A new year gives us a chance to reflect on what has passed, and in the football world, 2018 was a great one. The World Cup is the obvious highlight, with France claiming their second world title, but honourable mentions must go to Croatia, Belgium and England who either produced their best ever result, or completely defied public expectation.
As for the Champions League, Real Madrid claimed a third success in a row, beating Liverpool, but they did lose star man Cristiano Ronaldo in an £88 million deal to Juventus. The Europa League must also get a mention, with French pairing Antoine Griezmann and Lucas Hernandez warming up for the World Cup with victory for Atletico Madrid over Marseille.
As for domestic action, Manchester City romped to the Premier League title, becoming the first side to amass 100 points in the competition. La Liga was Barcelona’s once again, with Lionel Messi’s men lifting the title for the seventh time in ten seasons.
Over in Italy, Juventus continued their hold on Serie A, shrugging off the threat of Napoli to claim the Scudetto for a seventh straight season. As for the Bundesliga, it was business as usual as Bayern Munich claimed the title by 21 points to win the German top-flight for a sixth season running.
PSG returned to the top of French football after spending big on Neymar and Kylian Mbappe with the £366 million pairing firing the Parisians to a fifth title in six years.
With all of that football to look back on, which players could cap 2018 with a FIFA 19 Team of the Year card. 11 players will be selected and receive crazy Ultimate Team ratings to become some of the most lucrative players in the game.
Who picks the Team of the Year?
Following on from last year, ballot boxes have been sent out to media outlets, athletes and influencers from the EA Sports FIFA community. Those voting will pick their side in a 4-3-3 formation, post their XI on social media with the tag #TOTYVote. The team will then be released on January 7, 2019. View the full shortlist at the end of this page.
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