FIFPRO has released its 2026 World 11, and the biggest talking point is who is missing: Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane. According to NotJustOk, the team recognises top performers in men's and women's football, chosen by votes from professional players around the world.
Kane misses out by a narrow margin
NotJustOk reports that Kane had a standout 2025/26 season. It says he won the Ballon d'Or, helped Bayern Munich take the Bundesliga title and led England to the World Cup semi-finals. Even so, he did not make the final eleven.
The figures attributed to FIFPRO show how close it was. Kane collected 27.6 per cent of the votes among forwards, while Manchester City's Erling Haaland got 28.4 per cent, a gap of 0.8 percentage points.
The report adds that this makes Kane the first Ballon d'Or winner to be left out of the FIFPRO Men's World 11 in the same period as taking the award.
Who made the men's team
The forward line is Haaland, Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid, Lionel Messi of Inter Miami and Barcelona's Lamine Yamal. In midfield are Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Rodri (listed as Manchester City/Barcelona) and Vitinha (PSG).
The defenders named are Pau Cubarsi of Barcelona, plus Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, both of PSG. The excerpt supplied does not list the goalkeeper.
Records for Messi and Yamal
The vote involved 26,317 professional footballers across 75 countries, which makes it one of the most player-driven individual honours in the game, according to the report.
Messi stretched his record to 18 appearances in the FIFPRO World 11. Yamal became the first player to be chosen twice before turning 20.
For Nigerian football fans who follow European football closely, the Kane omission is likely to fuel debate. The details here come from a single publisher's report and have not been independently checked against FIFPRO's own announcement.
