Lionel Messi won the third award for best FIFA men’s player of the year, with Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe missing out on the crown narrowly.
Messi was recognized for his performances in the 2022 FIFA World Cup and that had a lot of say in helping him win the prestigious award.
The 36-year-old was not present at the award ceremony and his former Barcelona teammate, Thierry Henry collected the award on his behalf.
The Argentine was also named in FIFA FIFPro World XI alongside a plethora of Manchester City superstars like Haaland, Mbappe, John Stones and Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva.
The narrative in the media was that other players in the list were more deserving of the award however, in October, Pep Guardiola, the former manager of Lionel Messi and Manchester City manager summed it up perfectly.
“I always said that the Ballon d’Or had to be two sections: one for Messi and one for the others. But of course, Messi, if you tell me the worst season of Messi it is the best for the rest of them. Both deserve it.”
Pakistan’s premium centre-back and captain, Easah Suliman voted for Haaland at first place and then followed it by Manchester city duo Julian Alvarez and Rodri at second and third place respectively in the pecking order.
Pakistan’s men national team coach Stephen Constantine voted for Kevin De Bruyne, Haaland and Mbappe in the same order for the Best player of the year 2023.
Renowned Pakistani football journalist, Alam Zeb Safi, voted for Haaland at first priority, Kylian Mbappe at second and Victor Osimhen at third.
Pep Guardiola took home the Best FIFA Men’s Coach of the Year award for overseeing Man City’s historic treble victory last year in May.
The results of the award means that Messi has now won the title for a third time, with the first coming in 2019, before his second last year.