Rooney misses out to Ronaldo and Buffon for the first time in 12 years

That time of the year is coming again; the FIFA XI team of the year. We’re sure we’ll see all the usual suspects in the most ridiculous suits, and tipping up with birds only you can dream of. Hope they all enjoy wining and dining on some jumped up food, served in some sort of swanky Lisbon hotel; we’re not remotely jealous we haven’t been invited.

However, there’s some pretty shocking omissions amongst the nominees to be in this year’s team of the year, causing a few pundits to raise their eyebrows Carlo Ancelotti style. Riyad Mahrez, remember that bloke? Yeah, the one that made Lionel Messi’s left-foot look like Andy Carroll’s, well,  despite tearing up the Premier League, Mahrez has somehow missed the list. The bloke who still continues to bang ’em in this season, despite Leicester looking more Plymouth Argyle FC than Premier League champions, has actually been ignored.

Have a look at the starting XI who should be on the Ballon d’Or shortlist… 

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To be fair, those Leicester fans can’t be directly blaming FIFA for that; strangely enough the list was voted by all players from 75 different countries, maybe footballers just don’t like the Algerian?

Perhaps not so shocking judging by current form, but shocking to the history books; the Man United skipper, the Three Lions skipper, the man one shy of United’s all-time record scorer, and England’s highest scorer, has missed the list for the first time in 12 years!!! Poor old Wayne’s year, goes from bad to worse.

Not breaking the mould though, is King of Italy, Gianluigi Buffon, and the greatest player on the planet, Cristiano Ronaldo. The pair, along with Rooney were previously the only footballers to never miss the list, but now looks like his own fellow footballer and the media are also writing the No. 10’s obituary.

Have a look at the rest of the lads who have been nominated… 

Goalkeepers (5):

Claudio Bravo (Chile/Barcelona/Manchester City), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), David de Gea (Spain/Manchester United), Keylor Navas (Costa Rica/Real Madrid) and Manuel Neuer (Germany/Bayern Munich).

Defenders (20):

David Alaba (Austria/Bayern Munich), Jordi Alba (Spain/Barcelona), Serge Aurier (Ivory Coast/Paris St Germain), Hector Bellerin (Spain/Arsenal), Jerome Boateng (Germany/Bayern Munich), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy/Juventus), Dani Carvajal (Spain/Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Italy/Juventus), Dani Alves (Brazil/Barcelona/Juventus), David Luiz (Brazil/Paris St Germain/Chelsea), Diego Godin (Uruguay/Atletico Madrid), Mats Hummels (Germany/Borussia Dortmund/Bayern Munich), Philipp Lahm (Germany/Bayern Munich), Marcelo (Brazil/Real Madrid), Javier Mascherano (Argentina/Barcelona), Pepe (Portugal/Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Spain/Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Spain/Real Madrid), Thiago Silva (Brazil/Paris St Germain) and Raphael Varane (France/Real Madrid)

Midfielders (15):

Xabi Alonso (Spain/Bayern Munich), Sergio Busquets (Spain/Barcelona), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea), Andres Iniesta (Spain/Barcelona), N’Golo Kante (France/Leicester/Chelsea) Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid), Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid), Mesut Ozil (Germany/Arsenal), Dimitri Payet (France/West Ham), Paul Pogba (France/Juventus/Manchester United), Ivan Rakitic (Croatia/Barcelona), David Silva (Spain/Manchester City), Marco Verratti (Italy/Paris St Germain) and Arturo Vidal (Chile/Bayern Munich)

Strikers (15):

Sergio Aguero (Argentina/Manchester City), Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Paulo Dybala (Argentina/Juventus), Antoine Griezmann (France/Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Higuain (Argentina/Napoli/Juventus), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Paris St Germain/Manchester United), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Thomas Muller (Germany/Bayern Munich), Neymar (Brazil/Barcelona), Alexis Sanchez (Chile/Arsenal), Luis Suarez (Uruguay/Barcelona) and Jamie Vardy (England/Leicester)

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