Candidates for the best team in the world include Messi and Ronaldo but not Rice and Kane

When FIFPRO (International Federation of Professional Football Players) announced the 26-person candidate list for the annual World XI, fans were surprised to find that except for central defender Saliba, Arsenal, which was the top four in the Champions League last season and performed well this season, was almost completely wiped out, and Harry Kane, who was in hot form, was also missing.

Theoretically speaking, this is not a matter of "failure" by the players, but more like a "regular omission" dominated by the selection time window.

Core controversy: The "time trap" of the selection cycle

To understand this "snubber", we must first see clearly the rules of the game. This list, voted by about 60,000 professional players around the world, does not evaluate the players' entire career, nor their performance at the start of the new season, but a very specific time period: August 11, 2024 to August 3, 2025.

In this period, the shining moments of certain players were perfectly "missed":

Harry Kane's "bad luck": Kane played 12 times for Bayern Munich in the new season and scored 18 goals, and his state was terrifying. However, these heroic performances all occurred after August 3, 2025, and were completely outside the voting period. In other words, his outburst came too late to reach voters.

Arsenal's "open high, go low" and "open low, go high":

Arsenal's situation is more complicated. The Gunners started the season with a strong momentum and showed strong competitiveness on both offense and defense. However, due to the voting cycle, this highlight performance was not included in the selection. On the contrary, the voting window covers Arsenal's "crash moment" last season - the team fell apart in the sprint stage of the league and ended up with nothing. This is the fifth consecutive season that they have missed the championship trophy. Such an ending to the season obviously greatly reduces the selection competitiveness of core players such as Gabriel, Rice, and Saka.

Among Arsenal’s undrafted stars, Rice is the midfielder that the team introduced in the summer window with a large sum of money, playing an irreplaceable role in the transition between offense and defense; the partnership of center backs Gabriel and Saliba is one of the most stable defense combinations in the Premier League. However, voting by professional players tends to place more emphasis on the team's final record. Arsenal's "anti-start" last season discounted the personal performance of these players.

It is reasonable for Saliba to become Arsenal's "only seedling". As one of the top central defenders in today's football, Saliba is not only the anchor of the defense, but also an important starting point for the team to switch from defense to offense. Even if the team ultimately missed the championship, his personal performance was recognized by his peers around the world, becoming the Gunners' only solace in this list.

Who is the winner? List dominated by championships and inertial thinking

In sharp contrast to Arsenal's experience, those players who had championship honors during the selection period have become the darlings of this list.

Paris Saint-Germain: As the Champions League champion last season, PSG naturally became the biggest winner. Many players were selected for the candidate list, demonstrating the dominance of the King of Europe.

Liverpool: Although they failed to reach the end of the Champions League, Salah, Van Dijk, and Alisson, who were the heroes of the Red Army's Premier League championship, were all selected. Alexander-Arnold, who moved to Real Madrid this summer, was also shortlisted for his outstanding performance in Liverpool.

Palmer of Chelsea: He was successfully nominated due to his stable output throughout the season and the bonus points for helping Chelsea win the first expansion Club World Cup.

In addition, a phenomenon worth pondering is that Messi and Ronaldo, who went to the American League and the Saudi League, continue to be widely recognized by their peers. This is not only a tribute to the lasting influence and personal performance of the two legendary superstars, but also reflects a certain "inertial thinking" in the voting. After all, the influence of the two veterans is too strong.

Is it the “pot” of rules or the “pot” of performance?

This time the FIFPRO candidate list controversy clearly tells us: in the selection of the football world, "the right performance at the right time" is crucial. The Arsenal generals and Harry Kane are not weak, but their most brilliant bloom happened to be outside the "flowering period" of voting.

This will undoubtedly leave fans with a huge topic of discussion: Do you think this fixed-time selection mechanism can really fairly reflect the players' performance throughout the year?