London – The Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has once again won the FIFA best award behind the young stars Erling Holland and Kylian Mbappe. Messi, who plays for US club Inter Miami, was named the 2023 Men’s Football Player of the Year at a ceremony in London on Monday night. This is the third time that Messi has won the FIFA best award. Messi was the FIFA best in 2019 and 2022. This is the first time that a player playing in Major League Soccer in the US has won the FIFA The Best award.
Coaches, captains of national teams, journalists and fans voted for the best men’s football player. The method is to consider 25 percent of the total votes from each category. According to the FIFA website, Messi came first in the votes of fans and national team captains. But in the category of media workers and trainers, Erling Holland came first.
According to reports, Messi overtook Hollande because he had more first-choice votes. Messi and Haaland had 48 points each in the men’s tournament. French star Mbappe got only 35 points. Captains Mbappe, Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah supported Messi. It is also special that Messi voted for Erling Holland. Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo did not make it to the Best XI. Ronaldo did not participate in the voting as the captaincy was given to Portuguese defender Pepe. Pepe voted for Portuguese footballer Bernardo Silva.
Indian national team captain Sunil Chhetri did not vote for Messi. Chhetri’s first choice was Erling Holland. Chhetri’s second and third choices were Spanish star Rodri and Nigeria’s Victor Osimhan. Indian coach Igor Stimach gave the first vote to Rodrigues. Julian Alvarez and Kevin De Bruyne were second and third.
Messi, who won the FIFA World Cup for Argentina in 2022, also won the Ballon d’Or in 2023. Messi, who is training with the Inter Miami club in the US, did not come to London to receive the award. Erling Holland and Kylian Mbappe, who competed with Messi for the award, were also absent from the ceremony.
Messi is currently preparing for the pre-season with the US club. The match is against the El Salvador national team on Friday. Inter Miami’s first game in the 2024 Major League is on February 21 against Real Salt Lake. Before that, Inter Miami has warm-up matches against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nasser club. Messi joined Inter Miami last year after leaving French club PSG. The Argentine star chose the US club after rejecting the offer of crores from Saudi Arabia.