Belgians Courtois and De Bruyne named in FIFA Team of the Year
Belgium's Thibaut Courtois and Kevin De Bruyne have been named in the FIFA Team of the Year, announced on Monday night at the Best FIFA Football Awards in London. Courtois was second in the Goalkeeper of the Year poll, behind Brazilian Ederson.
Real Madrid's Courtois and Manchester City midfielder De Bruyne were als o named in the all-player World XI last year. This is the second time for Courtois and the fourth year in a row for De Bruyne. Recently retired compatriot Eden Hazard was included in 2018 and 2019.
The rest of the team is made up of Manchester City defenders Kyle Walker, John Stones and Ruben Dias, midfielders Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) and Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund/Real Madrid) and forwards Lionel Messi (PSG/Inter Miami), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Kylian Mbappé (PSG) and Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid).
Earlier in the evening, Pep Guardiola, who led Manchester City to the treble, and Sarina Wiegman, who led England's women to the World Cup final, were voted best coaches. Guardiola previously won the award in 2011, while Wiegman did so in 2017, 2020 and 2022.
31-year-old Courtois, who was named Goalkeeper of the Year in 2018, has been sidelined since the start of the season with a serious cruciate ligament injury. He was runner-up last year, when the trophy went to Emiliano Martinez after his World Cup triumph with Argentina.
Manchester City's Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne © PHOTO OLI SCARFF / AFP
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