2016 FIFA World XI: Suarez beats out Griezmann for honour

Michael J. Chandler

15h ago

Carl Recine / Reuters

FIFA named its World XI during Monday’s annual awards ceremony, and among the bevy of plaudits this list of world-class players routinely receive, there are few bigger than the honours handed out in Zurich.

The FIFPro World XI, which is voted upon by footballers worldwide, recognises the exploits of the sport’s best during the calendar year for both club and country.

Related – 2015 FIFA World XI: Messi and Ronaldo star again; Pogba makes 1st appearance

Monday’s 11 honourees were chosen from a list of 55 of football’s best, with Barcelona goal-machine Luis Suarez getting the nod over Men’s Player of the Year finalist Antoine Griezmann.

(Courtesy: @World11)

Among the 11 honourees, Suarez is the lone debutant on the heels of a stunning campaign that witnessed the Uruguayan international score an absurd 40 La Liga goals paired with 16 assists. He is the first Uruguayan to make the list, and the 54th player to collect the honour in the award’s 12-year history.

Here are the results:

GK: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich and Germany)

DF: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid and Spain), Marcelo (Real Madrid and Brazil), Gerard Pique (Barcelona and Spain), Dani Alves (Juventus and Brazil)

MF: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid and Germany), Luka Modric (Real Madrid and Croatia)

FW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal), Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina), Luis Suarez (Barcelona and Uruguay)

Barcelona and Real Madrid each boast five players on the list, with Bayern Munich shot-stopper Manuel Neuer the one exception.

There are three changes from last season, with Gerard Pique in for Thiago Silva at the back, Toni Kroos in the midfield over last year’s honouree Paul Pogba, and Suarez over Neymar. Kroos’ inclusion over Pogba was the closest decision, with FIFA reporting that the German international edged the Frenchman by two votes among the 25,516 total ballots collected.

It is the tenth consecutive year that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were named to the team, with Andres Iniesta third (8), Sergio Ramos fourth (7), and Dani Alves fifth all-time (6).