Two Barcelona Icons shortlisted for greatest ever midfielder award by France Football

Both Andres Iniesta and Xavi are included in the list of the best midfielders by France Football.

This is as part of their ‘Ballon d’Or dream team’ project where they’ll create the ‘best XI of all time’ by choosing the best players in each position.

Curiously, the Barcelona duo has made it into two separate lists.

Xavi is named among the top 20 best defensive midfielders

Sergio Busquets and Pep Guardiola join Xavi in this prestigious list, alongside 'the Spanish' Luis Suarez who played for Barca between 1955 and 1961.

Steven Gerrard, Lothar Matthaus, Andrea Pirlo, Frank Rijkaard, Bernd Schuster, Clarence Seedorf and Xabi Alonso are also nominated.

Here are top 20 best defensive midfielders, as per France Football:

Meanwhile, Iniesta is shortlisted for the best-attacking midfielder award with 19 other candidates, also including Laszlo Kubala and Diego Maradona.

Roberto Baggio, Bobby Charlton, Gheorghe Hagi, Alfredo di Stefano, Ruud Gullit, Ferenc Puskas, Francesco Totti, Zinedine Zidane and even Pele have also made the cut.

Here are top 20 best-attacking midfielders, as per France Football:

France Football's pick has been recently criticised by the Barcelona fans who were left baffled not to see Dani Alves included in the list of the best right-backs of all times.

This ‘dream team’ is created by France Football because they won’t award the Ballon d’Or this time around due to the season being disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.