Lionel Messi Named FIFA Best Men’s Player of 2023 Over Haaland, Mbappé

Joe Maher – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

As expected, Inter Miami and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi was named the FIFA’s Best Men’s Player of 2023 on Monday.

Messi and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland actually tied with 48 scoring points in voting submitted by coaches, national team captains, media members and fans, but Messi’s advantage in first-place votes from team captains was used as the tiebreaker.

PSG and French superstar Kylian Mbappé finished third in the voting with 35 scoring points, followed by Belgium and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne (32 points) and Nigeria and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen (24 points).

On the women’s side, Barcelona and Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí took home the FIFA’s The Best Women’s award.

Both Messi and Bonmatí were the favorites after the former won his eighth Ballon d’Or award and the latter took home the Ballon d’Or Féminin.

Technically, Messi’s triumph for Argentina at the 2022 World Cup wasn’t taken into consideration for FIFA’s award since the timeline was between Dec. 19, 2022 and Aug. 20, 2023. Argentina won the World Cup Final on Dec. 19, 2022.

That likely led to the voting being as close as it was, though Messi still led PSG to a Ligue 1 title last season before departing for Inter Miami, where he spearheaded a Leagues Cup triumph.

Haaland, who led Manchester City to the treble of a Premier League title, Champions League crown and FA Cup triumph, set an EPL record with 36 goals last season. He also scored an incredible 52 goals across 53 total appearances in all competitions.

Five of Haaland’s teammates were named to the Men’s World XI team: John Stones, Kyle Walker and Rúben Dias among the defenders and Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne among the midfielders. Manchester City’s Éderson was named the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year and Pep Guardiola the Men’s Coach of the Year as well.

Bonmatí’s World Cup triumph did count toward the voting since Spain won the title on Aug. 20. She also led Barcelona to a Liga F title

“It’s been an incredible and unique year that I will remember for the rest of my life,” she said at the London ceremony. “I owe this to the teams that I play with: Barcelona and the national team. Without my teammates I would not be here picking up these awards. I will always be thankful to those who have not failed me—my family and my friends.”