FIFA Men’s XI 2025: Cole Palmer's shock inclusion over Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe raises eyebrows

Chelsea superstar Cole Palmer has been voted into The Best FIFA Men’s XI for 2025, but Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have all missed out.

The Blues man, who was pivotal as the west London club stunned European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final weeks after clinching the UEFA Conference League, featured in a team including a surfeit of PSG players, such as Gianluigi Donnarumma — who has since departed Paris for Manchester City — Willian Pacho, Achraf Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha and Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele.

Palmer’s performances for Enzo Maresca’s team in the United States earned him the Golden Ball, and the playmaker was rewarded by ranking third in the midfielders’ votes, behind Vitinha and Pedri and outranking England team-mate Jude Bellingham and Chelsea colleague Moises Caicedo.

At centre-forward, the absences of Mbappe, Kane and Haaland were surprising, but how close were both players to featuring in the XI?

FIFA Men’s XI 2025: Why did Mbappe, Kane and Mbappe miss out?

The breakdown of the votes shows that Haaland and Mbappe were close to making the XI, only to be cut adrift due to Dembele and Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal, both of whom were included as forwards and scored 26 and 22 points, respectively.

Man City’s Haaland scored 17 points, one more than Mbappe’s 16, with Kane ranking a distant sixth among the forwards with his nine.

Eyebrows were undeniably raised due to the apparent shoehorning of players into the team, which is typically par for the course for subjective awards.

Even though ire may have been drawn due to the storming form of Mbappe, Kane and Haaland to start the 2025-26 season, the period under review was August 2024 to August 2025, effectively rendering these forwards’ start to the ongoing campaign irrelevant.

Surprisingly, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi outranked Mohamed Salah despite the Liverpool forward’s stunning 2024-25 season, scoring 29 goals and assisting 18 as the Reds won a second top-flight title in the Premier League era.

FIFA Men’s XI 2025: Who made the cut?

Considering the period reviewed, PSG account for six of the 11 players voted, with Mendes, Pacho and Vitinha joining Dembele, Hakimi and Donnarumma in the team.

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Completing the defence is Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, who slots in at centre-back alongside Pacho, with Marquinhos and William Saliba coming close.

The midfield comprises only one PSG player, Vitinha, with Bellingham, Pedri and Palmer completing the four-player midfield.

Up top, Dembele and Yamal accrued more scoring points than the other forwards, perhaps controversially, as both men could have been in the slots occupied by Pedri and Palmer, respectively.