This Monday, Lionel Messi won the FIFA Best Player award for the third time, in a historic and close vote with the Norwegian Erling Haaland that was defined by the number of captains who chose the symbol and reference of the world champion team in Qatar 2022. In other words, Leo was elected by his own colleagues. Although one of them, former goalkeeper Iker Casillas, questioned the award.
The vote for FIFA's The Best awards was based on the participation of captains and coaches of national teams, journalists and fans that led Messi, Haaland and France's Kylian Mbappé to share the shortlist to define the most outstanding footballer of the period from December 19, 2022 to August 20, 2023.
As reported by FIFA, each captain, coach and journalist chose their three favorite players with 5 points for the first, 3 for the second and 1 for the third.
The Rosario and the Norwegian, with 48 points, relegated the Frenchman (35) and FIFA, to proclaim the winner, appealed to article 12 of the Allocation Rules, which weighs the votes of the captains. In this item, Messi scored 677 points to Haaland's 557.
Thierry Henry receives the award dedicated to Messi, absent from the FIFA gala. Photo: Adrian DENNIS / AFP.
Messi prevailed over Haaland in the fan vote, with 613,293 to 365,893, but was outvoted in the journalists' vote (729 to 315) and coaches (541 to 476).
The complex system that left Messi as the winner aroused criticism in different parts of the world, especially in Spain and more specifically in Madrid, the home of Real Madrid that for years had Leo as its rival in the classics. A White House official, Iker Casillas, went for more and tweeted about it.
"You create beautiful prizes and you're ruining them by not doing things fairly. ' The Smile' rather. Anyway, good night!", said the former Real goalkeeper, world champion with the Spanish National Team in 2010.
You create beautiful prizes and you're ruining them by not doing things fairly. "The Smile" rather. Anyway, good night!
— Iker Casillas (@IkerCasillas) January 16, 2024
Even though he didn't mention Leo in his commentary, the public took Casillas' words as if they were directed at Messi. And they replied with all kinds of messages, some memes and an old invoice from 2012.
"Iker, Messi scored the best goal in the history of the Champions League," read one, referring to the 2011 Real - Barça match, in which the Argentine star scored one of Maradona's goals in European competition.
Messi won The Best in 2022 and then lifted the Ballon d'Or. Photo: AP Photo/Lynne Sladky.
Another chicane him with a marketing strategy carried out by a beer brand when Messi reached 644 goals in Barcelona, surpassing Pelé's record with the most goals in the same club: they gave a porrón of "birra" per goal conceded to each goalkeeper who suffered the Rosarino, and Casillas received 17.
There was also the one who mentioned who decided to give their vote to Messi, including Luka Modric and Federico Valverde, emblems of Real Madrid 2024.
Let's remember that some time ago Budweiser, in tribute to a record of Lionel Messi, decided to send the goalkeepers that the flea faced a bottle for each goal he scored on them. To many he sent one, two, three. He sent Casillas 17. We love you Iker, it was fucked up, we all know that... pic.twitter.com/neOwu1wgjX
— LACOBRAAA (@lautarodeIcampo) January 16, 2024
But among so many charges, there was a very football-like argument to respond to poor Iker: they reminded him who he voted for for the 2012 Ballon d'Or, which was also won by Leo. That year, the then captain of Madrid had opted for Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi, in that order, the first two his teammates in the dressing room of the Merengue and the third, from Barcelona but world champion with Spain.
It is worth remembering that in that 2012 season Messi achieved a record that can hardly be surpassed: he became the footballer with the highest number of goals in a calendar year, with 91 goals. To get an idea of such a record, in 2023 the top scorer of the year was Cristiano Ronaldo with 54. For Casillas, it wasn't enough.
The captains' vote for Messi
Among the captains who voted for Messi are the Chilean Gary Medel (with whom he had a media discussion at the 2019 Copa America); Colombia's Radamel Falcao; the aforementioned Luka Modric; Ecuador's Enner Valencia; Mbappé himself; Italy's Gianluigi Donnarumma; Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa; Paraguay's Gustavo Gómez; Egypt's Mohamed Salah and England's Harry Kane.
Messi, who could not vote for himself, chose Haaland first, followed by Mbappe and current Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez, his teammate at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Modric's vote, key to giving Messi the award. Photo: Xinhua/Li Ga.
Among the coaches, the Rosario star was chosen by Lionel Scaloni; Marcelo Bielsa (Uruguay); Brazil's Fernando Diniz; Eduardo Berizzo (coached Chile); Néstor Lorenzo (Colombia); and Italy's Luciano Spaletti, among others.
The top 12 players in FIFA The Best were: Messi (48), Haaland (48), Mbappé (35); Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne (32); Nigeria's Victor Osimhen and Spain's Rodri (24); Julian Alvarez (21); Portugal's Bernardo Silva (18); Germany's Ilkay Gündogan (13); Georgia's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Croatia's Marcelo Brozovic (7); and England's Declan Rice (1).