Did Any Arsenal Players Make the FIFPRO World 11?

by
FIFPRO website screenshot

As usual, the competition to make it into this year’s FIFPRO World 11 was fierce, with some truly top names in world football up for consideration. Given how strongly Arsenal performed last season, it is only natural to think some of their players would have been in contention for the team. Did any of the Gunners squad make the cut though or did we witness another FIFPRO team with no north London representatives? This is what we will look at here, as well as explaining how the FIFPRO World 11 works.

What Is FIFPRO World 11?

FIFPRO World 11 logoFIFPRO is a global footballing trade union representing both male and female players. They bring together unions from across the world so that they can have a large, powerful voice with real influence. At the time of writing FIFPRO boasted 72 members globally, including 36 from Europe. Although day-to-day they are involved in improving working conditions for players and protecting their interests, they also run two annual awards, the men’s World 11 and women’s World 11. The men’s award began in 2005 while the women’s World 11 launched later, in 2015.

Both of these form part of the FIFPRO World 11. Every year FIFPRO asks their many members to vote for the best players in each position (goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, forward) based on performances during the previous season. It is the only global football award entirely determined by professional footballers. This means that anyone making it into the team commands respect and admiration among their fellow peers.

Players make their selections via a digital platform which features suggested names but also supports the submission of names not on the list. FIFPRO then tallies up the votes and selects the most voted-for goalkeeper as well as the top three defenders, top three midfielders and top three forwards. The final slot goes to the outfield player who received the next highest number of votes. Due to this, the formation of the team is liable to change and does not operate on a fixed 4-3-3 like it used to. While a fair system, it can lead to some very imbalanced, attack-heavy XIs, such as the men’s 2023 edition which featured Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Kevin De Bruyne and Jude Bellingham.

The 2024 Men’s FIFPRO World 11


Over 21,000 footballers from over 70 countries voted for the men’s FIFPRO World 11. Players were instructed to base their teams on performances between 21st August, 2023 to 14th July, 2024, so basically the 2023/24 season. To qualify, a player must have made at least 30 appearances during this time frame. FIFPRO announced the finalists on 2nd December, 2024 followed by the winners on 9th December.

Arsenal Players in the Men’s 2024 FIFPRO World 11

Sadly, no Arsenal players featured in the men’s FIFPRO World 11 this year. However, William Saliba collected enough votes to make it into the squad, along with six other defenders. Ultimately though, the Frenchman ended up losing out to Virgil van Dijk, Antonio Rudiger and Dani Carvajal who formed the team’s back three. As FIFPRO have not yet released the full vote count, we do not know how close the undeniably world class Saliba was to making it into the team, but there is a good chance he was the fourth most-voted-for defender.

Saliba was the only Arsenal man to feature among the 26 finalists and he is the first Gunners man to reach the shortlist since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2020. It should be noted though that 2020 featured a much larger shortlist of 55 players, rather than the 26 which featured this year. Even making this larger shortlist is still quite the achievement though and more often than not there has been no Arsenal representation. Before Aubameyang, the last Arsenal player to make the 55-player shortlist was Mesut Ozil in 2017.

Has an Arsenal Player Ever Made the FIFPRO World 11?

Thierry Henry covering mouth
Thierry Henry (Maxisports | Bigstockphoto)

Since its inception in 2005, only one Arsenal player has ever featured in the men’s FIFPRO World 11. We are sure you can probably guess who this is but for the avoidance of any doubt, it was Thierry Henry. The Frenchman featured in the 2006 edition, so based on performances in the 2005/06 season. That year Henry bagged 33 goals across competitions for Arsenal and helped guide the club to the Champions League final. You have to imagine the explosively fast and agile Henry would have also featured in the team in 2004 following a 39-goal season but alas, the FIFPRO World 11 did not exist at that point.

Future Arsenal FIFPRO World 11 Candidates

Given his young age, it would be no surprise to see William Saliba feature as a finalist in a future FIFPRO World 11. Aged 23, it is only fair to think the Frenchman will get even better and he has now been handed the opportunity to shine on the international stage too. Elsewhere Bukayo Saka has to be a candidate given his supreme talents, while we would also say that Martin Odegaard is in with a credible shout of at least making the shortlist. These would be our top three picks but even the likes of Declan Rice, David Raya or Gabriel could feasibly be in with a chance following a particularly strong year for their club and/or country.

Arsenal Women in FIFPRO World 11

Alessia Russo
Alessia Russo made the 2023 list (James Boyes | Flickr)

2024 was an Arsenal-less FIFPRO year as no player from the men’s or women’s team featured in the best 11. Arsenal WFC players have featured in the team far more often than the men though. Most recently it was Alessia Russo, who was on the books at Arsenal when making it into the 2023 edition. She was only voted into the team based on her performances for Manchester United though, as her Gunners debut came after the qualifying window.

Russo aside, there are five players that have featured in the FIFPRO World 11 based on their appearances for the north London club. Beth Mead and Leah Williamson both made the grade in 2022, Vivianne Miedema collected enough votes in 2021 and 2022, while Sari van Veenendaal took the goalkeeper spot in 2019. It should be noted though that at the time of the award, Van Veenendaal had moved to Atletico Madrid on a free transfer.