ILAN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 23: FIFA FIFPro Men's World 11 Players of the Year (L-R) Alisson, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo Vieira, Lionel Messi, Frenkie de Jong, Eden Hazard, Kylian Mbappe, Luka Modric, Virgil van Dijk and Matthijs de Ligt pose for a photo during The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 on September 23, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)
The FIFA Best Awards feature a cult hero(Image credit: Getty Images)

All the big names in football are, predictably, available for selection in the world team of the year... with one particularly eyebrow-raising inclusion among the nominees at centre-forward

Voting is now open for the absurdly-named FIFA The Best Awards across a number of categories, but it's the Men's XI that has caught our attention.

All the big names you'd expect are in there: Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Lamine Yamal, Viktor Gyokeres.

Salomon Rondon in running for FIFA The Best Men's XI centre-forward berth

And in among them is a former 35-year-old Premier League journeyman who is currently tearing it up in Mexico: Salomon Rondon.

Yes, that Salomon Rondon (born on a Mondon), formerly of West Bromwich Albion, Newcastle United and Everton.

The striker is now playing back in his native Venezuela with Pachuca and has been in something approaching electric form in the Liga MX with Pachuca.

Rondon netted 19 times in 28 appearances last season, and has five goals in 13 appearance so far this campaign.

Other interesting shouts among the nominees include Celtic and Canada full-back Alistair Johnston; Empoli and New Zealand left-back Liberato Cacace; former Watford centre-back William Troost-Ekong; Al Ain and Morocco forward Soufiane Rahimi; and Qatari winger Akram Afif.

Respectfully, it's not quite so much the FIFA The Best so much as it's the FIFA Sop To Each Of The Conferations, is it?

FIFA The Best Men's World XI Nominees

  • Goalkeepers: Kassine Bounou, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ederson, Andriy Lunin, Mike Maignan, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Emiliano Martinez, David Raya, Unai Simon, Yann Sommer, Ronwen Williams
  • Defenders: Manuel Akanji, Alessandro Bastoni, Gielson Breme, Liberao Cacace, Dani Carvajal, Alphonso Davies, Ruben Rias, Federico Dimarco, Jeremie Frimpong, Alejandro Grimaldo, Achraf Hakimi, Mats Hummels, Alistair Johnston, Aymeric Laporte, Gabriel Maglhaes, Nino, Nicolas Otamendi, Antonio Rudiger, William Salbia, Jonathan Tah, William Troost-Ekong.
  • Midfielders: Luciano Acosta, Thiago Almada, Alex Baena, Jude Bellingham, Hakan Calhanoglu, Eduardo Camavinga, Phil Foden, Ganso, Toni Kroos, Takefusa Kubo, Fermin Lopez, Martin Odegaard, Dani Olmo, Cole Palmer, Christian Pulisic, Declan Rice, Rodri, James Rodriguez, Fabian Ruiz, Federico Valverde, Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka.
  • Forwards: Akram Afif, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, German Cano, Artem Dovbyk, Viktor Gyokeres, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Ademola Lookman, Lautaro Martinez, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Jamal Musiala, Soufiane Rahimi, Rodrygo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Salomon Rondon, Bukayo Saka, Luis Suarez, Vinicius Jr, Ollie Watkins, Nico Williams, Lamine Yamal.

Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication,WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.


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