‘Injustice’—FIFA Backlash As Raphinha Snubbed in 2025 Best Men’s World 11

Individually, Raphinha has twice been ranked 2025’s fifth best player in the world.

The expert panel did not vote Raphinha into FIFA’s team of the year. / Judit Cartiel/Getty Images

Raphinha’s absence from the 2025 Best FIFA Men’s 11 came as a surprise when Jude Bellingham and was included after a less than remarkable year. So much so, that his wife went to bat for the Barcelona winger in calling out the “injustice” of it.

Barcelona won a domestic treble last season—La Liga, Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España—for the first time in their history, and Raphinha was a crucial factor in that success.

After a couple of mediocre seasons had led to the Barça hierarchy being willing to sacrifice Raphinha in pursuit of Nico Williams in the wake of Euro 2024, he had a career year at the age of 29.

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As if 30 goals and assists in La Liga wasn’t enough, with Barcelona claiming only a second Spanish title since 2019, Raphinha was the Champions League’s joint top scorer—alongside Borussia Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy—with 13 goals in 14 games, plus a further nine assists.

In a series of Instagram stories that were later deleted, Raphinha’s wife, Natalia Rodrigues, made clear her thoughts on being omitted from the World 11.

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Having cried “injustice”, she sarcastically asked on a post responding to FIFA’s World 11 graphic: “Is Raphinha a basketball player???”

Presumably, in her eyes, that was the only reason he could have been ignored.

“They don’t even try to hide it anymore,” she incredulously added. “62 G/A ... but he didn’t deserve to be among the XI?”

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Fifth Best Player in the World

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Raphinha had finished fifth the Ballon d’Or standings in September, effectively ranking him the fifth best player in the world last season, ahead of Cole Palmer (eighth), Pedri (11th) and Bellingham (23rd). He also finished fifth in the individual Best FIFA Men’s Player vote, well ahead of Palmer and Pedri, with Bellingham not even nominated. But all three got into the Best FIFA Men’s 11 ahead of him.

The former Leeds United star was named 104 times by the various national team captains, managers and media representatives who voted in the individual FIFA award. The captains of Gibraltar, Seychelles, Tonga, Uganda and Uzbekistan all put him top of their respective rankings, as did a number of managers—including Canada’s Jesse Marsch, briefly his boss at Leeds—and journalists.

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Who Voted for the Best FIFA Men’s 11?

The Best FIFA Men’s 11 is different than the FIFPro World 11 that was announced in November, with the latter voted for by players from all over the globe—Raphinha didn’t get in that either, as it goes.

The Best FIFA version is presided over by a “panel of experts,” comprising 50 retired players that in 2025 included Cafu, Marcel Desailly, Diego Forlán and Diego Godín.

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