Rio Ferdinand names the 12 footballers he thinks are world class

Some big names failed to make the cut

The topic of who is the best in the world is always up for debate. We all see football differently and there's of course the hint of bias when it comes to selecting your best in the worlds.

On the other hand, there's people that can't miss out. They'll never miss out. Or do they?

Ferdinand compiled his list on TNT Sports which had fellow pundit Martin Keown questioning his decision to omit one particular player.

No room for legends of the game

Perhaps his most glaring omissions were that of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Between the pair of them, they've won 13 Ballon d'Or's and just about every trophy imaginable (okay, maybe not the Riyadh Seasons Cup), but the former Manchester United teammate highlighted that they were in the latter stages of their careers.

Manchester City's Ederson, Kyle Walker, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland all made the cut.

Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr, Harry Kane, Alisson and Virgil van Dijk were also the other names on the list.

Martin Keown suggests alternative name to Jude Bellingham

Fellow pundit Martin Keown with pretty much every name on the list bar Bellingham.

Despite his incredible start to life at Real Madrid, where he is on course to score more goals than Cristiano Ronaldo did in his first season at the club, Keown feels that Bukayo Saka should've made the shortlist instead.

He said: "'I think Bellingham is one I question. He's in amazing form, what he's doing at Real Madrid right now, but we look at Saka. 

"Saka's been the England player of the year. Bellingham hasn't got a look in."

Ferdinand, who has been vocal in his claims about whether or not Saka should be defined as world class, replied: "They've actually got that list a little bit wrong. Bellingham was on the list just below that on his own. He's edging into there.

"The thing that maybe stops him being on that list, for me, right now, is time. He will be there. He's in world-class form. He just needs that time."

Related links:

• Rio Ferdinand trolls Arsenal fans with in-flight announcement on plane to Porto
• Rio Ferdinand claims Bukayo Saka ‘isn’t a world class player’
• Chelsea player Pochettino forgot about has been banished from the first-team