Voters have spoken: Erling Haaland is not good enough for the FIFA 23 Team of the Year

The votes have been counted, the cards have been awarded, and the FIFA 23 Team of the Year is here, but without Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker may be busting nets all season in the Premier League, yet that wasn’t enough to convince the voting public as Haaland is not part of the FIFA 23 TOTY.

Fans were given the opportunity to vote on the best players of 2022, who in turn would receive absurdly powerful FUT items. The process has been completed and EA revealed who the best 11 players of 2022 are, according to the FIFA 23 fanbase.

There aren’t that many surprises, but we know which one sticks out. Erling Haaland, who has more goals than games played in the English Premier League, could not break into the top 3 forwards. The fans voted in Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, and Karim Benzema instead.

Haaland’s Manchester City teammate João Cancelo is the other player that was expected to make the FIFA 23 TOTY, yet voters decided that there are four defenders that had a better 2022 than the Portuguese international.

The midfield proved easiest to predict as all three favorites, Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modrić, and Jude Bellingham were selected in the first 11.

FIFA 23 Team of the Year (TOTY) players and OVR ratings

Goalkeeper

• Thibaut Courtois – 96 OVR (Real Madrid)

Defenders

• Achraf Hakimi – 94 OVR (Paris Saint-Germain)
• Éder Militão – 94 OVR (Real Madrid)
• Virgil van Dijk – 96 OVR (Liverpool)
• Theo Hernández – 94 OVR (AC Milan)

Midfielders

• Jude Bellingham – 95 OVR (Borussia Dortmund)
• Kevin De Bruyne – 97 OVR (Manchester City)
• Luka Modrić – 96 OVR (Real Madrid)

Forwards

• Karim Benzema – 97 OVR (Real Madrid)
• Kylian Mbappé – 97 OVR (Paris Saint-Germain)
• Lionel Messi – 98 OVR (Paris Saint-Germain)

We say the first 11 because there’s more. Erling Haaland could still end up on the FIFA 23 Team of the Year, if he is voted as the 12th man. As with previous years, one player that narrowly missed out on the original TOTY can be voted in as the 12th man and still receive proper Team of the Year treatment. Haaland’s competition in the voting is the above-mentioned Cancelo and Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde.

Voting for the FIFA 23 TOTY 12th man will take place exclusively within FUT, and will commence on Monday, Jan. 23.