Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe may have faced off against one another in the World Cup final in Qatar, but they line up in the same XI in FIFA 23's Team of the Year.
While Mbappe scored a hat-trick in the tournament's showpiece match, it was Messi's Argentina who lifted the World Cup for a third time with a penalty shoot-out victory following a 3-3 draw after extra-time.
The Paris Saint-Germain team-mates have both made FIFA 23's Team of the Year, though, with the selections made from over 10 million votes from fans.
Despite Argentina's World Cup win, Messi is the only player from Lionel Scaloni's team to be included, with Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema completing the front three after scoring 44 goals in 46 matches in the 2021-22 season to help Real Madrid to a LaLiga title and Champions League win.
Kevin De Bruyne finished third in the Ballon d'Or rankings and is part of the midfield, alongside the evergreen Madrid star Luka Modric and Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham, with the latter playing a key role for England at the World Cup at the age of just 19.
The Madrid theme running through the line-up continues at the back, with Thibaut Courtois between in goal and Eder Militao at the heart of the defence.
Virgil van Dijk joins Militao, while Theo Hernandez and Achraf Hakimi, who enjoyed excellent World Cups with France and Morocco respectively, fill the full-back roles.
Luis Enrique confident in free-scoring PSG despite Ramos setback
Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique is confident his players can adapt in the absence of Goncalo Ramos to continue their impressive start to the season.
PSG have taken to life without Kylian Mbappe with ease, scoring 10 goals in their first two Ligue 1 fixtures, equalling their highest tally after two games played (also in 2022-23).
The Parisiens have welcomed four new faces during the transfer window, signing Joao Neves, Desire Doue, William Pacho and Matvei Safonov.
Luis Enrique was dealt a blow, however, in PSG's opener against Le Harve, with striker Ramos forced off with an injury that will cause him to miss three months.
But in his absence, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele have starred in front of goal, with Luis Enrique now focused on bringing the best out of the players available.
"We want to sign players, and their prices were very high. I have the players I have, I'm happy with their level, now I have to develop their potential," Luis Enrique said.
"As a nine, we can play with [Marco] Asensio, Dembele, Randal Kolo Muani, Barcola, Ramos, Warren [Zaire-Emery], [Achraf] Hakimi, Vitinha, Fabian [Ruiz], Neves... that's 10. It's the same with the defenders.
"I've got some very versatile players, which fits in with the plan we wanted for this team. Pacho, Doue and Neves — they can play in lots of different roles... so I have a lot of options in my team."
PSG will seek to claim an elusive Champions League trophy once again this season, but have been handed a difficult draw in the competition's new league phase.
Luis Enrique's side will face Girona in their first game in the competition, but will also square off against European heavyweights Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid.
"My impression of the draw is that it's a new competition, a new format," Luis Enrique said.
"It's obvious that statistically we were the least favoured but I can't judge this competition because we don't know it.
"We'll say that this is a competition that we're going to try out and we've been the least lucky."
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
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