Fellow pros put Vitinha and Nuno Mendes in the FIFPRO World 11 again. The Ballon d'Or winner missed out
19,806 professional footballers from 73 countries voted for FIFPRO's team of the year. PSG's two Portuguese players make it for a second year running, Messi reaches a record 18 selections and Harry Kane falls just short on 27.6%.
The people who play against them every week have picked Vitinha and Nuno Mendes again. Paris Saint-Germain’s two Portuguese players are in the 2026 FIFPRO Men’s World 11, announced on Monday 9 November, a year after both made the 2025 team.
FIFPRO is the global players’ union, and that is what gives this award its weight. No journalists, no national-team coaches. Only players vote, and this year 19,806 of them did, from 73 countries.
Who is in the 2026 FIFPRO Men’s World 11?
It lines up as a 3-3-4, with a heavy Spanish and Parisian accent. David Raya (Arsenal) in goal. Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes (both PSG) and Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona) at the back. Vitinha, Rodri and Jude Bellingham in midfield. Lamine Yamal, Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé up front.
Raya topped the whole ballot with 10,278 votes, a 52% share. Mbappé had the most backing of any outfield player, with 9,105.
Why did Harry Kane miss the FIFPRO World 11?
By a whisker. Kane, who won the Ballon d’Or a fortnight ago after a 73-goal season, took 27.6% of the vote. Messi got in on 29.5% and Haaland on 28.4%. By our sums, the gap between the Englishman and the Argentine is roughly 380 votes.
It sits oddly next to the London gala. The Ballon d’Or jury had Vitinha 14th and Nuno Mendes 23rd. The players rate them among the best eleven on the planet.
What about Cristiano Ronaldo?
Ronaldo was one of the 26 finalists but did not make the team, at the end of a month in which he quit Portugal duty after 234 caps and 146 goals. Messi, on the other hand, is back for the first time since 2023 and extends his own record to 18 selections.
Debuts and records
Cubarsí makes his debut at 19. Yamal, born the same year, becomes the first teenager with two World 11 selections. In the women’s vote, Aitana Bonmatí topped the ballot and Lucy Bronze reached a record ninth selection.
For PSG the tally is three players in the team, two of them Portuguese. For Vitinha and Nuno Mendes, it is a second straight year of being chosen by their peers.
By Vasco Almada
Image: YantsImages / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)