Canada’s Davies, Buchanan make player-voted list of top 55 footballers in the world

Canadians Alphonso Davies, in a historic first, and Kadeisha Buchanan have both made FIFPRO’s list of the top 55 soccer players in the world.

Davies, one of 11 newcomers to the honour roll, is the first North American player to appear on the men’s List of 55.

FIFPRO which represents some 65,000 pro soccer players worldwide, invited players to vote for the world’s best 11. The top 55 names in that voting were released Thursday.

The World 11 lists will be released Dec. 17.

Players were asked to pick the most outstanding goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards. The goalkeeper, as well as the three defenders, three midfielders and three forwards who received the most votes will be selected for the World 11. The remaining spot will be assigned to the outfield player with the next highest number of votes

Davies is one of 11 players from the Bayern Munich team that won the Champions League in 2020. The 20-year-old from Edmonton is one of three Bayern nominees making their first appearance on the List of 55 along with Serge Gnabry and Leon Goretzka.

The 55 include 10 goalkeepers, 15 defenders, 15 midfielders and 15 forwards.

It marks the 11th edition of the men’s World 11 and fifth of the women’s World 11.

The men’s list drew voting from 67 countries while there were ballots cast by female footballers in 33 countries.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player to appear on all shortlists since the men’s World 11 was first established in 2005. Lionel Messi makes his 15th appearance and Dani Alves and Sergio Ramos both made it for the 14th consecutive time.

MEN

Goalkeepers: Alisson Becker (Liverpool, Brazil), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid, Belgium), David de Gea, (Manchester United, Spain), Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan, Italy), Moraes Ederson (Manchester City, Brazil), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur, France), Keylor Navas (Paris Saint-Germain, Costa Rica), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich, Germany), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid, Slovenia), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (FC Barcelona, Germany).

Defenders: David Alaba (Bayern Munich, Austria), Jordi Alba (FC Barcelona, Spain), Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hotspur, Belgium), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool, England), Dani Alves (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich, Germany), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich, Canada), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool, the Netherlands), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli, Senegal), Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus, the Netherlands), Marcelo (Real Madrid, Brazil), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid, Spain), Andrew Robertson (Liverpool, Scotland), Thiago Silva (Chelsea, Brazil), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid, France).

Midfielders: Alcantara (Bayern Munich, now Liverpool), Spain), Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur, England), Sergio Busquets (FC Barcelona, Spain), Casemiro (Real Madrid, Brazil), Philippe Coutinho (Bayern Munich, now FC Barcelona, Brazil), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, Portugal), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich, Germany), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool, England), Frenkie de Jong (FC Barcelona, the Netherlands), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea, France), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid, Germany), Joshua Kimmich, (Bayern Munich, Germany), Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich, Germany).

Forwards: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City, Argentina), Pierre -Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal, Gabon), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich, Germany), Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund, Norway), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan, Sweden), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur, England), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Poland), Sadio Mane (Liverpool, Senegal), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona, Argentina), Neymar Junior (Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, Portugal), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt), Heung -Min Son (Tottenham Hotspur, South Korea).

WOMEN

Goalkeepers: Friederike Abt (VfL Wolfsburg, Germany), Nicole Barnhart (Utah Royals, U.S.), Laura Benkarth (Bayern Munich, Germany), Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea, Germany), Sarah Bouhaddi (Olympique Lyonnais, France), Christiane Endler (Paris Saint-Germain, Chile), Hedvig Lindahl (Atletico Madrid, Sweden), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars, U.S.), Sandra Panos (FC Barcelona, Spain), Sari van Veenendaal (PSV, the Netherlands).

Defenders: Millie Bright (Chelsea, England), Lucy Bronze (Olympique Lyonnais, England), Kadeisha Buchanan (Olympique Lyonnais, Canada), Ellie Carpenter (Olympique Lyonnais, Australia), Abby Dahlkemper (North Carolina Courage, U.S.), Paulina Dudek (Paris Saint-Germain, Poland), Crystal Dunn (OL Reign, U.S.), Magdalena Eriksson (Chelsea, Sweden), Nilla Fischer (Linkoping, Sweden), Sara Gama (Juventus, Italy), Stefanie van der Gragt (Ajax, the Netherlands), Ali Krieger (Orlando Pride, U.S.), Saki Kumagai (Olympique Lyonnais, Japan), Irene Paredes (Paris Saint-Germain, Spain), Wendie Renard (Olympique Lyonnais, France).

Midfielders: Barbara Bonansea (Juventus, Italy), Veronica Boquete (AC Milan, Spain), Delphine Cascarino (Olympique Lyonnais, France), Shirley Cruz (OL Reign, Costa Rica), Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea, Scotland), Danielle van de Donk (Arsenal, the Netherlands), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars, U.S.), Formiga (Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil), Caroline Graham-Hansen (FC Barcelona, Norway), Amandine Henry (Olympique Lyonnais, France), So-Yun Ji (Chelsea, South Korea), Rose Lavelle (Manchester City, U.S.), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue, U.S.), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Olympique Lyonnais, Germany), Kelley O’Hara (Utah Royals, U.S.).

Forwards: Kosovare Asllani (Real Madrid, Sweden), Stina Blackstenius (Goteborg, Sweden), Tabitha Chawinga (Jiangsu Suning, Malawi), Cristiane (Santos, Brazil), Bethany England (Chelsea, England), Pernille Harder (Chelsea, Denmark), Tobin Heath (Manchester United, U.S.), Ada Hegerberg (Olympique Lyonnais, Norway), Jennifer Hermoso (FC Barcelona, Spain), Samantha Kerr (Chelsea, Australia), Eugenie Le Sommer (Olympique Lyonnais, France), Lieke Martens (FC Barcelona, the Netherlands), Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal, the Netherlands), Christen Press (Manchester United, U.S.), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign, U.S.). 

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2020

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press