The FIFA 22 TOTY (Team of the Year) has been announced after all the votes have been counted by EA Sports.
Including Lionel Messi but missing Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo, EA Sports has released the FIFA 22 Team of the Year Final XI. In response to a fan vote, EA Sports FIFA announced its FIFA 22 TOTY Final XI on Thursday, January 20. From 80 nominees for TOTY, FUT players had the chance to vote for a Final XI.
Lionel Messi of Paris Saint-Germain and Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich lead the FIFA 22 TOTY Final XI, with both players receiving 98-rated FUT TOTY player items. The FUT TOTY player items with three 97s are joined by three 96s, one 95, one 94, and one 93. Kylian Mbappe, Messi’s club teammate, was also named to the FIFA 22 TOTY Final XI.
It is a surprise to many that he was chosen over Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, after the Egyptian’s stellar 2021 campaign. In FUT TOTY Final XI, the Frenchman earned a 97 out of 100 ratings. There are five PSG players included in the FIFA 22 TOTY Final XI, three Manchester City players, and two Champions League winners Chelsea players.
FIFA 22 TOTY
The FIFA Ultimate Team TOTY promotion is one of the most popular FUT promotions of the year, rewarding the best-performing players from the previous calendar year with massively increased FIFA Ultimate Team player goods. However, EA Sports has just published the FIFA 22 TOTY Final XI without comprehensive stats, which will be disclosed in the coming days.
FIFA 22 TOTY revealed
- GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain, Italy)
- RB: Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain, Morocco)
- CB: Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil)
- CB: Ruben Dias (Manchester City, Portugal)
- LB: Joao Cancelo (Manchester City, Portugal)
- CM: N’Golo Kante (Chelsea, France)
- CM: Jorginho (Chelsea, Italy)
- CAM: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium)
- ST: Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain, France)
- ST: Robert Lewandowski (FC Bayern Munich, Poland)
- RW: Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain, Argentina)
On Tuesday, January 18, 2022, EA Sports FIFA 22 TOTY fan vote ended. The vote began on Monday, January 10. Over 80 players were nominated for TOTYs, including Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah, and Robert Lewandowski.
FIFA 22 TOTY revealed: Absentees
There were a lot of prominent names who were left off the list.
Forwards
- Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United
- Mohamed Salah of Liverpool
- Neymar of Paris Saint-Germain
- Karim Benzema of Real Madrid
- Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund
Read Best Strikers in FIFA 22 for Career Mode
Midfielders
Despite winning their domestic league titles in 2020 and the latter also winning the European Championship,
- Joshua Kimmich of Bayern Munich
- Luka Modric of Real Madrid
- Marco Verratti of Paris Saint-Germain
These are all missing from the Team of the Year’s midfield.
Read The Best Midfielders in FIFA 22
Defenders
As a result of the majority of his season being disrupted by injury, Virgil van Dijk is not among the defensive ranks, but his Liverpool teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold’s absence is much more concerning.
Despite forming the cornerstone of the Azzurri’s Euro 2020 winning team, Juventus’ Giorgio Chiellini and Italy’s Leonardo Bonucci are also absent.
GK
Only one goalkeeper spot is available, so Alisson, Ederson, and Oblak, all among the world’s best shot-stoppers, find themselves eliminated.
Other XI
Several parallels can be drawn between the FIFA 22 TOTY and the FIFA FIFPro World XI that was announced at The Best FIFA Awards earlier this week.
Both selections included Donnarumma, Dias, De Bruyne, Jorginho, Kante, Lewandowski, and Messi. It is notable that the two teams are fielding different defenses, with David Alaba and Bonucci representing Real Madrid and Italy, respectively, along with Ronaldo and Haaland rounding out a rather top-heavy 3-3-4 formation. In terms of the Ballon d’Or, Messi received his eighth prize at the France Football gala in early December, although the winner was decided by a vote of 29 other players.
Also read How to complete Showdown Luis Muriel SBC in FIFA 22
FIFA 22 TOTY: What was actually expected
- GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain/Italy)
- CB: Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain, Morocco)
- CB: Georgio Chiellini (Juventus/Italy)
- CB: Ruben Dias (Manchester City, Portugal)
- CM: N’Golo Kante (Chelsea/France)
- CAM: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium)
- RW: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt)
- LW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United/Portugal)
- LF: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/France)
- CF: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland)
- RF: Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain/Argentina)
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