Messi off Fifa's best player shortlist for the first time in 12 years
The Barcelona and Argentina forward has been on the podium for Fifa's best player every year since 2007, winning it 5 times.
The big name missing from Fifa’s The Best Award is none other than Leo Messi. The Argentina and Barcelona star has been a constant presence on Fifa's podium since 2007, but this year he’s missed out, with Salah, Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo on the shortlist for the award.
Lack of success in the Champions League and the World Cup for Messi
Messi’s poor Champions League, going out to Roma unexpectedly in the quarter-finals, and his far from successful World Cup, where France knocked Argentina out in the round of 16, were decisive factors in his omission, despite the fact Barcelona won LaLiga and the Spanish Copa del Rey, with these individual prizes apparently being required to go to the best players in teams that won the major competitions in any given year.
Messi has won Fifa’s players of the year award five times, four of them while the award was fused with the Ballon d’Or. In the last two campaigns he finished second behind Cristiano Ronaldo. In total he’s been second six times.
