Five Real Madrid stars make The Best FIFA Men’s XI for 2024

Real Madrid were the best team in the world during the 2023/24 season, dominating LaLiga and conquering the Champions League for the second time in the last three seasons.

Naturally, Real Madrid dominated the XI of the season at “The Best” awards presented by FIFA, with Vinicius Junior, the best player in the world at their award ceremony, headlining the lineup.

Rivals Manchester City, who won the Premier League and took Real to their limits in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, had three stars make the XI, but no team had as many players in the lineup as Real Madrid.

Here were the picks:

GK Emiliano Martinez, Aston Villa

LB (CB) William Saliba, Arsenal

CB Ruben Dias, Manchester City

CB Antonio Rudiger, Real Madrid

RB Dani Carvajal, Real Madrid

CM Toni Kroos, Real Madrid

DM Rodri, Manchester City

CM Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid

LW Vinicius Junior, Real Madrid

ST Erling Haaland, Manchester City

RW Lamine Yamal, Barcelona

All in all, you have to say that FIFA got these picks pretty much spot-on. Eder Militao and Thibaut Courtois are two Real Madrid stars who you’d normally associate with being the best at their positions, but they were injured for almost the entire 2023/24 season after suffering ACL tears.

So in defense, it was Antonio Rudiger and Dani Carvajal who made it. The latter earned Ballon d’Or buzz after a great European Championship performance, while the former likely made this list on the back of an eye-catching performance against Erling Haaland in the Champions League, cementing his status after a crucial campaign at the heart of an injury-plagued defense.

Meanwhile, Fede Valverde was never going to make it in over Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, and neither was any other Real Madrid midfielder. Meanwhile, Toni Kroos and Jude Bellingham were legitimate Ballon d’Or contenders themselves.

Perhaps Rodrygo Goes could feel like he had a case on the right wing, but because this FIFA award is about international games, too, Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal clearly deserved to make it after his sensational European Championship campaign, whereas Rodrygo was pretty much a disaster for Brazil as one of the big disappointments of the Copa America tournament.

Let’s see who makes it for Real Madrid next season, especially with Militao injured again and Dani Carvajal joining him with a torn ACL. So far, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham look like the only good bets to repeat, with Courtois and Valverde potentially in the mix.