Lionel Messi was crowned FIFA Men’s Player of 2023 at The Best FIFA Football Awards in London, pipping Erling Haaland to the prize.
Messi and Haaland were tied with 48 scoring points each, through a system of voting whereby each men's international coach and captain voted, as well as journalists and fans with each making up 25 per cent of the overall vote.
However Messi won due to more first-choice nominations from international captains, with 107 compared to Haaland’s 64. Though the Argentinian did vote for Haaland as his player of the year.
Despite Haaland missing out, it was an evening where Manchester City dominated the honours with Ederson winning the Men’s Goalkeeper award while Pep Guardiola took home the Men’s Coach prize after his side won the treble.
And six Man City players made up the FIFPRO Men’s World XI – John Stones, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Kevin de Bruyne and Haaland. It’s the most by any one team since Barcelona had six representatives in 2010 under Guardiola.
Inter Miami star Lionel Messi has won the FIFA Best men's award at a ceremony in London
The Argentinian finished top of a three-man shortlist to lift the individual accolade
Meanwhile, Aitana Bonmati was named as FIFA's Best women's player at the awards ceremony
Asked by Thierry Henry, who played under Guardiola at Barcelona, what the difference between his two treble-winning sides is, Guardiola said: ‘Barcelona is the club of my heart. I was born there and they are a part of my life but with Man City, it is special because we have never been here before.’
Guardiola then refused to answer a question from Henry asking which team was better, instead replying ‘F*ck’ and holding his head in his hands.
Messi beat Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to the main prize, which took into account the period between 19 December 2022 and 20 August 2023, therefore excluding the 2022 World Cup, which Argentina won.
So in effect, his contributions for PSG and Inter Miami earned the 36-year-old the accolade ahead of Haaland’s treble-winning exploits in a season where the Norwegian scored a club-record 52 goals in all competitions as Man City won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, with 30 of them coming in the time period the awards were based on.
In comparison, Messi netted nine times for PSG in that period as they won Ligue 1, before scoring 10 goals in seven games for Inter Miami, who won the inaugural Leagues Cup in the US.
Messi has now won the award more times than any other player in history, with this title adding to his successes in 2019 and 2022.
The likes of Harry Kane, Mbappe, Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson, Aaron Ramsey and Luka Modric all voted for Messi while Ilkay Gundogan and Casemiro voted for Haaland. England manager Gareth Southgate also gave his vote to Haaland.
Thierry Henry was left to collect Messi's Best award as the Argentinian stayed in America
Erling Haaland's 52-goal season wasn't enough for him to finish above Messi in the rankings
Kylian Mbappe missed out on the Best Men's title despite making the three-man shortlist
The Lionesses also featured heavily with Mary Earps winning the Women’s Goalkeeper award for the second year running, while seven England players including Earps were named in the Women’s World XI. Lucy Bronze, Alex Greenwood, Keira Walsh, Alessia Russo, Lauren James, Ella Toone all joined Earps in the eleven.
‘It’s not been the easiest journey to get here. Some would say I took the scenic route,’ said Earps. ‘I’ve had to wait a long time for this success but it all makes total sense now,’ she added.
In the last year she has won the Finalissima with the Lionesses and reached the Women’s World Cup final, as well as winning the Golden Glove award at the tournament. Earps was also named the best keeper in the Women’s Super League and won BBC Sports Personality of the Year last month.
Sarina Wiegman won the Women’s Coach award for the second consecutive year after following up the Lionesses success at the Euros in 2022 by leading England to their first ever World Cup final in Australia, where they lost to Spain.
Mary Earps was named the Best women's goalkeeper by FIFA at Monday's awards ceremony
England head coach Sarina Wiegman claimed FIFA's Best women's coach title for a fourth time