It is major recognition for Palmer’s performances for us last season, with over 26,000 professional footballers around the world casting their vote on the game’s best players in the 2024/25 campaign.

Palmer is the ninth different Chelsea men's player to feature in the XI since its inception in 2005, and the first since Jorginho and N’Golo Kante made it in 2021.

It was another brilliant campaign for Cole, who registered 32 goal contributions (18 goals and 14 assists) in all competitions and lit up the English and global game with some dazzling attacking play.

Typically, his first goal of the season, a precise lob in a 6-2 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, won both the Premier League and the Chelsea Goal of the Month for August.

Palmer then became the first player in Premier League history to score four times in the first half of a match. Only Jimmy Greaves had done so in a Chelsea game before, and Palmer joined four other Blues in scoring at least four goals twice in a top-flight league game. Among his quadruple of strikes at home to Brighton was a stunning free-kick.

The goals and assists kept flowing for Palmer. A curling effort against Aston Villa and a Panenka penalty at Tottenham were among the highlights.

In the second half of the season, Palmer had a rare lean spell before hitting top form as the campaign drew to a close. He helped us secure Champions League football, and nobody did more to turn a 1-0 deficit in the UEFA Conference League final into a commanding 4-1 victory. Superb crosses set up our first two goals in Wroclaw.

Palmer then delivered on the global stage at the Club World Cup in America. He scored in the quarter-final win over Palmeiras and saved his best for last, when his movement and composed finishing provided the first two goals and set up the third in the 3-0 win over European champions Paris St-Germain to secure the trophy. He was awarded the Golden Ball as the competition's best player.

Now Palmer’s performances in 2024/25 have been recognised by his peers. He received his award at Cobham and joins an illustrious group of former Blues - including John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba – to have made the FIFPRO Men's World 11.

Congratulations, Cole!

2025 FIFPRO Men’s World 11

Donnarumma; Hakimi, Van Dijk, Nuno Mendes; Palmer, Bellingham, Pedri, Vitinha; Yamal, Mbappe, Dembele