A player who departed Tottenham Hotspur in the summer has garnered the ninth-most votes among defenders for the FIFPRO Team of the Year.

Tottenham Hotspur endured a highly vulnerable defensive campaign during the 2025–26 Premier League season, shipping a staggering 57 goals across their 38 matches.

Their leaky defensive unit ranked among the worst in the top flight, conceding goals at an alarming rate of 1.5 goals per game, and they were particularly shocking at home, conceding 1.63 goals per match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Lilywhites had three different managers over the course of the campaign, and nearly paid the ultimate price, only managing to avoid relegation on the final day of last season.

Yet, the leader of Tottenham’s defensive line last season has somehow been deemed one of the best defenders in the world across 2025-26.

Former Tottenham captain Cristian Romero has the ninth most votes in FIFPRO Team of the Year

The list of the 10 defenders who got the most votes for the FIFPRO Team of the Year has now been made public, and the list is dominated by the kind of names one would expect.

Achraf Hakimi came out on top, with 40.9 per cent of the votes, while Arsenal duo Gabriel and William Saliba also feature in the top five.

However, shockingly, Cristian Romero has found himself being named in 11.8 per cent of the teams, which is the ninth-highest of any defender across the world.

That is particularly shocking when considering that Romero had what was by far his worst season in a Tottenham shirt, and constantly let the team down by getting suspended.

Here are Romero’s stats from the Premier League in 2025-26 according to FotMob:

Spurs legend Harry Kane misses out on FIFPRO XI

The ridiculousness of the FIFPRO XI vote is personified by the fact that Tottenham legend and Ballon d’Or winner, Harry Kane, did not find a place in the best team of last season.

Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi, Lamine Yamal, and Kylian Mbappe made for a strange-looking front four in the Team of the Year.

The 33-year-old striker finished last season with 73 goals and 8 assists in 65 appearances for club and country in 2025-26, and yet finds himself missing out to Haaland, who scored almost 20 fewer goals and did not get a league winners’ medal.