The voting period for EA Sports FC 24 Team of the Year kicked off with some helpful suggestions from some of the sport’s most high-profile voices.
CBS Sports quartet Kate Abdo, Jamie Carragher, Micah Richards, and Alex Scott collaborated to decide their men’s and women’s lineups during the EA Sports FC 24 Team of the Year Kickoff Show on Monday. The pair also received input from Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham and Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas as they made their selections, which will serve as guidance with fan voting officially underway for the team of the year awards.
Here’s a look at the honorees the crew selected, and to watch the whole thing you can check out Paramount+.
Men’s Team of the Year
For the men’s team of the year, Abdo teamed up with Carragher to form Team Blue while Richards and Scott partnered to form Team Gold. The teams were not allowed to select the same players, making for two unique lineups — and fascinating competition during the show.
Team Blue: Mike Maignan; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kim Min-jae, John Stones, Theo Hernandez; Kevin De Bruyne, Declan Rice, Jamal Musiala; Lionel Messi, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe
Team Gold: Alisson; Giovani Di Lorenzo; Virgil van Dijk, William Saliba, Federico Dimarco; Jude Bellingham, Rodri, Pedri; Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, Vinicius Junior
Bellingham joined the show and provided his takes as the teams made their selections, but in the end backed his own side to win if Team Blue and Team Gold had to go up against each other. “I’ve got the freedom,” he joked after Richards quipped that Bellingham could do whatever he wanted on Team Gold.
Women’s Team of the Year
Scott took the lead in picking a joint team of the year, but the group had the help of Women’s World Cup winner Putellas. Sophia Smith was the lone U.S. women’s national team player to crack the lineup, which was full of talent from across the globe and especially Spain after their World Cup triumph last year.
Women’s team of the year: Mary Earps; Ona Batlle, Wendie Renard, Millie Bright, Sakina Karchaoui, Lena Oberdorf, Aitana Bonmati, Alexia Putellas, Sophia Smith, Alexandra Popp, Sam Kerr
Putellas very much approved of the team once it was selected, saying “I think we would fight [to] win everything.” She was also full of compliments for each of the players named, including her club and country teammate Aitana Bonmati, who won the Golden Ball at the World Cup and the 2023 Ballon d’Or.
“I think she’s a really good player, the intensity of her game and how clear she watched the pass in the game,” Putellas said about Bonmati. “I think she had a really good season and again, she’s a really, really good player.”
Fan voting for both the men’s and women’s team of the year is open now and will run until Jan. 14 at 2:59 a.m. ET. You can look at the nominees and make your picks here.
