Qualifiers are over, and 32 teams are preparing to challenge for the most coveted prize in football. But when it comes to the ultimate Dream Team, which players and teams make the cut?
We analysed Google search volumes of almost 3,000 players to find out who would make the cut for the UK’s ultimate Fantasy Football team. We’ve also identified the UK’s favourite player from every international team.
The UK’s Ultimate Fantasy Football Team
Cream of the crop for UK fans is Portugal team captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, with an average of 550,000 searches per month. A true G.O.A.T contender, he scored his 700th club goal in early October, and will be aiming to add to his international tally of 117 this November.
Next up is Manchester City midfielder Jack Grealish, with 301,000 average monthly searches. Having started his football career at the age of six, Grealish became one of the most expensive transfers of all time when he moved from Aston Villa to Manchester City in 2021 for £100 million.
Harry Kane and Mason Mount sit equally with an average of 201,000 searches each month. Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has made a name for himself as one of the most prolific goal-scorers in history while Mount is one of Chelsea’s most valuable players, according to CIES Football Observatory.
Phil Foden and Frenkie de Jong each rake in 165,000 average monthly searches, earning them a spot on the UK’s fantasy team. Manchester City midfielder Foden is widely acknowledged as one of England’s most gifted players, being named Premier League Young Player of the Season and the PFA Young Player of the Year for 21/22, while de Jong plays for one of the world's biggest and most successful clubs, Barcelona.
The first full-back is Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold, with an average of 110,000 searches per month. He's joined by Argentina centre-back Lisandro Martínez (90,500 average searches per month), Chelsea's Reece James is the other full-back inclusion, although you'd normally find him on the right side of defence (74,000 average searches per month), and Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk (60,500 average searches per month).
Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel completes the line-up, also with 60,500 average searches per month.
Here are some of the players making up the rest of the squad:
- Darwin Núñez – 165,000 average monthly searches
- Gareth Bale – 165,000 average monthly searches
- Luis Díaz – 165,000 average monthly searches
- Neymar – 165,000 average monthly searches
- Jesse Lingard – 135,000 average monthly searches
- Lionel Messi – 135,000 average monthly searches
- Marcus Rashford – 135,000 average monthly searches
- Sadio Mané – 135,000 average monthly searches
- Declan Rice – 110,000 average monthly searches
- Jude Bellingham – 110,000 average monthly searches
- Pepe – 110,000 average monthly searches
- Kevin De Bruyne – 74,000 average monthly searches
- John Stones – 60,500 average monthly searches
- Aaron Ramsdale – 49,500 average monthly searches
- Hugo Lloris – 18,100 average monthly searches.
Who are the UK’s favourite football players?
As well as finding out the ultimate dream team, we also identified the UK’s favourite players from every international team, based on average monthly Google searches.
Here’s what we found...
Take Home Message
No matter how England perform in the finals, we’re behind them all the way. Whether you plan on following the tournament intensely with mates and some gameday high-protein snacks, or just want to watch some of the world's best footballers, there's plenty to be excited about.
Keep calm and stay fuelled with our range of protein bars, foods and snacks, or get inspired and learn how to supplement like a pro footballer.
Methodology
We examined the UK Google search volumes of over 3,000 footballers, before arranging them into teams based on their position.
Star players were determined by the highest searched player in each qualifying international team, based on UK average monthly searches.
