Who was left out the Team of the Year for just two votes? Who were the players that almost won a spot in the most desired team of the year? Check the FIFPro World 11 official results and discover who makes part of the FIFA 17 TOTY reserve team.
FIFA 17 TOTY Reserve Team
As you probably know, the FIFA 17 TOTY rewards the best eleven players of the planet. In 2016, the players chosen by FIFPro were these ones. Only eleven players received a special blue card. However, if there was a FIFA 17 TOTY Reserve Team, who would be included? Here is the answer:
- GOALKEEPER
?? Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
DEFENDERS
?? Thiago Silva (PSG)
?? David Alaba (FC Bayern Munich)
?? Jerome Boateng (FC Bayern Munich)
?? Pepe (Portugal)
MIDFIELDERS
?? Paul Pogba (Juventus/Manchester United)
?? Sergio Busquets (FC Barcelona)
?? Mesut Ozil (Arsenal)
FORWARDS
?? Neymar (FC Barcelona)
?? Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
?? Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG/Manchester United)
The Team of Year 2016 Results
Buffon (award winner in 2006 and 2007) stood no chance against Manuel Neuer, who collected 6,000 more votes than the Italian veteran.
Silva lacked 561 votes in his battle with Gerard Pique. Neymar needed another 830 votes to overtake his team mate Luis Suarez.
This year proved to be different. Pogba was very close, failing just two votes to equal the total of Toni Kroos. The French midfielder was beaten on the last day of the election, when he had to surrender his slim lead over his German rival after the votes of the last four teams were counted: Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Dutch side Fortuna Sittard and Real Madrid, Kroos’ team…
Behind Messi, Ronaldo and Suarez, Neymar finished fourth. Shortlist debutant Griezmann reached the fifth place.
In the following image you can check the complete official rankings of the FIFA 17 Team of the Year competition (click to maximize it):
Luis Suarez is the only new face in the FIFA 17 TOTY. The Barcelona striker is the 54th player to collect the award in the 12-year World 11-history. He is the first Uruguayan player to receive this prize.
Two players make their comeback in the World 11: Gerard Pique and Toni Kroos. Pique was last picked in 2012, Kroos made the 2014 team. Thiago Silva, Paul Pogba and Neymar Jr. have not made this year’s team, after being included in last year Team of the Year.
The closest call was the third midfield position, with Kroos narrowly beating Pogba by two votes. It is the smallest margin ever in the 12-year World 11 history to decide on inclusion in the Team of the Year. Pogba was relegated to the FIFA 17 TOTY reserve team.
The 26,516 votes are just 14 short of last year’s record total amount of 26,530 votes. 69 participating countries is a new record, beating 2015’s 68 countries.
Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is the only player who did not star for a Spanish club in 2016. Dani Alves left Spain and Barcelona during the summer for Italian club Juventus.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are joint record holders with 10 World 11 awards. Both have made the team during each of the last 10 years. Iniesta is third on the all-time list with 8 awards, Ramos is 4th with 7 awards and Alves equals Xavi’s total of 6 awards.
Spanish players have received the most awards in World 11 history: 38. Brazil is 2nd with 24 and Argentina and England are joint 3rd with 11 awards.
Barcelona and Real Madrid each have 5 award winners. Historically Barcelona leads with 45 awards, before Real (33) and AC Milan (10). The Spanish Liga is the most successful league with 80 World 11 awards, clearly leading the way over the English Premier League (24) and Italy’s Serie A (20). All awards have gone to teams in Europe’s big 5 leagues, with Germany’s Bundesliga (9) and France’s Ligue 1 (5) picking up the remaining trophies.
Only in one country the local players selected the same eleven players as that have been selected for the ‘real’ World 11: Venezuela. Most countries have one, two or three different players. Three countries voted for five others: Germany, South Korea and Tunisia. In Bolivia only three World 11 players were picked by the local players: Dani Alves, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Eight other players completed the Bolivian World 11: Claudio Bravo, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Jordi Alba, Arturo Vidal, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso and Neymar Jr. In other hand, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only two players who are included in all 69 local World 11’s.
What do you think if Electronic Arts added a FIFA 17 TOTY Reserve Team to the game? Leave us your opinion in the comments, please.