Spain, Argentina players nominated for 2026 World Cup Ideal XI

Football fans worldwide have the opportunity to select the 2026 World Cup's Ideal XI through FIFA's interactive "FIFA Play Zone" platform. The selection pool includes 28 players, with a strong representation from the two finalists, Spain and Argentina.

Spain, the tournament champions, have five players nominated: Unai Simón, Pedro Porro, Lamine Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal, and Rodri Hernández, who was awarded the Golden Ball. Notably absent from the list are Spain's starting center-backs, Aymeric Laporte and Pau Cubarsí, the latter having been named Best Young Player.

Argentina, the World Cup runner-up, has Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez, Cristian “Cuti” Romero, Lisandro Martínez, Enzo Fernández, and Lionel Messi as candidates. Other prominent nominees include Kylian Mbappé of France, the tournament's top scorer with 10 goals, Brazil's Vinícius Junior, England's Jude Bellingham, and Mexico's Julián Andrés Quiñones.

The full list for fan voting covers all positions: Goalkeepers include Vozinha (Cape Verde), Martínez (Argentina), Simón (Spain), Jordan Pickford (England), and Eloy Room (Curaçao). Defenders nominated are Lisandro Martínez and Romero (Argentina), Nuno Mendes (Portugal), Marc Cucurella and Porro (Spain), Virgil Van Dijk (Netherlands), Gabriel Magalhaes (Brazil), and Dayot Upamecano (France). Midfielders consist of Bellingham (England), Ousmane Dembelé and Michael Olise (France), Vinícius Junior (Brazil), Fernández (Argentina), Luka Modric (Croatia), Ismael Saibari (Morocco), Rodri Hernández, and Yamal (Spain). The forwards are Messi (Argentina), Mbappé (France), Erling Haaland (Norway), Harry Kane (England), Quiñones (Mexico), and Oyarzabal (Spain).