World champions Spain dominate AIPS FIFA 2026 World Cup Best XI

The International Sports Press Association (AIPS) has released its FIFA World Cup 2026 Best XI as selected by 370 journalists from 115 countries.

Champions Spain, who beat Argentina 1-0 on 19 July to lift their second world title, dominated the squad with six players, mostly in defence. A true testament to La Roja’s overwhelming defensive superiority throughout a tournament in which they kept seven clean sheets in eight games and conceded only one goal in 750 minutes of action.

FORMATION: 4-3-3

GOALKEEPER

Unai Simón (Spain): His seven clean sheets across eight matches in the 2026 edition is the most in a single World Cup. The 29-year-old also set a record by not conceding in 650 minutes at the World Cup between his last appearance at Qatar 2022 and Spain’s quarter-final match against Belgium at the 2026 edition. Simón got 1221 points to finish ahead of Cabo Verde’s Josimar “Vozinha” José Évora Dias (917).

 

DEFENDERS

Pedro Porro (Right Back – Spain): Porro’s impressive combination of defensive solidity and attacking instincts proved highly effective at the 2026 World Cup. He scored two goals across five matches, played a crucial role in ensuring four clean sheets, and earned the Superior Player of the Match award in the semi-final against France. The 26-year-old collected 1401 points in the right back position, finishing ahead of Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi (907).

Pau Cubarsí (Centre Back – Spain): The 19-year-old is the youngest player in this squad after amassing the most points in the centre back position (1194). He played with composure, maturity and leadership beyond his years and was one of only two players to complete Spain’s 750 minutes at the tournament. He completed 671 passes – the second most ever at a World Cup – and was named FIFA’s Young Player of the Tournament. 

Aymeric Laporte (Centre Back – Spain): A joint leader for the most interceptions at the 2026 World Cup, Laporte’s partnership with teenager Cubarsí was nothing short of outstanding. The 32-year-old registered the third most successful passes at the tournament (618), only behind teammates Cubarsi (668) and midfielder Rodri (790). He was the anchor of the backline that conceded the fewest goals ever by a World Cup-winning team and his impressive numbers include 18 aerial duels won and 1 assist. 

Marc Cucurella (Left Back – Spain): Like Cubarsi, Cucurella also played every minute of Spain’s 2026 World Cup journey, showcasing his tireless workrate, strong positional awareness and acute tactical intelligence. Match after match he proved his indispensability in the tournament’s stingiest defence and it was nearly impossible to dribble past him. Also known for his attacking drive, the 27-year-old recorded two assists in La Roja’s  3-0 victory over Austria in the Round of 32. Cucurella secured 1621 points in the AIPS Best XI vote to finish ahead of Portugal’s Nuno Mendes (760). 

 

MIDFIELDERS

Jude Bellingham (England): Bellingham topped the poll in the midfielders category with 965 points after leading England to a bronze medal at the tournament and winning four Superior Player of the Match awards in the process. The 23-year-old scored seven goals – the most goals by a midfielder at a World Cup – and now holds the record for the most goals in a single World Cup edition by an Englishman. His crucial braces versus Mexico in the Round of 16 and against Norway in the quarter-finals made him the first player since Maradona in 1986 to score two goals in back-to-back knockout games. Bellingham was third in the AIPS Outstanding Player of the Tournament poll.

Rodrigo “Rodri” Hernández Cascante (Spain): With 924 points, Rodri finished behind Bellingham. The 30-year-old defensive midfielder was the heartbeat of Spain’s mesmerising midfield and was named FIFA’s Golden Ball winner. His statistics at the tournament include completing a staggering 790 passes – 152 more than his previous record for the most successful passes at a World Cup set at Qatar 2022.

Michael Olise (France): The 24-year-old set a new record for the most assists at a single World Cup. He made seven assists at the 2026 tournament to pass Pelé’s 6 in 1970. Half of Mbappé’s goals came from Olise’s assists. He was the vital playmaker for Les Bleus with an incredible vision and creativity that made him one of the tournament’s leaders in chance creation.

 

STRIKERS

Kylian Mbappe (Left Winger – France): Mbappé has been voted as AIPS’ best striker of the 2026 World Cup after receiving 1038 points to finish ahead of Lionel Messi (812) and Erling Haaland (669). The 27-year-old scored 10 goals as France reached a third straight FIFA World Cup semi-final in 2026 and eventually finished in fourth place. He defended his Golden Boot title, becoming the first player to win the tournament’s top scorer award twice and he broke the all-time World Cup scoring record with a combined 22 goals from 22 matches across three tournaments.  

Lionel Messi (Right Winger – Argentina): The 39-year- old single-handedly carried Argentina to the World Cup final with his magic, winning the Superior Player of the Match five times – the most by any player in the tournament. He recorded eight goals and four assists across eight games for La Albiceleste to become the player with the second-most goals in World Cup history (21) and the player with the most career assists at the World Cup (12). He is the first player in World Cup history to score in nine consecutive matches and six successive knock-out games. He was crowned the AIPS Outstanding Player of the Tournament.

Erling Haaland (Central Striker – Norway): Haaland scored seven goals in five matches as Norway reached the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time. Despite his team’s eventual loss to England, Haaland rose to the occasion on his World Cup debut, becoming the tournament’s greatest debut scorer since Grzegorz Lato who also scored seven for Poland at Germany 1974. The 26-year-old’s seven goals were from just 18 shots, making it the best conversion rate at a single World Cup since 1986 according to OptaJoe. All the goals came from his first four matches – averaging a goal every 51 minutes.

 

HOW COLLEAGUES VOTED AIPS members together with the AIPS World Cup Hotline participants were invited to build the tournament’s dream team from a shortlist of more than 50 nominees, all selected for their performances throughout the World Cup. 

Participants selected their top three players for each category. The first choice received 5 points, the second choice 3 points, and the third choice 1 point.

The AIPS Best XI, using a 4-3-3 formation, consists of the top ranked players in each position: 1 Goalkeeper, 1 Left Back, 2 Centre Backs, 1 Right Back, 3 Midfielders, 3 Strikers

 

Below are the complete results of the AIPS Best XI poll:

 

GOALKEEPER

Simón Unai (Spain) – 1221 points from 325 voters

Évora Dias Josimar “Vozinha” José (Cabo Verde) – 917 points from 285 voters

Martínez “Dibu” Emiliano (Argentina) – 566 points from 216 voters

Bounou Yassine (Morocco) – 434 points from 188 voters

Gill Orlando (Paraguay) – 148 points from 80 voters

 

RIGHT BACK

Porro Pedro (Spain) – 1401 points from 343 voters

Hakimi Achraf (Morocco) – 907 points from 293 voters

Koundé Jules (France) –  562 points from 252 voters

Cancelo João (Portugal) – 302 points from 150 voters

Freeman Alex (USA) – 104 points from 54 voters

 

CENTRE BACK

Cubarsí Pau (Spain) – 1194 points from 288 voters

Laporte Aymeric (Spain) – 459 points from 155 voters

Upamecano Dayot (France) – 446 points from 166 voters

Martínez Lisandro (Argentina) – 364 points from 132 voters

Romero Cristian (Argentina) – 217 points from  87 voters

Guéhi Marc (England) – 195 points from 85 voters

Ajer Kristoffer (Norway) – 155 points from 67 voters

Dias Rúben (Portugal) – 124 points from 52 voters

Niakhaté Moussa (Senegal) – 82 points from 34 voters

Veiga Renato (Portugal) – 52 points from 28 voters

 

LEFT BACK

Cucurella Marc (Spain) – 1621 points from 349 voters

Mendes Nuno (Portugal) – 760 points from 272 voters

Rodríguez Ricardo (Switzerland) – 309 points from 159 voters

De Cuyper Maxim (Belgium) – 296 points from 168 voters

Santos Douglas (Brazil) – 281 points from 141 voters

 

MIDFIELDERS

Bellingham Jude (England) – 965 points from 261 voters

Cascante Rodrigo “Rodri” Hernández (Spain) – 924 points from 248 voters

Olise Michael (France) – 422 points from 166 voters

Ødegaard Martin (Norway) – 167 points from 75 voters

Fernández Enzo (Argentina) – 136 points from 60 voters

Midfielders Barcola Bradley 118 points from 52 voters

Bouaddi Ayyoub (Morocco) – 117 points from 47 voters

Díaz Brahim (Morocco) – 97 points from 37 voters

Anderson Elliot (England) – 81 points from 35 voters

Quiñones Julián (Mexico) – 69 points from 31 voters

Koné Kouadio Emmanuel Boris “Manu” (France) – 56 points from 24 voters

Casimiro Carlos Henrique (Brazil) – 40 points from 18 voters

Trossard Leandro (Belgium) – 40 points from 20 voters

Tillman Malik (USA) – 13 points from 9 voters

 

STRIKERS

Mbappe Kylian (France) – 1038 points from 298 voters

Messi Lionel(Argentina) –  812 points from 236 voters

Haaland Erling (Norway) –  669 points from 245 voters

Kane Harry (England) – 284 points from 126 voters

Yamal Lamine (Spain) – 222 points from 86 voters

Oyarzabal Mikel (Spain) – 98 points from 40 voters

Saibari Ismael (Morocco) – 46 points from 18 voters

Martínez Lautaro (Argentina) – 25 points from 9 voters

Lukaku Romelu (Belgium) – 24 points from 10 voters

Embolo Breel (Switzerland) – 15 points from 5 voters

De Ketelaere Charles (Belgium) – 12 points from 4 voters

Sarr Ismaïla (Senegal) – 11 points from 7 voters

 

THE COUNTRIES THAT VOTED: 

AFGHANISTAN, ALBANIA, ALGERIA, ANGOLA, ARGENTINA, ARMENIA, AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, AZERBAIJAN, BAHRAIN, BANGLADESH, BELARUS, BELGIUM, BENIN, BOLIVIA, BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA, BRAZIL, BULGARIA, BURKINA FASO, BURUNDI, CAMEROON, CENTRAL AFRICAN REP., CHAD, CHILE, CHINA, COLOMBIA, COSTA RICA, CROATIA, CUBA, CYPRUS, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, ECUADOR, EGYPT, ESTONIA, ETHIOPIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GABON, GAMBIA, GEORGIA, GERMANY, GHANA, GREAT BRITAIN, GREECE, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, HONG KONG, HUNGARY, INDIA, IRAN, IRELAND, ITALY, JAPAN, JORDAN, KAZAKHSTAN, KENYA, KUWAIT, KYRGYZ REPUBLIC, LIECHTENSTEIN, LITHUANIA, LUXEMBOURG, MALAYSIA, MALI, MALTA, MAURITANIA, MEXICO, MONGOLIA, MONTENEGRO, MOROCCO, NEPAL, NETHERLANDS, NICARAGUA, NIGER, NIGERIA, NORWAY, OMAN, PAKISTAN, PALESTINE, PANAMA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA, PARAGUAY, PERU, POLAND, PORTUGAL, PUERTO RICO, QATAR, ROMANIA, RUSSIA, RWANDA, SAN MARINO, SAUDI ARABIA, SENEGAL, SERBIA, SIERRA LEONE, SLOVAK REPUBLIC, SLOVENIA, SOMALIA, SPAIN, SUDAN, SURINAME, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, SYRIA, TOGO, TUNISIA, TURKEY, TURKMENISTAN, UGANDA, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, URUGUAY, USA, VENEZUELA, YEMEN, ZIMBABWE