FIFA’s best awards will take place on Monday evening, with Vinicius Jr. and Rodri both on the shortlist for the best men’s player award, as Vinicius Jr. was beaten by the Manchester City star for the Ballon d’Or earlier this year.
Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi are also on the 11-man shortlist for the gong, which allows captains of national teams to have a say on all their individual awards as part of the voting.
The coach, an eminent journalist of the country and fans also get a chance to have their say with the top three in each category.
But players are known to be very smart when it comes to votes and this can be seen in the selection of the two best players in history.
There is mutual respect between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have dominated individual awards over the years.
Yet, despite this, neither of them have ever chosen the other as their number one selection in any individual award – be it FIFA awards or the prestigious Ballon d’Or.
When the Ballon d’Or was merged into FIFA, there were no votes between the pair until Messi finally pulled off the spell – beating Ronaldo in his top three for two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019. kept.
Ronaldo returned the favor a year later and placed Messi second in his top three for ‘The Best’, when Robert Lewandowski was the winner.
Last year, Messi beat Erling Haaland to win the FIFA Men’s Best Player award, and named the Norwegian as his first choice in a top three that included Mbappe and his Argentina teammate Julian Alvarez.
Lionel Messi won the previous FIFA Best Men’s Player title. Image: Getty
Although he has been Portugal captain for many years, he decided not to vote in both 2022 and 2023, and was replaced by his international teammate Pepe.
lionel messi award voting
Ballon d’Or:
2010: did not vote
2011: Xavi, Iniesta, Aguero
2012: Iniesta, Xavi, Aguero
2013: Iniesta, Xavi, Neymar
2014: Di Maria, Iniesta, Mascherano
2015: Suarez, Neymar, Iniesta
FIFA ‘Best’:
2016: Suarez, Neymar, Iniesta
2017: Suarez, Iniesta, Neymar
2018: Modric, Mbappé, Ronaldo
2019: Mane, Ronaldo, De Jong
2020: Neymar, Mbappé, Lewandowski
2021: Neymar, Mbappé, Benzema
2022: Neymar, Mbappé, Benzema
2023: Haaland, Mbappé, Alvarez
cristiano ronaldo award voting
Ballon d’Or:
2010: Xavi, Casillas, Sneijder
2011: did not vote
2012: Did not vote
2013: Falcao, Bale, Ozil
2014: Ramos, Bale, Benzema
2015: Benzema, James Rodriguez, Bale
FIFA’s ‘Best’:
2016: Bale, Modric, Ramos
2017: Modric, Ramos, Marcelo
2018: Varane, Modric, Griezmann
2019: De Ligt, De Jong, Mbappé
2020: Lewandowski, Messi, Mbappé
2021: Lewandowski, Kante, Jorginho
2022: did not vote
2023: did not vote