FIFA Best: Erling Haaland’s Father's Reaction Spotted After Lionel Messi Wins 2023 Award

• Erling Haaland's father's reaction was telling after Lionel Messi won the FIFA Best Award
• Messi won the FIFA Best Player award, defeating Haaland and ex-PSG teammate Mbappe
• None of the final nominees was present at the award ceremony hosted by Thierry Henry

Lionel Messi once again beat Erling Haaland to another individual award after he was announced as the FIFA Best Player for 2023.

The ceremony, held at the Apollo Theatre in London on January 15, was conspicuously missed by the two frontrunners and the other nominee, Kylian Mbappe.

Messi maximized on his World Cup triumph with Argentina in late 2022 to scoop the award. Haaland's treble-winning campaign with Manchester City was only enough for second place in the award decided by captains and coaches of national teams.

How Messi won FIFA Best award

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The silver lining for the Norwegian was that he, however, tied with Messi on total points accumulated, the former Barcelona captain was announced as the winner due to receiving more 'five-point' votes.

FIFA's rules of allocation dictate that in place of a tie, the person who got more first-place votes is declared the winner. Players who get first-place votes are awarded five points, while second-place gets three points. Those in third place get a point.

Messi and Haaland finished with 48 points, but the former got more first-place votes.

Erling Haaland's father's reaction

Haaland's father, who was in the auditorium, was far from amused when Messi was declared the best player.

Here is a video of his reaction

It is the third award Messi has walked away with after previous wins in FIFA Best 2022 and the 2023 Ballon d'Or award, where he won a record-extending eighth crown.

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Thierry Henry mocks Tottenham

Sports Brief has also reported that Thierry Henry roasted Tottenham Hotspur fans at the FIFA Best Awards ceremony.

The Arsenal icon received Messi's award on his behalf before turning to his fellow co-host Reshmin Chowdhury, a Spurs fan, and telling her,

"Unfortunately, the winner is not here, so I will take it. You are a Tottenham fan, right? You can touch it, too. You usually don't get your hands on a trophy."