Lionel Messi Snubs Ronaldo And Lewandowski For FIFA Best Player Award as Voting is Revealed

Lionel Messi Snubs Ronaldo And Lewandowski For FIFA Best Player Award as Voting is Revealed

Chukwu Ikechukwu
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:54 PM
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  • Robert Lewandowski was the big winner at the FIFA Best Awards in Zurich as the Polish striker picked up the award for the second time in a row
  • Neither Ronaldo nor Messi voted for each other despite not being included in the final three nominees
  • Messi awarded his votes to his PSG teammates Neymar and Mbappé, with Karim Benzema taking his final slot

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo did not vote for one another, while award winner Robert Lewandowski nominated both men for the Best FIFA Men's Player prize.

Lionel Messi snubs Ronaldo and Lewandowski for FIFA Best Player Award as voting is revealed
Lionel Messi won the Balon Dor in December last year but missed out on the FIFA Best Award. Photo by John Berry
Source: Getty Images

Voting details for the FIFA Best Men's Player award have been revealed and there are some highly interesting revelations.

Lewandowski beat Messi and Mo Salah to the award for the second year running after scoring a record 41 Bundesliga goals as Bayern Munich won the league again the last term.

Marca revealed that National team captains, coaches, and members of the media from each country in FIFA were asked to choose their top three players for 2021. The votes from captains and coaches accounted for 25 percent of the final vote and it has now been confirmed who the top players voted for to get the award.

PSG forward Lionel Messi voted for fellow teammates Neymar and Kylian Mbappe alongside Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema in his top three for the FIFA Best Awards snubbing long-term rival Cristiano Ronaldo and eventual winner Robert Lewandowski.

Poland's Robert Lewandowski won the Best Men's Player award for the second straight year did vote for Messi, but he then opted for Chelsea's Jorginho in second and Cristiano Ronaldo in third.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo, who won a special award at this year's ceremony, selected Lewandowski, N'Golo Kante, and Jorginho in that order.

According to the Sports Bible, Messi has only voted for long-time rival Ronaldo on two occasions in 2018 and 2019 respectively, with Ronaldo snubbing the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner from his shortlist every year apart from 2020.

Cristiano Ronaldo Wins Prestigious FIFA Award After Record-Breaking Year

Earlier Sportsbrief reported Man United marksman Cristiano Ronaldo has won the FIFA Special Award after a record-breaking 2021.

Ronaldo was snubbed from the shortlist for the FIFA Best Player of the Year, with Bayern ace Robert Lewandowski and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah among those nominated.

However, the former Real Madrid star must be proud of himself as he was among a number of football personalities who picked individual prizes during the awards ceremony held in Zurich, Switzerland, on Monday, January 17.

Ronaldo won a special FIFA award for becoming the men's all-time top scorer back in September 2021.

At the time, the Portuguese international scored twice for his country against the Republic of Ireland to take his international goals tally to 115 goals in 184 appearances.

In his acceptance speech, Ronaldo thanked his teammates and everyone who has been behind him to help him in hitting the milestone.

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Chukwu Ikechukwu
Chukwu Ikechukwu Godwin is a journalist with over 9 years of experience in the Nigerian media industry. He has worked both in Radio (Today FM, Rhythm FM, Wish FM) and Television (Silverbird TV) as a Sports Analyst..
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