The World XI, also known as the FIFA World Stars, is an association football team consisting of players from various countries. The World XI play one-off games against clubs, national teams, collectives of continental teams.[3]

World XI
AssociationFIFA
First international
 England 2–1 FIFA World XI
(London, England; 23 October 1963)[1][a]
Biggest win
 Spain 0–3 FIFA World XI
(Madrid, Spain; 27 September 1967)
Europe XI 2–5 FIFA World XI
(Marseille, France; 4 December 1997)
Biggest defeat
 Italy 6–2 FIFA World XI
(Rome, Italy; 16 December 1998)
 France 5–1 FIFA World XI
(Marseille, France; 16 August 2000)

The official first match of the FIFA World XI was held against England on the 100th anniversary of the Football Association – 23 October 1963. The World lost 2–1 in front of a crowd of 100,000.[1] Prior to this, matches had been played in 1947 against the United Kingdom in Scotland (to celebrate the four British national teams returning to FIFA, with the proceeds going to the world governing body)[4] and against England in 1953 (for the Football Association's 90th anniversary – in fact all the players were from continental Europe).

FIFA has organised several World XI squads to compete in various commemorative exhibitions and charity testimonials,[5] but in its own documentation, the only official World Stars Games listed are those against national, pan-continental or representative teams; its matches against club teams including New York Cosmos, Hamburger SV, Benfica, Anderlecht, Flamengo, Barcelona, Manchester United and Real Madrid are not included.[6]
On 18 July 2007, the World XI faced an Africa XI with both teams unusually composed of retired players.[7]

The Women's World XI first played on 14 February 1999 at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California, United States, for the draw of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, defeating the United States 2–1.[6]

Results edit

England  2–1FIFA World XI
  • Paine   66'
  • Greaves   90'
Report
Attendance: 100,000

Centenary of the (English) Football Association


Spain  0–3FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 35,000

65th birthday of Ricardo Zamora


Brazil  2–1FIFA World XI
Report

10th anniversary of Brazil's first World Cup title (1958)


[b]Brazil XI  2–1FIFA World XI
Report

Farewell game for Garrincha


Argentina  1–2FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 82,000

1st Anniversary of Argentina's first World Cup victory (1978)


Europe XI3–2FIFA World XI
Report

FIFA Charity Match for UNICEF


Americas XI2–2FIFA World XI
Report
Penalties
4–3
Attendance: 57,600

FIFA Charity Match for UNICEF


Germany  3–1FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 38,000

FIFA Charity Match for UNICEF


Brazil  2–1FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 78,416

FIFA Charity Match for SOS Children's Villages


Asia XI3–5FIFA World XI
Report

Hong Kong Reunification Cup


Russia  0–2FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 55,000

Russian Football Centennial Match


Europe XI2–5FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 38,000

FIFA Charity Match for SOS Children's Villages


Turkey XI  4–4FIFA World XI
Report

75th Anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic and the Turkish Football Federation


Italy  6–2FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 21,352
Referee: Rémi Harrel (France)

Centenary of the FIGC (Italian Football Federation)


Australia  3–2FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 88,101

Official opening of Stadium Australia


Africa XI2–2FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 35,000
Referee: Ndoya Falla (Senegal)

Farewell game for Nelson Mandela


Bosnia and Herzegovina  0–1FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 25,000

"Football For Peace"


France  5–1FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 60,000

Charity Match for SOS Children's Villages


Shevchenko XI3–6Ronaldinho XI
Report
Attendance: 35,000

Football for Hope (Indian Ocean Tsunami funds)[9][10][3]

Players edit

Date Opponent Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards Ref.
23 October 1963   England   Lev Yashin
  Milutin Šoškić
  Djalma Santos
  Luis Eyzaguirre
  Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
  Ján Popluhár
  Josef Masopust
  Jim Baxter
  Svatopluk Pluskal
  Raymond Kopa
  Uwe Seeler
  Denis Law
  Eusébio
  Ferenc Puskás
  Francisco Gento
  Alfredo Di Stéfano
[5][11]
27 September 1967   Spain   Giuliano Sarti
  Peter Bonetti
  Tarcisio Burgnich
  Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
  Julio César Benítez
  Ian Ure
  Charlie Cooke
  Gianni Rivera
  Mário Coluna
  Kurt Hamrin
  Sandro Mazzola
  Eusébio
  Fernand Goyvaerts
  Mario Corso
[5][12]
6 November 1968   Brazil   Lev Yashin
  Ladislao Mazurkiewicz
  Dezső Novák
  Lajos Szűcs
  Albert Shesternyov
  Willi Schulz
  Franz Beckenbauer
  Silvio Marzolini
  Roberto Perfumo
  Wolfgang Overath
  Pedro Rocha
  Amancio Amaro
  Slava Metreveli
  Flórián Albert
  Dragan Džajić
  János Farkas
[5][13]
19 December 1973   Brazil XI   Edgardo Andrada   Pablo Forlán
  Sergei Olshansky
  Alex Kamianecky
  Ángel Brunell
  Evgeny Lovchev
  Francisco Reyes
  Eduardo Dreyer [pt]
  Pedro Rocha
  Carlos Babington
  René Houseman
  Miguel Ángel Brindisi
  Narciso Doval
  Volodymyr Onyshchenko
[14][15][16]
25 June 1979   Argentina   Émerson Leão
  Friedrich Koncilia
  Manfred Kaltz
  Antonio Cabrini
  Toninho
  Bruno Pezzey
  Ruud Krol
  Marco Tardelli
  Michel Platini
  Zico
  Juan Manuel Asensi
  Franco Causio
  Paolo Rossi
  Zbigniew Boniek
[5][17]
7 August 1982 Europe XI   Thomas N'Kono   Jaime Duarte
  Oscar
  Júnior
  Erwin Romero
  Falcão
  Sócrates
  Zico
  Lakhdar Belloumi
  Rick Davis
  Hugo Sánchez
  Giorgio Chinaglia
  Faisal Al-Dakhil
[5][18]
27 August 1986 Americas XI   Pat Jennings
  Rinat Dasayev
  Manuel Amoros
  Terry Butcher
  Michel Renquin
  Gordon Strachan
  Søren Lerby
  Felix Magath
  Uli Stielike
  Park Chang-sun
  Heinz Hermann
  Dominique Rocheteau
  Mohamed Timoumi
  Paolo Rossi
  Igor Belanov
[5][19]
8 October 1991   Germany   Sergio Goycochea
  René Higuita
  Carlos Mozer
  Oscar Ruggeri
  Ricardo Gomes
  Jorginho
  Desmond Armstrong
  Chris Waddle
  Kim Joo-sung
  Ruud Gullit
  Dragan Stojković
  Carlos Valderrama
  Rıza Çalımbay
  George Weah
  Iván Zamorano
  Hristo Stoichkov
  Tomáš Skuhravý
[5][20]
14 July 1996   Brazil U23   Jorge Campos
  Nelson Tapia
  Fernando Hierro
  Fernando Couto
  Marcel Desailly
  Mark Fish
  Ned Zelic
  John Harkes
  Krasimir Balakov
  Michael Laudrup
  Abedi Pele
  Fernando Redondo
  Lothar Matthäus
  David Ginola
  Jürgen Klinsmann
  Kazuyoshi Miura
  George Weah
[5][21]
3 July 1997 Asia XI   Andreas Köpke
  Andre Arendse
  Fernando Hierro
  Frank Verlaat
  Lothar Matthäus
  Dunga
  Sergey Lebedev
  Zé Elias
  Claudio Reyna
  Ha Seok-ju
  George Weah
  Hakan Şükür
  Jean-Pierre Papin
  Alfonso Pérez
[5][22]
18 August 1997   Russia   Andoni Zubizarreta
  Uwe Gospodarek
  Ramon Vega
  Frank Verlaat
  Claudio Suárez
  Akhrik Tsveiba
  Lothar Matthäus
  Youri Djorkaeff
  Julen Guerrero
  Stefan Effenberg
  Aron Winter
  Abedi Pele
  Jean-Pierre Papin
  Andriy Shevchenko
  Vladimir Beschastnykh
[5]
4 December 1997 Europe XI   Jacques Songo'o
  Rubén Ruiz Díaz
  Hong Myung-bo
  Javier Margas
  Noureddine Naybet
  David Nyathi
  Hussein Abdulghani
  Marcelino Bernal
  Hidetoshi Nakata
  Adel Sellimi
  Antony de Ávila
  Eric Wynalda
  Ronaldo
  Deon Burton
  Gabriel Batistuta
[5]
9 September 1998   Turkey XI   Cláudio Taffarel
  Jacques Songo'o
  Pierre Njanka
  Jes Høgh
  Ilir Shulku
  Gheorghe Popescu
  Mehdi Pashazadeh
  Paul Lambert
  Dragan Stojković
  John Moshoeu
  Gheorghe Hagi
  Dunga
  Julen Guerrero
  Jean-Pierre Papin
[5][23]
16 December 1998   Italy   Gianluca Pagliuca
  Ike Shorunmu
  Zé Maria
  David Nyathi
  Fernando Hierro
  Hidetoshi Nakata
  Dunga
  João Pinto
  Aron Winter
  Julen Guerrero
  Rui Costa
  Zinedine Zidane
  George Weah
  Luis Hernández
  Ronaldo
  Davor Šuker
  Oliver Bierhoff
  Gabriel Batistuta
  Marcelo Salas
[5]
12 June 1999   Australia   Bernard Lama
  Jorge Campos
  Rigobert Song
  Júlio César
  Taribo West
  Javier Margas
  Lucas Radebe
  Hany Ramzy
  Murat Yakin
  Matt Le Tissier
  Ilya Tsymbalar
  Okan Buruk
  Leonardo Araújo
  Wynton Rufer
  Shaun Bartlett
  Christian Vieri
  Marco Branca
  Jürgen Klinsmann
[5]
17 August 1999 Africa XI   Jorge Campos
  Jacques Songo'o
  Louis Crayton
  Saleh Al-Dawod
  Stig Inge Bjørnebye
  Jeff Agoos
  Branco
  Claudio Suárez
  Taribo West
  Christian Karembeu
  Dunga
  Thomas Häßler
  Ľubomír Moravčík
  Abedi Pele
  Mustapha Hadji
  Eduardo Hurtado
  Jean-Pierre Papin
[5]
25 April 2000   Bosnia and Herzegovina   Bernard Lama
  Ike Shorunmu
  Aloisio
  César Belli
  Ibrahim Hassan
  Pierre Njanka
  Viktor Onopko
  Claudio Suárez
  Frank Verlaat
  Taribo West
  Dunga
  Thomas Häßler
  Abedi Pele
  Mustapha Hadji
  Mehdi Mahdavikia
  Sonny Anderson
  Roberto Baggio
  Ali Daei
  Su Maozhen
[24]
16 August 2000   France   Andreas Köpke
  Jacques Songo'o
  Samuel Kuffour
  Ciro Ferrara
  Aldair
  Frank Verlaat
  Saliou Lassissi
  Pierre Njanka
  Rigobert Song
  Geremi
  Taribo West
  Dunga
  Zé Elias
  Aron Winter
  Zoubeir Baya
  Hidetoshi Nakata
  Khaled Al-Muwallid
  Pablo Thiam
  Yoo Sang-chul
  Su Maozhen
  Roberto Baggio
[5]

Unofficial games edit

Brazil  1–2FIFA World XI
Report

Farewell game for Zico


Brazil  1–2FIFA World XI
Report

Pelé's 50th Birthday


Americas XI5–1FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 42,888

Kobe Earthquake Benefit Match[25]


Japan–South Korea XI   1–1FIFA World XI
Report

World Dream Soccer Exhibition


Argentina  6–3FIFA World XI
Report
Attendance: 55.000
Referee: Juan Bava (Argentina}

Farewell game for Diego Maradona

Legends games edit

Hong Kong–China XI   2–0FIFA World XI
Report

Reunification Cup - celebration of the 10th Anniversary of Hong Kong's reunification with China[26]


Africa XI3–3FIFA World XI
Report

90 Minutes for Mandela[7]

Women's games edit

United States  1–2FIFA Women's World XI
Report

First ever women's World Stars match played to coincide with the official draw for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup USA


Germany  2–3FIFA Women's World XI
Report
Attendance: 41,000

FIFA Centennial Match


China  3–2FIFA Women's World XI
Report

Match played to coincide with the official draw for the FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ England 3–0 Rest of Europe XI, London, England, 26 October 1938. Rest of Europe is sometimes recorded as FIFA[2]
  2. ^ Brazil participated in the game as the unofficial team of FUGAP.[8]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "FA 100th Anniversary". World XI. Archived from the original on 31 December 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  2. ^ Rollin, Jack (2015). Soccer in the 1930s: Simple or Sublime?. Tony Brown. p. 215. ISBN 978-1-905891-92-4.
  3. ^ a b "England Player Honours – International Representative Teams". England Football Online. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  4. ^ "The four British associations return to FIFA after the Second World War: 25th FIFA Congress in Luxembourg in 1946". FIFA. Archived from the original on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "FIFA XI's Matches – Full Info". RSSSF. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  6. ^ a b "FIFA World Stars Games at a glance" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Stars named for Mandela match". BBC Sport. 12 July 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Observations about the Brazilian National Team Archive". RSSSF Brasil. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  9. ^ WXI History 2005
  10. ^ Zahlreiche Tore und hohe Einnahmen für den Tsunami-Fonds[dead link]
  11. ^ "England v Rest of the World, 23 October 1963". 11v11. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Spain v Rest of the World, 27 September 1967". 11v11. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Brazil v Rest of the World, 06 November 1968". 11v11. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Em 1973, despedida de Garrincha reuniu estrangeiros que jogavam no País" (in Portuguese). Estadão Esportes. 19 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Amistoso de Despedida de Garrincha 1973: Brasil x Combinado Estrangeiro". YouTube.com (in Portuguese). 5 September 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Brazil v Rest of the World, 19 December 1973". 11v11. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Argentina v Rest of the World, 25 June 1979". 11v11. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Europe v Rest of the World, 07 August 1982". 11v11. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  19. ^ "The Americas v Rest of the World, 27 July 1986". 11v11. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  20. ^ "Germany v Rest of the World, 08 October 1991". 11v11. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  21. ^ "Brazil v Rest of the World, 14 July 1996". 11v11. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  22. ^ Morrison, Neil (2 February 2005). "1997 MATCHES - OTHER MATCHES". RSSSF. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  23. ^ Morrison, Neil (2 February 2005). "1998 MATCHES - OTHER MATCHES". RSSSF. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Dunga to captain FIFA World Stars squad v Bosnia & Herzegovina". FIFA. 25 April 2000. Retrieved 8 August 2020.[dead link]
  25. ^ "Kobe Earthquake Benefit Match 1995". RSSSF. 2002-09-26. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
  26. ^ Football festival adds to Hong Kong celebrations[dead link], FIFA, 3 July 2007