By Jack Gallagher
Choosing a World XI is one of the most fun and difficult things a football fan can do.
There are a million different ways to proceed in terms of training, personnel and tactics, and every time you finally make a firm decision you think: “how about [x player] Although?”
After a few weeks of hard work and very intense debates (all of which can be seen on our Youtube channel) the team of 90 minutes they chose their world XI as part of ours2023 Welcome to World Classseries.
Welcome to World Class – Best Starting XI
GK: Alisson Becker – Overcoming La Liga competition from Thibaut Courtois and Marc-André ter Stegen, Liverpool’s Alisson managed to cross the finish line thanks to his remarkable consistency. The winner of the first Yashin Trophy is on his way to becoming an all-time great goalkeeper, while he is Brazil’s undisputed starter between the posts.
RB: Kyle Walker – Now widely, and deservedly, regarded as the best right-back in Premier League history, Walker has been outstanding for Manchester City over the years. His defensive sense saw him eventually overtake Trent Alexander-Arnold for the right-back role.
CB: John Stones – Literally no one in the world, not even his parents, would have had Stones in a World XI two years ago. Now, literally everyone in the world would do this. How times have changed.
CB: Ruben Dias – The Portuguese defender has now claimed the title of ‘best central defender in the world’ thanks to his splendid form since returning from injury. Simply put, Manchester City won’t win the Champions League without him.
LB: Alfonso Davies – In truth, there weren’t many players vying for the left-back spot other than Davies. That said, even if there had been, Davies probably still would have made the cut because he’s absolutely fantastic.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne – A Champions League The triumph was expected for De Bruyne, who has been one of the best midfielders in the world for much of the last decade. He was in amazing form last season, as expected.
CM: Rodri- There have been many rumors for Rodri to win the 2023 Ballon d’Or and, despite the Spaniard being a defensive midfielder, they are not That ridiculous. The number six scored the winning goal in the Champions League final, and has been totally reliable for Pep Guardiola in all competitions.
CM: Jude Bellingham – Is it too early to have Bellingham in the World XI? Judging by the fact that he is the best player around in the biggest and most successful club in the world (Real Madrid). he he probably isn’t.
RW: Lionel Messi – Messi is literally the greatest footballer of all time and, despite being 36 years old, he is still as magical as ever with the ball.
ST: Erling Haaland – Another Manchester City player, but is it really a surprise? They won absolutely everything last season and Erling Haaland scored over 50 goals while doing so. The Norwegian is an incredible talent in attack and he seems impossible to stop.
LW: Kylian Mbappe – It’s pretty incredible that Mbappe is still only 24 years old. If he retired today he would become one of the best players of his generation, and when he finally retires in 10-15 years, he will become one of the best players of all time.
Welcome to the world’s best XI | Briony Painter | 90 minutesWelcome to World Class, a 25-man team
The selection of the best XI concludes the 2023 edition of Welcome to World Class, which saw the 90 minutes select the best possible team of 25 players in the world of football.
Three goalkeepers, seven defenders, eight midfielders and seven forwards have been included to provide maximum balance, with the team led by the mercurial Lionel Messi.
Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold AND Davide Alaba composed the rest of the defense, with Ilkay Gundogan, Casemiro, Bernardo Silva, Luca Modric AND Federico Valverde providing a glut of quality alternatives in midfield.
In advance, Harry Kane, Vinicius Junior, Mohamed Salah AND Vittorio Osimhen provide the additional firepower, in case Messi, Mbappe and Haaland fail to get the job done.
The W2WC teamREAD MORE ABOUT THE TOP 25 PLAYERS FOR EVERY POSITION IN WORLD FOOTBALL
This article was originally published on 90min.com as Welcome to World Class 2023: Best XI.
