Bizarre vote leaves Ballon d’Or winner Harry Kane out of FIFPRO World XI

Alex explains that the international players' union FIFPRO lets professional footballers worldwide vote for the World XI of the year each year, and that in the 2026 selection not a single player from the Bundesliga is represented, even though FC Bayern has Ballon d’Or winner Harry Kane in its squad.

Out of a total of 19,806 voting professionals, Kane among the forwards ended up only in fifth place; four attackers with more votes are not in the World XI, even though he is only 33 years old.

Erling Haaland, the Norwegian striker of Manchester City, was just ahead of the Three Lions captain in the vote by a margin of 0.8 percentage points.

In contrast to the Ballon d’Or vote, Kylian Mbappé received 46 percent of the votes from his peers, followed by Lamine Yamal with 37.4 percent and Lionel Messi with 29.5 percent.

FC Bayern consider signing Nicolo Tresoldi as a weapon alongside Kane

More Bayern players missing

In addition to Ballon d’Or winner and Golden Shoe holder Kane, other Bayern stars such as Michael Olise and Dayot Upamecano are also missing from the XI.

By contrast, three players each from Paris Saint‑Germain and Barcelona are represented, and the lineup is supplemented by a player from Arsenal, one from Manchester City, and two from Real Madrid, with Lionel Messi playing for Inter Miami.

The complete FIFPRO World XI 2026 consists of goalkeeper David Raya (Arsenal, Spain), defenders Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona, Spain), Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint‑Germain, Morocco) and Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint‑Germain, Portugal), midfielders Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, England), Rodri (Manchester City, Spain) and Vitinha (Paris Saint‑Germain, Portugal), and forwards Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway), Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid, France), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami, Argentina) and Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain).

In the women's World XI 2026 there is also no German player from the Bundesliga; ten of the eleven players come from Spain or England.