UEFA Has Dropped Its 'Ultimate' Team Of The Year

Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and fierce rival Lionel Messi have booked their rightful places in UEFA's all-time XI.

UEFA dropped the 'ultimate' Team of the Year ahead of revealing the 50-man shortlist for the 2019 edition of the World XI on Tuesday.

The all-time XI is based on players who have made the most appearances in each position in UEFA fans' Team of the Year selections.

Ronaldo, 34, has made the most appearances with a whopping 13 times that he has been picked by fans for Team of the Year.

According to UEFA, the ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid star has been nominated a record 15 times.

And Ronaldo has incredibly held on to a spot in Team of the Year since 2007, with last year's line-up marking his 12th consecutive appearance.

Not much further behind the Portugal captain is Barcelona superstar Messi, who has 10 appearances to his name.

Posted below is UEFA's all-time XI, which is lined up in a 4-3-3 formation.

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Goalkeeper

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid/Porto and Spain): six appearances (2007, '08, '09, '10, '11 and '12)

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Defenders

Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid and Spain): eight appearances (2008, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16, '17 and '18)

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Gerard Pique (Barcelona and Spain): five appearances (2010, '11, '12, '15 and '16)

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Carles Puyol (Barcelona and Spain): six appearances (2002, '05, '06, '08, '09 and '10)

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Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich and Germany): five appearances (2006, '08, '12, '13 and '14)

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Midfielders

Steven Gerrard (Liverpool and England): three appearances (2005, '06 and '07)

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Xavi (Barcelona and Spain): five appearances (2008, '09, '10, '11 and '12)

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Andres Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain): six appearances (2009, '10, '11, '12, '15 and '16)

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Forwards

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United/Real Madrid/Juventus and Portugal): 13 appearances (2004, '07, '08, '09, '10, '11, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16, '17 and '18)

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Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina): 10 appearances (2008, '09, '10, '11, '12, '14, '15, '16, '17 and '18)

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Thierry Henry (Arsenal and France): five appearances (2001, '02, '03, '04 and '06)

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Topics: Xavi, Football News, Sergio Ramos, Football, Lionel Messi, UEFA, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, Steven Gerrard, Iker Casillas, thierry henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carles Puyol

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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