Liverpool star breaks rank as details of Mohamed Salah vote emerge | Football | Sport
Conor Bradley overlooked Mohamed Salah for a place in the FIFA Best Men’s XI award at this year’s ceremony. The FIFA Best Awards, one of the most esteemed individual accolades a player can receive, is second only to the Ballon d’Or in terms of prestige.
For the past nine years, FIFA has hosted a grand ceremony to honour the top-performing players, as voted by a captain, a coach and a press member from each nation worldwide. Ousmane Dembele was ultimately crowned Men’s Best Player due to his performances with Paris Saint-Germain and France, while Spanish prodigy Lamine Yamal secured second place.
Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid also finished third after an impressive debut season with Los Blancos. However, Salah, who was finished fourth in this year’s Ballon d’Or voting, didn’t even make the FIFA Best Men’s XI side, despite a remarkable 2024/25 season.
Last season, the Egyptian played a crucial role in Liverpool securing the Premier League title, contributing 29 goals and 18 assists in 38 appearances for the Reds. But recency bias may have influenced his omission from the elite XI, given that the voting took place only last month, and Salah has had a less successful 2025/26 season.
Despite a less-than-stellar season so far, with only four goals and three assists in the Premier League, the 33-year-old has found himself sidelined by Arne Slot for Liverpool’s last four league matches.
In a surprising move, Cole Palmer was chosen to play on the right side of the pitch in Salah’s usual position during the awards, despite having scored just 15 goals and provided nine assists for Chelsea last season – 23 fewer contributions than the Liverpool star.
The transparency of the award allows football fans to see who voted for whom in November’s poll, with six Liverpool players participating. This includes Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, Andy Robertson and Bradley, all of whom are captains of their respective national teams.
Apart from Salah, who modestly refrained from voting for himself, Bradley was the only Liverpool player who did not vote for the seasoned veteran. Instead, the Northern Irishman chose Yamal as his player of the year, placing Salah second.
Liverpool stars also had the opportunity to vote for their coach of the year. Several of the aforementioned players backed Arne Slot for the honour, while others chose Luis Enrique, who ultimately won the award due to his outstanding achievements with PSG.
Van Dijk, Szoboszlai and Robertson all cast their votes for the Dutchman, while Endo, Salah and Bradley opted for Enrique following his Champions League triumph with PSG earlier this year. This comes as Liverpool prepare to navigate the season without Salah, who has flown off to AFCON to represent Egypt.
His absence will be felt in Liverpool’s upcoming fixtures against Tottenham, Wolves and Leeds United, and potentially further matches against Fulham, Arsenal, Barnsley and Burnley depending on Egypt’s progress in the tournament, which finishes on January 18.
