ligue 1 (7.74), marginally beating Zlatan Ibrahimovic (7.73) to top spot. During his last season in France, he made at least 27 more interceptions than any other player (165).
There was no place in midfield for Paul Pogba, Andres Iniesta and Luka Modric, with those positions instead filled by Franco Vazquez, Dimitri Payet and James Rodriguez.
