Ronaldo Out, Messi In, FIFA Reveals Nominees for 2023 The Best Award

• The 2023 FIFA The Best nominees have been revealed
• Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland made the list
• Al-Nassr striker Cristiano Ronaldo missed out for the second year in a row

FIFA has announced the 12 nominees for The Best award. Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland have made the list, while Cristiano Ronaldo is missing on the list.

Lionel Messi, who led Argentina to World Cup glory in 2022, is looking to win the award for the third time. The Barcelona legend won the Golden Ball.

Messi is the favourite to win both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA's The Best award in 2023 because of his 2022 World Cup win. However, he will be facing a tough challenge from Haaland, who scored 52 goals and won the treble with Manchester City, per Transfermarkt.

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Mbappe also had a phenomenal 2022/23 season. He won the Golden Boot at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 after scoring 8 goals, including a hat-trick in the final.

Other nominees include Julian Alvarez, Marcelo Brozovic, Kevin De Bruyne, Decland Rice, Victor Osimhen and others.

The Best past winners

Ronaldo won the first The Best awards in 2016 and 2017 following his Champions League wins with Real Madrid. The Al-Nassr striker has not won the award since then.

Messia and Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski have won the award twice, while Luka Modric won it in 2018 after leading Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final.

Ronaldo had a turbulent 202/23 campaign. He started the season playing for Manchester United, but after clashing with manager Erik ten Hag, he ended up playing for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.

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Portugal were also eliminated from the World Cup in the quarter-final.

Ronaldo misses out on 2023 Ballon d'Or

For the first time since 2003, Ronaldo was left off the list of Ballon d'Or nominees for 2023, Sports Brief reported.

The Portuguese icon has been a constant presence among the nominees for football's most prestigious individual honour ever since his debut with Manchester United twenty years ago.

Consequently, Ronaldo's absence from the Ballon d'Or nomination list marks the first time in two decades that he hasn't been recognized.