Voting Breakdown for 2026 FIFPRO World XI—How Harry Kane Missed Out

Ballon d’Or winner Harry Kane didn’t make the 2026 FIFPRO men’s World 11 because almost 20,000 pro soccer players from around the globe collectively decided that four other forwards were better in 2025–26.

FIFPRO is the organization that represents professional players and each year since 2005 has invited its member to collectively for the best in the world to produce its annual World 11.

Players were asked to select the three peers in each position they believe performed best from Aug. 4, 2025 until July 19, 2026. The final World 11 is worked out using the percentage of voters who voted for each player in each position

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya, who missed out on the Yashin Trophy at the recent Ballon d’Or ceremony to compatriot Unai Simón, received more votes than anyone else and was the only player in any position to bank support from over 50% of voting members.

Kylian Mbappé was backed by 46% of voters in the forwards category, followed by Lamine Yamal, Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland. After topping the journalist ballot last month, Kane got 27.6%. But that was only enough for fifth place among all forwards—and the top four all made the final World 11.

The midfield was less unanimously in favor of a single player, with Rodri topping the position with a comparatively low 33.4%. Jude Bellingham and Vitinha were very close behind.

Achraf Hakimi was the runaway winner in defense, a choice for almost 41% of members choosing defenders. The Paris Saint-Germain fullback was joined in the World 11 by teammate Nuno Mendes and World Cup-winning Barcelona prodigy Pau Cubarsí.

2026 FIFPRO World 11 Vote Breakdown—Top 10 by Position

Goalkeepers	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
David Raya (51.9%)	Achraf Hakimi (40.9%)	Rodri (33.4%)	Kylian Mbappé (46%)
Thibaut Courtois (38.6%)	Pau Cubarsí (26.8%)	Jude Bellingham (31.3%)	Lamine Yamal (37.4%)
Emiliano Martínez (32.7%)	Nuno Mendes (25.5%)	Vitinha (28.2%)	Lionel Messi (29.5%)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (27.5%)	Gabriel (22.4%)	Pedri (22.7%)	Erling Haaland (28.4%)
Alisson Becker (25.4%)	William Saliba (20.9%)	Bruno Fernandes (20.6%)	Harry Kane (27.6%)
Joan García (23.2%)	Marc Cucurella (15.6%)	Declan Rice (15.8%)	Michael Olise (15.6%)
Unai Simón (23%)	Virgil van Dijk (13.3%)	Enzo Fernández (11.2%)	Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (14.4%)
Manuel Neuer (15.2%)	Dayot Upamecano (12%)	Federico Valverde (10.6%)	Cristiano Ronaldo (13.2%)
Vozinha (12.7%)	Cristian Romero (11.8%)	Alexis Mac Allister (9.6%)	Ousmane Dembélé (9.3%)
Diogo Costa (11.4%)	Willian Pacho (9.5%)	Dani Olmo (9.3%)	Raphinha (7.5%)

Bold denotes inclusion in 2026 FIFPRO World 11

Other Points of Interest

Cristiano Ronaldo ranked eighth among forwards. | Abdullah Ahmed/Getty Images

The FIFPRO vote sometimes throws out questionable rankings and Cristian Romero made the top 10 defenders despite an atrocious club season with Tottenham Hotspur and featuring in a hardly watertight Argentina backline at the World Cup.

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes didn’t get enough votes for a place in the World 11, but more of his fellow players supported him than Declan Rice. The Arsenal midfielder finished 12 place higher in the Ballon d’Or standings and was Fernandes’s main rival when it came to the individual awards handed out in English soccer for last season.

Cristiano Ronaldo surprisingly crept into the top 10 forwards, even outranking Ousmane Dembélé and Raphinha. Neither European-based star had as good a season in 2025–26 as they enjoyed 12 months earlier, but still arguably made much more significant impact at a higher level than Ronaldo, who won in Saudi Arabia but had a poor World Cup.

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