The world’s only team selected by footballers
The International Federation of Professional Footballers’ Associations (FIFPRO) has announced the opening of voting for the 2026 FIFPRO World 11.
Established in 2005, the award stands apart from most individual football honours because the decision is made not by journalists, coaches or football officials, but by professional footballers themselves.
Last year, more than 26,000 professional footballers from 70 countries took part in the vote.
How does the voting work?
FIFPRO and its affiliated national player unions send professional footballers unique links that provide access to a digital voting platform.
Each participant selects the three players they consider to have performed most outstandingly in each of the following four positions:
- goalkeepers;
- defenders;
- midfielders;
- forwards.
The goalkeeper, three defenders, three midfielders and three forwards who receive the most votes in their respective positions are selected for the final World 11.
The eleventh place is awarded to the remaining outfield player with the next highest number of votes.
The Men’s World 11 and Women’s World 11 are selected separately.
What is the performance period?
For the Men’s World 11, players are judged on their performances between 4 August 2025 and 19 July 2026, inclusive.
To be eligible, a player must have appeared in at least 30 official matches at domestic top-flight or international level during this period.
For the Women’s World 11, performances between 4 August 2025 and 16 August 2026, inclusive, are taken into account. Players must have appeared in at least 20 official matches at the relevant level.
What happens after the vote?
Once voting has closed, FIFPRO will announce the finalists for the men’s and women’s awards — the players who received the most votes in their respective positions.
The final line-ups of the 2026 FIFPRO World 11 will then be revealed. The announcement date will be confirmed at a later stage.
What does this mean for footballers in Kyrgyzstan?
Professional footballers in Kyrgyzstan have been contributing to the selection of the world’s best players for several years. Members of the Association of Professional Football Players of the Kyrgyz Republic have voted in the FIFPRO World 11 every year since 2017.
This gives Kyrgyz footballers the opportunity to participate in a global vote alongside tens of thousands of professional players from other countries.
This is more than a football award. The voting process reflects one of the core principles of the player union movement: footballers should have a voice in matters directly related to their profession.