UEFA have revealed its official Team of the 21st Century, filled with the players who were voted into the annual UEFA Team of the Year the most times, and it includes Cristiano Ronaldo, who extended his own record to 12 appearances in the annual best XI.
Click through the gallery above to see the UEFA Team of the 21st Century.
The annual UEFA Team of the Year was launched in 2001, and is decided by multiple polls on UEFA’s official website.
Having recently announced the 50 nominees for the 2018 UEFA Team of the Year, the European football body has now released the official Team of the 21st century consisting of players who have been selected the most for the annual best XI.
The player with more selections than any other is Ronaldo, who has appeared a record-breaking 12 times – three more than anyone else. The 33-year-old is also the player with the most consecutive appearances, having been selected for the past 11 successive editions.
He is followed by longstanding rival Lionel Messi, who has made the UEFA Team of the Year nine times, including the past four years in a row.
Sergio Ramos has made the best XI seven times, while Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta were included in six different years.
Read: UEFA Announce 50 Nominees For 2018 Team Of The Year
Philipp Lahm, Gerard Pique, Xavi Hernandez and Thierry Henry each made the UEFA Team of the Year on five occasions, while Steven Gerrard was one of seven players who were selected three times.
However, his overall seven nominations gave him the edge over Kaka (five nominations), Ronaldinho (four), Toni Kroos (four), Pavel Nedved (three) and Zinedine Zidane (three).
Who do you think deserves to be in the 2018 UEFA Team of the Year? Have your say in the comments section below.
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