Four Liverpool players in contention for place in FIFPro World11 2018

Four Liverpool players have been selected amongst the 55 contenders for the FIFA FIFPro World11 2018.

Their selection comes after voting from 25,000 professional footballers in 65 countries around the globe.  Each professional footballer is asked to pick their top eleven footballers on the planet (in a 4-3-3 formation) and FIFPro (the professional players union) collates these fantasy teams and whittles down to the top selections.

The top 5 goalkeepers, 20 defenders, 15 midfielders and 15 strikers.

The winning XI team (based on votes by the players) will be announced at The Best FIFA Football Awards event on the 24th September in London.

Dejan Lovren, who reached both the World Cup final and Champions League final with country and club, is named amongst the defenders - with Virgil van Dijk also part of the 20 man defenders list.

No reds midfielders made the list - but both Sadio Mane and Mo Salah are named amongst the 15 forwards.

The FIFPro World 11 has been announced every year since 2005 and under Rafa Benitez Liverpool players were included in the three years from 2007 to 2009.

Steven Gerrard was named in all three of these years, with striker Fernando Torres named in both 2008 and 2009.

No Liverpool players has been included in the final eleven since.

Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid has appeared eight times overall, and in each of the World elevens of the past seven years.  An interesting situation if he is named alongside Mo Salah.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi however have been named in the awards a record 11 times each - every year since 2007.  Their impressive performances means the Spanish La Liga is usually dominant.  Barcelona and Real Madrid have had players named a combined 90 times in the line-ups, whilst Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal have had their players named a combined 24 times.

Full list of 55 players in contention for FIFPro World 11 2018

Goalkeepers (5): Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/Paris Saint-Germain/Juventus FC), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium/Real Madrid CF/Chelsea FC), David De Gea (Spain/Manchester United FC), Keylor Navas (Costa Rica/Real Madrid CF), Marc-André ter Stegen (Germany/FC Barcelona).

Defenders (20): Jordi Alba (Spain/FC Barcelona), Daniel Carvajal (Spain/Real Madrid CF), Giorgio Chiellini (Italy/Juventus FC), Dani Alves (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain), Diego Godin (Uruguay/Atletico Madrid), Mats Hummels (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Germany/FC Bayern Munich) Dejan Lovren (Croatia/Liverpool FC), Marcelo (Brazil/Real Madrid CF), Yerry Mina (Colombia/Everton FC/FC Barcelona), Benjamin Pavard (France/VfB Stuttgart), Gerard Pique (Spain/FC Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Spain/Real Madrid CF), Thiago Silva (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain), Kieran Trippier (England/Tottenham Hotspur), Samuel Umtiti (France/FC Barcelona), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool FC), Raphael Varane (France/Real Madrid CF), Sime Vrsaljko (Croatia/Internazionale/Atletico Madrid), Kyle Walker (England/Manchester City FC).

Midfielders (15): Sergio Busquets (Spain/FC Barcelona), Casemiro (Brazil/Real Madrid CF), Philippe Coutinho (Brazil/FC Barcelona), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City FC), Eden Hazard (Belgium, Chelsea FC), Andres Iniesta (Spain/Vissel Kobe/FC Barcelona), Isco (Spain/Real Madrid CF), N’Golo Kante (France/Chelsea FC), Nemanja Matic (Serbia/Manchester United FC), Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid CF), Paul Pogba (France/Manchester United FC), Ivan Rakitic (Croatia/FC Barcelona), David Silva (Spain/Manchester City FC), Arturo Vidal (Chile/FC Barcelona/FC Bayern Munich).

Forwards (15): Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid CF), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay/Paris Saint-Germain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus FC/Real Madrid CF), Paulo Dybala (Argentina/Juventus FC), Antoine Griezmann (France/Atletico Madrid), Harry Kane (England/Tottenham Hotspur), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/FC Bayern Munich), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium/Manchester United FC), Mario Mandzukic (Croatia/Juventus FC), Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool FC), Kylian Mbappe (France/Paris Saint-Germain), Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Neymar (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool FC), Luis Suarez (Uruguay/FC Barcelona).