The Ideal World Cup XI.. An African Surprise and Controversial Absences

Spain v Argentina: Final - FIFA World Cup 2026

Messi, Mbappe and three players from Spain among the best line-up

Spain left their mark on the ideal team of the 2026 World Cup, chosen by fans voting on the official FIFA website, with three of La Roja's stars making the cut. The goalkeeping position, however, threw up a surprise.

Pedro Porro, Marc Cucurella and Rodri all earned their places after outstanding tournaments, in which Spain were crowned world champions for the second time in their history.

According to Spanish newspaper "AS", the result brought back memories of the 2010 World Cup, when the ideal team featured five Spain players: Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila, Sergio Busquets and David Villa.

The big shock came in goal. Cape Verde's Vozinha topped the list of the tournament's best goalkeepers with nearly 40% of the votes, edging out Spain's Unai Simon, winner of the World Cup's Golden Glove.

No player from the Arab national teams that took part in the last edition made the line-up.

Video: The strangest tribute after the World Cup.. Spain duo receive a quantity of tomatoes!

England's Harry Kane missed out despite ranking among the players who received the most votes, while France matched Spain with three players each in the line-up.

Mbappe, Haaland and Messi each pulled in more than 20% of the votes up front, with Mbappe topping the entire fan vote.

Controversy also swirled around the absence of Spanish pair Pau Cubarsi and Aymeric Laporte, though Porro and Cucurella were the defenders who drew the most votes.

Rodri's inclusion sparked no such debate. The best player of the tournament lined up alongside Bellingham and Olise, who racked up the highest number of assists at the World Cup.

FIFA, working with official sponsor "Aramco", gave fans around the world the chance to choose the tournament's best 11 by voting on the "FIFA" website before the final results were announced.

Goalkeeper: Vozinha (Cape Verde).

Defence: Pedro Porro (Spain), Lisandro Martinez (Argentina), Dayot Upamecano (France), Marc Cucurella (Spain).

Midfield: Rodri (Spain), Michael Olise (France), Jude Bellingham (England).

Attack: Kylian Mbappe (France), Erling Haaland (Norway), Lionel Messi (Argentina).