By Victor Kanayo
The nominees for the FIFA 23 Team of the Year have been released with Nigeria and Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen making the strong list of world stars which excluded Portugal international, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Also, 2022 World Cup winner, Lionel Messi and France star Kylian Mbappé also made the list.
Few names on the list are goalkeepers Thibaut Courtois, Hugo Lloris, Wojciech Szczesny and Emiliano Martinez.
Defenders include Marquinhos, Thiago Silver, Jeremie Frimpong, Eder Militao, Ruben Diaz, Achraf Hakimi, Reece James, Kaidou Koulibaly, Nicolas Otamendi, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Virgil van Dijk, Jules Kounde, Cristian Romero and Dayot Upamecano.
The pick for the midfield are Jude Bellingham, Kevin De Bruyne, Moussa Diaby, Pedri, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Bruno Fernandes, Ivan Perisic and Adrian Rabiot.
The forwards are Karim Benzema, Neymar, Vinícius Jnr., Ousmane Dembélé, João Félix, Gabriel Jesus, Phil Foden, Cody Gakpo, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski, Sadio Mané, Christopher Nkunku, Darwin Núñez, Mohammed Salah, Heung Min Son, Dusan Vlahovic, Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann.
Fans will now be able to have their say on who deserves a place in the prestigious Team Of The Year XI as voting started on Tuesday, January 10 and closes on January 17, while the final list will be released on Thursday, January 19, 2023
