The International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPro) announced their annual shortlist of the best players in the world on Monday. The 55-man shortlist for the FIFPro World XI includes two Chelsea players, plus a third who was a Chelsea player until just recently.
The first two are, unsurprisingly, Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kanté, while the third, of whom we don’t speak anymore, is Thibaut Courtois.
Congratulations and well deserved, @hazardeden10 and @nglkante!
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 10, 2018
https://t.co/AZftv3IEW8
It’s rightly deserved recognition for and Eden and N’Golo, both for their contributions at the club as well as their efforts at the World Cup, where Hazard captained Belgium to third place and Kante won the whole thing with France.
In addition to Courtois, several other ex-Chelsea players have also made the list, including Kevin de Bruyne, Nemanja Matic, Romelu Lukaku, and Mohamed Salah.
The full list is as follows:
GOALKEEPERS: Gianluigi Buffon (Paris Saint-Germain), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), David de Gea (Manchester United), Keylor Navas (Real Madrid), Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona);
DEFENDERS: Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Dani Alves (PSG), Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Diego Godin (Atlético Madrid), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Dejan Lovren (Liverpool), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Yerry Mina (Everton), Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Thiago Silva (PSG), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Raphäel Varane (Real Madrid), Sime Vrsaljko (Inter Milan), Kyle Walker (Totttenham);
MIDFIELDERS: Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Andrés Iniesta (Vissel Kobe), Isco (Real Madrid), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Nemanja Matic (Manchester United), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City), Arturo Vidal (Barcelona);
ATTACKERS: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Edinson Cavani (PSG), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern), Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United), Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Sadio Mané (Liverpool), Kylian Mbappé (PSG), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Neymar (PSG), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Mohammed Salah (Liverpool).
Congrats to all but especially Hazard and Kanté!