Carli Lloyd retired in 2021 after a legendary career, but received one more honor. (USA TODAY Sports)

FIFPRO and FIFA Tuesday announced the 23 players who received the most votes for the 2021 FIFA FIFPRO Women’s World 11.

Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan were the three members of the U.S. women’s national team who were named to the squad.

FIFPRO and FIFA asked professional footballers worldwide to vote for the World 11. We requested them to pick the three players who in their opinion where the most outstanding players during the 2020-2021 season in the following lines: goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards.

For the first time, FIFPRO is updating the announcement about the most-voted players, reducing the shortlist from 55 to 23. This has been done to resemble a real-life squad which, usually for international competitions, is the number of players involved.

The three goalkeepers, six defenders, six midfielders and six forwards with the most votes earned a place in the 23-women World 11 “squad”. To complete this elite selection, the two remaining out-field players with the most votes were added.

The 23 players in the World 11 squad are (in alphabetical order):

Goalkeepers

Laura Benkarth (Germany/FC Bayern München)
Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany/Chelsea FC Women)
Christiane Endler (Chile/Paris Saint-Germain/Olympique Lyonnais)

Defenders

Millie Bright (England/Chelsea FC Women)
Lucy Bronze (England/Manchester City WFC)
Kadeisha Buchanan (Canada/Olympique Lyonnais)
Ellie Carpenter (Australia/Olympique Lyonnais)
Magdalena Eriksson (Sweden/Chelsea FC Women)
Irene Paredes (Spain/FC Barcelona)
Wendie Renard (France/Olympique Lyonnais)

Midfielders

Estefania Banini (Argentina/Levante UD/Atlético de Madrid Femenino)
Barbara Bonansea (Italy/Juventus FC Women)
Aitana Bonmati (Spain/FC Barcelona)
Delphine Cascarino (France/Olympique Lyonnais)
Carli Lloyd (USA/NJ/NY Gotham FC)
Alexia Putellas (Spain/FC Barcelona)

Forwards

Pernille Harder (Denmark/Chelsea FC Women)
Samantha Kerr (Australia/Chelsea FC Women)
Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride)
Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal WFC)
Alex Morgan (USA/Tottenham Hotspur FC Women/Orlando Pride/San Diego Wave)
Gabrielle Onguene (Cameroon/CSKA Moscow)
Megan Rapinoe (USA/OL Reign)

 

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.