- Lionel Messi was crowned The Best FIFA Men’s Player for 2023 at the FIFA Best awards ceremony in London
- Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was crowned the men’s Coach of the year
On Monday, Lionel Messi was crowned The Best FIFA Men’s Player for 2023 at the FIFA Best awards ceremony in London. The Inter Miami forward beat Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe to pick up the award for a third time, having done so in 2019 and 2022. He has won the award more than any other player now.
The Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year is the latest prestigious award Lionel Messi has received and he wouldn’t have asked for a better way to start the new year. The Argentine forward won his eighth Ballon d’Or towards the end of last year and is the only player to ever win those awards while playing in the Major League Soccer (MLS).
Lionel Messi has been named Men’s Player of the Year three times. Photo/ Tribuna.com.
The FIFA Best Awards generally cover a calendar year. This year, the men’s awards were based on the performance of the individuals from 19 December 2022 to 20 August 2023. The ceremony took place at the Hammersmith Apollo in London and was attended by big names in the football world.
How Did Messi Win The Award?
A mix of votes from football fans on FIFA’s website, journalists, national team captains and managers were used to decide the winners at FIFA Best Awards. Each of the four categories accounted for 25%.
Messi and Haaland finished on the same amount of points, but the Argentine was crowned the winner because of more first-place nominations from national team captains. Some of the captains who voted for Messi include France’s Kylian Mbappe, England’s Harry Kane, Croatia’s Luka Modric, Scotland’s Andy Robertson and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah.
Messi began 2023 in France playing for PSG but left in the summer to join David Beckham’s Inter Miami. The gifted playmaker scored nine goals as the Parisians won the Ligue 1 title and ten goals in just seven games to help Inter Miami win the Leagues Cup.
Messi’s focus is now in the preseason games with Inter Miami as the 2024 MLS season is in the horizon. The Herons will officially return to action on February 21 against Real Salt Lake to begin the MLS season. But before then, there will be several friendlies, including one against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia on February 1.
Some could argue that Haaland had a better 2023 as he played a massive role in Manchester City winning the Treble. The Cytizens also won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup before the end of the year. Apart from the trophies, Haaland scored a club record 52 goals, including a record 36 goals in the Premier League.
On the other hand, Mbappe also had a stellar 2023 which explains why he is among the top three contenders for The Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year. Just like Messi, he also won the Ligue 1 title, but also won the Golden Boot after finishing as the top scorer in Ligue 1.
Other Winners At The FIFA Best Awards
Pep Guardiola was named best male coach. Photo/ Manchester City FC.
Apart from Lionel Messi, there were also other winners at last night’s event. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was crowned the men’s Coach of the year. Guardiola led City to the Treble and also triumph in UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. He won the award ahead of Inter Milan’s Simone Inzaghi and Italy national team coach Luciano Spalletti.
Inzaghi was nominated for leading Inter to victory at the Coppa Italia and taking them to the final of the Champions League. Meanwhile, Spalletti received nomination after guiding the Naples to their first Serie A triumph in over 30 years last season.
The Puskas award, named after Hungarian former footballer Ferenc Puskas, went to Guilherme Madruga, who plays for Botafogo. The 23-year-old scored a spectacular volley while playing in the second-tier of Brazilian football.
The Men’s Team of the Year was dominated by Manchester City, who had six players. Real Madrid had three players, Inter Miami one and Paris Saint-Germain one.
Here are the players who made it to the Men’s Team of the Year: Thibaut Courtois, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Kevin de Bruyne, Jude Bellingham, Bernardo Silva, Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland.
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