Shock as Haaland, Salah, and Kane Omitted from FIFPRO 2025 Best XI
Football fans have been left stunned after Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane failed to make the 2025 FIFPRO Men’s World XI, despite posting extraordinary numbers across the 2024-2025 season.
The final team, announced earlier today, November 3, featured Ousmane Dembélé, Kylian Mbappé and teenage sensation Lamine Yamal in attack.
Paris Saint-Germain dominated the lineup, with five of their players included, alongside Barcelona’s Yamal and Pedri, Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer.
While no one disputes the quality of those selected, many feel that leaving out Haaland, Salah and Kane was a major oversight. Their statistics tell the story.
According to Transfermarkt, Haaland netted 34 goals and provided 5 assists in all competitions for Manchester City during the 2024-2025 campaign.
Salah was once again Liverpool’s most consistent performer, scoring 34 goals and setting up 23 more. Harry Kane found the net 41 times and added 14 assists for Bayern Munich last season.
With a combined 151 goal involvements between them, it is hard to argue they didn’t deserve recognition. Each was not only a talisman for his club but also one of Europe’s most influential forwards throughout the campaign.
Still, the FIFPRO selection is determined through votes cast by thousands of professional footballers around the world, where perception and prestige often carry as much weight as performance data. It is possible that PSG’s Champions
League-winning campaign swayed the balance in favour of their stars.
2025 FIFPRO Men’s World 11
Goalkeeper
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain / Manchester City, Italy)
Defenders
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool, Netherlands)
Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain, Morocco)
Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain, Portugal)
Midfielders
Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, England)
Cole Palmer (Chelsea, England)
Pedri (Barcelona, Spain)
Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain, Portugal)
Forwards
Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain, France)
Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid, France)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain)