GOAL's World-Class Club: Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and the 25 exclusive members of the football elite

The archetypal modern goalkeeper? Alisson wasn't the first sweeper-keeper, but he's undeniably one of the greatest exponents of the role we've ever seen. He makes mistakes sometimes, but errors are inevitable when you're willing to take so many risks to help your team build from the back. His ability to pick out the likes of Mohamed Salah with long balls forward is also quickly becoming the stuff of legend.

However, the main reason why Alisson is such a great goalkeeper is that he time and time again produces big saves at big moments for both Brazil and Liverpool. Indeed, during a difficult 2022-23 season for the latter, Alisson repeatedly came to the Reds' rescue.

Nobody was more surprised by Benzema's decision to move to Saudi Arabia than Real Madrid: Carlo Ancelotti and Florentino Perez were desperate to get another year out of the Frenchman, who, despite an injury-interrupted 2022-23 campaign, remains one of the best goalscorers in the game.

Replacing one of the most complete No.9s in history certainly won't be easy. We're talking about the current Ballon d'Or holder here, which is precisely why he's included on our list. Whether he'll retain his membership next year, though, is a different story altogether...

Some presumed Casemiro was finished when Real Madrid allowed him to join Manchester United last year, but nothing could have been further from the truth. The Brazilian made a monumental impact at Old Trafford, with several pundits hailing him as the most influential arrival since Eric Cantona. With Casemiro in the middle of the park, hoovering up possession, using the ball cleverly and even scoring crucial goals, United managed to win the Carabao Cup and, far more importantly, secure a return to the Champions League.

Casemiro's status as one of the great modern midfielders was already secure because of what he achieved in Madrid, but he's actually managed to add to his legacy since moving to Manchester.

For a long, long time, the big Belgian didn't get the credit he deserved, despite sensational spells at both Atletico Madrid and Chelsea. However, all that changed after Courtois' record-breaking, match-winning display for Real Madrid in their 2022 Champions League final win over Liverpool.

Courtois may not be as comfortable with the ball at his feet as some of the other goalkeepers on our list, but his status as one of the very best shot-stoppers in the world can no longer be questioned. He has the medals, numbers and highlight reel to prove it!

Despite being cruelly forced off in a Champions League final for the second time in three years, nothing could possibly detract from the role the brilliant Belgian played in Manchester City's treble-winning campaign. De Bruyne has long been forced to put up with accusations that he doesn't deliver in the very biggest games - and they intensified after his dismal showing at Qatar 2022 - but he came up trumps time and time again as his club side successfully chased a place in the record books.

De Bruyne clearly isn't finished yet either - just think of how many more goals he's going to set up for Erling Haaland - and he could end up being remembered as the greatest player ever to grace the Premier League.

The Portuguese has barely put a foot wrong since joining Manchester City from Benfica in 2020, and is now widely regarded as the best centre-back in the world. Dias is just one of those defenders that has it all, and can do it all. He is strong in the tackle, dominant in the air and utterly at ease with the ball at his feet.

Few players have ever had such a transformative effect on a Pep Guardiola side - Dias was voted Premier League Player of the Season at the end of his first year in England - and what's absolutely incredible is that he's still only 26. They could easily end up building a statue of him at the Etihad.

The perfect goalkeeper for Pep Guardiola, the Brazilian is bravery personified, never afraid to put his body on the line to beat an attacker to cross - or play a high-risk pass to spark a Manchester City counter-attack.

In terms of the fundamentals of his position, Ederson often has little to do in terms of making saves, given his club side are just so dominant and much was made of the fact that he was regularly beaten by the first shot he saved in matches. However, he proved his quality and powers of concentration with a string of crucial stops in the closing stages of City's nail-biting Champions League final win over Inter.

Talk about a man for the big occasion! Kyle Walker was 100 percent correct when he said that it felt like Gundogan turned into "prime Zinedine Zidane for the final months" of nearly every Manchester City season. The versatile attacking midfielder won the 2021-22 title by scoring twice as a substitute in the epic, come-from-behind win over Aston Villa and he was also integral to last season's treble triumph, most notably in the FA Cup final against Manchester United, when he bagged a decisive double.

Gundogan may be 32 but he's still playing at the absolute peak of his powers and should prove a sensational free transfer for new club Barcelona.

Football's answer to The Terminator, a goalscoring machine that simply cannot be stopped. No matter where he plays, Haaland finds the back of the net.

He's averaging more than a goal a game in the Champions League - which is just ridiculous. It's meant to be the pinnacle of the professional game and yet Haaland has turned it into his playground. He's already helped Manchester City win their first European Cup - with him up front, who knows how many more they'll win?

Quite why Real Madrid were willing to let Hakimi join Inter in 2020 remains a mystery, particularly as the Moroccan had just torn it up during a two-season loan stay at Borussia Dortmund.

Hakimi has since moved on to PSG - after running riot in Serie A naturally enough - and proved beyond a shadow of all doubt during his country's historic run to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup that he is the most complete full-back in the game today, as good going forward as he is at the back. Furthermore, at just 24 years of age, he is only going to get better.

The all-round attacker has yet to win a major trophy with either Tottenham or England, but nobody would dare dispute Kane's status as one of the best centre-forwards in world football. The fact that Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester United have all been linked with signing him this summer is testament to his talent.

And that's because Kane doesn't just score loads of goals - only Alan Shearer has more in Premier League history - he creates them too. All that's left for him to do now is win the title that his ability so richly warrants.

The German is one of those special players who just understands every aspect of the game, which is perhaps unsurprising given he was handed his Bayern Munich debut by Pep Guardiola. Kimmich can play pretty much anywhere. He's proven himself a phenomenal right-back, held his own in the centre of defence at times, but is now firmly established as one of the best central midfielders in the world.

There has been talk in Germany that he's actually starting to decline of late, but his little dip in form owed more to the chaos surrounding him following Julian Nagelsmann's shock exit, and it's worth noting that the word is that he'll be given licence to attack next season by Thomas Tuchel. Why? Because he is just that good.

Has just signed on for another year at Real Madrid and why not? At 33, Kroos may not be as mobile as he once was, but few players are better able to control a game than the World Cup winner.

His place on this list may well come under pressure next year - most likely from a couple of his club-mates, including Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni - but, right now, Kroos remains a class act and he demands inclusion because of his proven track record.

The fact that the Pole doesn't have a Ballon d'Or is a sporting tragedy. Still, he does have a number of other individual accolades and team trophies, as well as a fully-merited reputation as one of the greatest goalscorers the game has ever seen. In eight seasons at Bayern Munich, Lewandowski only once failed to score 40 goals or more - and he still scored 25 times during his debut season at the Allianz Arena.

The striker may be showing some signs of slowing down of late, but he did win the Pichichi Trophy in his first year at Barcelona, which played a key role in the Catalans claiming the Liga title for the first time since 2019.

Replacing Gigi Donnarumma at AC Milan shouldn't have been this easy. Since arriving at San Siro in 2021, Maignan hasn't just established himself as the Rossoneri's No.1, he's also made a strong claim on the title of the best goalkeeper in the world right now.

His distribution is excellent - just witness his assist for Rafael Leao during the 2021-22 Serie A title run-in - but his shot-stopping skills are other-worldly, as underlined by his outrageous save in France's recent Euro 2024 qualifying win over Ireland in Dublin.

PSG cop a lot of justifiable flak for their record in the transfer market and eyebrows were raised when they paid €34 million (£29m/$37m) for a teenage defender from Roma in 2013. Ten years on, though, Marquinhos has proven himself an inspired signing, arguably the best in the French club's history.

All of the attacking talent hogs the headlines at the Parc des Princes, but the Brazilian is a superstar in his own right, an outstanding defensive leader - he's captain for a reason - and so good in possession that he can also play in midfield. All told, a most worthy heir to Thiago Silva, for club and country.

The heir to Messi's throne as the best player in the world, Mbappe couldn't have done much more to upstage him at the 2022 World Cup, even scoring a hat-trick in the final against Argentina after a succession of scintillating displays.

The Frenchman is a legitimate phenomenon, a freakishly fast forward who torments even the very best defenders. At times, his pace and nimbleness make him unplayable. At 24, he is already a World Cup winner and PSG's all-time leading goalscorer. It's terrifying to think how many records he is going to break - and how much more history he is going to make in the coming years, particularly if he joins Real Madrid...

They said Messi was finished after a desperately disappointing first season at PSG - but how wrong they were. The Argentine didn't just win the 2022 World Cup, he illuminated it, winning one Man-of-the-Match award after another as he silenced those who refused to acknowledge him as the greatest player of all time. Nobody has produced as many masterpieces over a sustained period of time in football history.

However, there's no denying that Messi is now taking a step down in level by joining middling MLS side Inter Miami, meaning the 36-year-old's first - and fully deserved - appearance in the GOAL World-Class Club may also be his last.

Quite simply one of the finest midfielders the game has ever seen. Modric has won it all at Real Madrid, including five Champions Leagues, and performed miracles for Croatia, who he led to a third-placed finish at the World Cup just last year.

And that's the truly remarkable thing about the little magician: he's 37 now and yet still a cut above almost every other player on the planet. Staggering.

Every now and again a kid comes along so talented that you just know they're destined for greatness. Pedri is one such kid. The Barcelona ace is still only 20 and yet he's already been named in La Liga's Team of the Season for the past two years, and racked up 18 caps for Spain's senior side.

Pedri didn't come through La Masia - he was actually picked up from Las Palmas - but this is a midfielder in the mould of Xavi and Andres Iniesta that actually has the poise, vision and intelligence to be one day mentioned in the same breath as those two legends.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola made a costly error in leaving Rodri out of his starting line up for the 2021 Champions League final against Chelsea, but the Catalan rectified that mistake this year, and was rewarded with a match-winner from the Spain international.

Goalscoring isn't Rodri's forte, of course. He's universally regarded as the best defensive midfielder in the world for his wondrous range of passing and invaluable ability to break up opposition attacks. In short, City just wouldn't be City without Rodri, as he underlined in Istanbul.

A victim of his own success? Some people will tell you that Salah's coming off the back of a poor season, and then you realise he's just scored 30 goals or more in all competitions for Liverpool for the third year in a row.

The winger retains a remarkable ability to crave space for himself out of nowhere and produce a killer finish to win a game - or drag his side back into one. Others may not give Salah the credit he deserves for his incredible consistency over the past six years, but he was a shoo-in for World-Class Club membership.

Is there a more complete attacking midfielder in the world? Bernardo Silva brings both innovation and industry to the table, making him a manager's dream. For some reason, he doesn't always get the credit he deserves, but the Portuguese has consistently stepped up to the mark when Manchester City have needed him most.

He was their difference-maker the year they first won the Premier League by a point from Liverpool and also the key man in both the quarter-final and semi-final ties against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, respectively, in last season's triumphant Champions League campaign. A wonderful footballer.

As the old saying goes, form is temporary, but class is permanent. Van Dijk was unusually vulnerable during Liverpool's dreadful dip in form last season, but he was hardly helped by those around him falling to pieces. The Dutchman also looked more like his old, commanding self as the Reds improved towards the tail end of the campaign and, when he's fully fit and firing, Van Dijk is just class personified: a Rolls Royce of a defender who never gets ruffled - or beaten for pace - and can also pick out sublime 50-yard passes with his fantastic right foot.

The challenge now is for Van Dijk to re-establish himself as the game's premier centre-back next season, because his membership of the World-Class Club will definitely come under severe scrutiny in 2023-24.

Even though he was still only a teenager, there were fears during Vinicius' first couple of seasons in Spain that he might not become a truly world-class winger because of his poor finishing. However, the Brazilian, who boasts blistering speed and tremendous trickery, has added goals to his game over the past couple of years, transforming himself into one of the most feared forwards in world football.

He has struck 45 times in his last 107 appearances for Madrid, which of course includes the winner in the 2022 Champions League final, meaning he is well on his way to becoming an icon at Santiago Bernabeu.