England and Spain stars DOMINATE FIFA Women's Best XI as Hannah Hampton, Leah Williamson, Lucy Bronze and Alessia Russo represent Lionesses

It was a dream year for players from England and Spain. It started with the Women's Champions League final, where Arsenal locked horns against giants Barcelona and came out on top. 

The two nations then locked horns in the final of the 2025 Women's European Championship, which was a repeat of the World Cup final from two years back. The Lionesses, who lost the World Cup to the Spaniards, finally got their revenge this year as they successfully defended their European title.

Four English stars have made it to the FIFA Women's Best XI, while Spain have seven representatives. The surprise omission from the squad, though, is Arsenal and England star Chloe Kelly, who won both the European titles and played crucial roles for club and country. 

Goalkeeper: Hannah Hampton 

Defenders: Lucy Bronze, Leah Williamson, Irene Paredes, Ona Batlle 

Midfielders: Aitana Bonmati, Patricia Guijarro, Claudia Pina 

Forwards: Alexia Putellas, Alessia Russo, Mariona Caldentey

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The FIFA Best awards recognise the best footballers during the period from August 11 2024 to August 2 2025. The nominations for the various award categories were compiled by FIFA along with stakeholders. The winners were selected by a panel comprising football experts and fans from across the world who registered on FIFA.com.

Selections from each of the two groups – fans and the experts – carried the same weight irrespective of the number of voters in those groups. Players were awarded points based on how many votes they received per position. 

The winner of The Best FIFA Women's Player was automatically included in the Best XI, while the winner of The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper Award started with nine scoring points. The first nine places in the team were bestowed upon the players with the most scoring points per the following positional breakdown: One goalkeeper, three defenders, three midfielders, two forwards. After this, the two outfield players with the highest number of scoring points who had not already been selected were included in the respective team of the year, taking into account the following maximum number of representatives per position. 

The players plying their trade in England are already on vacation for the winter break which kicked in after the latest round of WSL clashes last weekend. Action will resume in the New Year with a blockbuster clash between Arsenal and Manchester United. In Spain, clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid are scheduled to play a couple of games in the Women's Champions League and Copa de la Reina before the players head for the winter break.