Manchester United midfielder Casemiro and three Manchester City players have been included in the FIFPRO men's World XI for 2022 - but Cristiano Ronaldo has been omitted for the first time since 2006.
Joao Cancelo, Kevin De Bruyne and Norway sensation Erling Haaland were the City players named along with Casemiro and others awarded at a glitzy Paris ceremony held in association with popular computer game FIFA. PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe and Ronaldo's long-term contemporary - Lionel Messi - also featured.
As chosen by professional footballers, FIFPRO was initiated in 2005 and celebrates the highest achievers over the calendar year as part of The Best FIFA awards. City were also represented in a star-studded women's team by Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh, while they were joined by United goalkeeper Mary Earps.
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Of course, those three were part of the heroic Lionesses side that reigned supreme at Euro 2022 last summer as football finally came home. As a result, Bronze, Walsh and Earps were merited by their esteemed peers with another coveted accolade to add to their collection.
Casemiro, Cancelo, De Bruyne and Haaland were joined in the men's XI for 2022 by Messi and Mbappe as Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Achraf Hakimi, Virgil van Dijk, Luka Modric and Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema completed that line-up. De Bruyne was selected for a third straight year as Casemiro followed up the Carabao Cup triumph with United at Wembley by getting his hands on more silverware.
But there was no place for Ronaldo, who had been included in every FIFPRO team from 2006 through to 2021 when the Portugal captain - now representing Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia - was also given a special achievement award for breaking the men's senior international goals record.
FIFPRO Men's World XI in full for 2022: Thibaut Courtois; Joao Cancelo, Virgil van Dijk, Achraf Hakimi; Casemiro, Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modric; Karim Benzema, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi.
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