EA Sports released the FIFA 21 team of the year recently and football fans across the world were stunned that Lionel Messi and Neymar were snubbed from the first eleven.
The players who made the FIFA 21 team of the year were selected based on their performance in the 2019-2020 season. Their performance was compared with that of other players that are playing in similar positions and the experts behind the popular video game believed that the players that made the first team were better than others.
Hence, those players who are part of the FIFA 21 team of the year received huge in-game upgrades to their cards which the Ultimate Team players would be very excited about.
But the shocking news was that FC Barcelona talisman who is a record 6 time Ballon d’Or winner, Lionel Messi did not make the team of the year despite scoring 31 goals and providing 27 assists in 44 games in all competitions.
Unfortunately for the 33-year-old Argentine football star, he was not able to win any title with FC Barcelona at the end of the season for the first time since 2004. Last season was so bad for Messi and his team that they were disgraced out of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final 8-2 by Bayern Munich.
Based on the fact that his effort wasn’t enough to win FC Barcelona any title last season, EA Sports, the publishers of the FIFA series did not deem him fit to make the list.
A player like Kylian Mbappe was used in the position Messi’s naturally fits in because the France international led Paris Saint Germain to win the French Ligue 1 and pushed the club to the final of the 2019-2020 UEFA Champions League campaign.
Besides Messi being snubbed on the FIFA 21 team of the year list, Neymar was also snubbed despite scoring 19 goals and providing 12 assists in 27 games in all competitions. He was part of the PSG’s team that won the French Ligue 1 title and also helped the club to get to the final of the UEFA Champions League.
Despite all that, EA Sports believed that the 28-year-old Brazil international was not good enough to make the FIFA 21 team of the year. Hence, Juventus and Portuguese 35-year-old football legend, Cristiano Ronaldo took over the left-wing of the team which should have been for Neymar.
Bayern Munich’s left-back Alphonso Davies, striker Robert Lewandowski, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, and midfielder Joshua Kimmich, made the FIFA 21 team of the year for helping the German Bundesliga giants to win treble last season.
Liverpool’s center-back Virgil van Dijk, and right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold made the squad for helping the English club to win the Premier League title for the first time in 30 years.
Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes is the only Manchester United player to make the squad due to his impact at the Premier League club last season. While Spanish defender Sergio Ramos is the only Real Madrid player in the squad.
More so, Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is the only representative of Manchester City in the squad. Cristiano Ronaldo is Juventus’ sole representative. And Kylian Mbappe is PSG’s sole representative in the FIFA 21 team of the year.
