Manchester City star Kevin de Bruyne features above Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil in our list, while Tottenham’s Dele Alli is rated above Cesc Fabregas, and no Liverpool players feature at all.
Spain’s Andres Iniesta kisses the trophy after winning the World Cup Final
Whittling down and ranking the top 50 players in order at a major tournament before it kicks off is no simple task.
We at HITC Sport have attempted to do so ahead of Euro 2016, but there are a few controversial results to crop up along the way.
Photo Gallery: See our top 1-50 players at Euro 2016
Looking back at the top 50, here are five controversial selections or non-selections…
Paul Pogba over Andres Iniesta and no Spain players in top 10
Ageing maestro Andres Iniesta was voted in at number 11, meaning no Spain players featured in a top 10 they perhaps once would have dominated.
La Roja still possess more players in the list than any other nation other than Belgium, both with nine.
Above Iniesta is central midfield star Paul Pogba who is an outstanding talent and three time Serie A winner at Juventus, but is yet to achieve the feats the Spaniard has done. Euro 2016 perhaps is his big chance to shine.
Gerard Pique over Sergio Ramos
Barcelona and Real Madrid fans will row about this one all day, with Gerard Pique voted in at number 19 and Sergio Ramos one place lower at number 20.
Barcelona’s Gerard Pique
Ramos and Pique are expected to line up with each other in central defence and put club rivalry aside, with the former hoping to enter the tournament as a Champions League winner once again.
Dele Alli over Cesc Fabregas
Dele Alli narrowly edged Cesc Fabregas into 30th place, with the Chelsea star at 31.
The Spaniard has won the lot but is coming off of a truly underwhelming season, skewing results against him in our voting process.
Dele Alli celebrates after scoring the first goal for Tottenham
Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli’s rise to superstardom shows no sign of slowing down, expected to start for England just 12 months after finishing the season in League One.
Kevin de Bruyne over Mesut Ozil
Former Real Madrid star Mesut Ozil is not the highest voted Premier League player at number 13.
Instead that accolade goes to Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne at number 7, after a dazzling individual campaign which was only stifled by injury.
Kevin De Bruyne celebrates scoring the second goal for Manchester City
The Belgian is his country’s brightest hope thanks to Eden Hazard’s disappointing campaign and a lot will be expected from him.
No Liverpool players
Despite reaching the Europa League final not a single Liverpool player made our list.
There was no room for Christian Benteke or Jordan Henderson, while Daniel Sturridge’s injury problems have left him right on the edge of England’s squad for the tournament.
The full top 50
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (R) celebrates a goal against the U.S. by teammate Nani (unseen)
1 Cristiano Ronaldo, 2 Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 3 Robert Lewandowski, 4 Gareth Bale, 5 Paul Pogba
6 Thomas Muller, 7 Kevin de Bruyne, 8 Antoine Griezmann, 9 Luka Modric, 10 Marco Reus
11 Andres Iniesta, 12 Manuel Neuer, 13 Mesut Ozil, 14 Toni Kroos, 15 Harry Kane
16 Eden Hazard, 17 David Alaba, 18 Sergio Busquets, 19 Gerard Pique, 20 Sergio Ramos
21 David de Gea, 22 Dimitri Payet, 23 Ivan Rakitic, 24 Gianluigi Buffon, 25 Mats Hummels
26 Toby Alderweireld, 27 David Silva, 28 Romelu Lukaku, 29 Anthony Martial, 30 Dele Alli
31 Cesc Fabregas, 32 Jerome Boateng, 33 Arda Turan, 34 Thibaut Courtois, 35 Giorgio Chiellini
36 Hugo Lloris, 37 NGolo Kante, 38 Jamie Vardy, 39 Jordi Alba, 40 Leonardo Bonucci,
41 Marek Hamsik, 42 Petr Cech, 43 Koke, 44 Blaise Matuidi, 45 Andriy Yarmolenko
46 Jan Vertonghen, 47 Michy Batshuayi, 48 Radja Nainggolan, 49 Wayne Rooney, 50 Mousa Dembele
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