FIFA THE BEST
The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award: Who voted for whom? Full list
Lionel Messi was the somewhat surprising winner on the night, with expectations that Erling Haaland’s incredible season would be acknowledged by most.
It was a rather awkward moment when the envelope was opened to announce the winner of The Best FIFA Men’s Player was Lionel Messi. Yes, he’s arguably the greatest footballer to have graced The Beautiful Game, but based on the period in question, he hadn’t done a whole lot, and certainly not compared to the likes of Erling Haaland, who had made it to the final three contenders along with Kylian Mbappé.
As it turned out, Messi and Haaland both received the same amount of votes for the award, 48 each, but the Argentine who has been featuring for Inter Miami in the lower reaches of Major League Soccer - unlike the Norwegian who has been lighting up the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League - got the nod thanks to article 12 of the Rules of Allocation.
| Rank | Name | Coaches | Captains | Media | Fans | Scoring |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | 476 | 677 | 315 | 613,293 | 48 |
| 2 | Erling Haaland | 541 | 557 | 729 | 365,893 | 48 |
| 3 | Kylian Mbappé | 302 | 282 | 168 | 201,866 | 35 |
So, with cynics reminding everyone that this is yet another example of why individual awards like these are not always very representative of the appropriate winner, there was quite a lot of interest brewing about who, from captains, coaches and journalists had voted for whom. Here we share the full list.
The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award: all the votes
The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award: Who voted for whom? Full list
Cristiano Ronaldo, a perennial contender for individual accolades, did not make the Men’s Best XI this year. Interestingly, the Portuguese icon abstained from voting, delegating the responsibility to his compatriot Pepe. However, Pepe’s choices raised eyebrows as he omitted Lionel Messi from his top three, opting instead for Bernardo Silva, Erling Haaland, and Victor Osimhen. Based on footballing merit over the period for voting, it’s more surprising that any eyebrows were raised at all. Another high-profiled person leaving the Argentine out of his three was Gareth Southgate. The England manager instead chose Haaland, Rodri, and Silva, from all-conquering Manchester City.
But, as is rather obvious from the result, there were plenty who handed Messi their top vote, and this included the likes of Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski, Christian Pulisic and Virgil van Dijk, to highlight just three.
If you want to relive our live coverage of the ceremony and find out all the winners, here’s how The Best FIFA Awards went down.