15 January 2024 , 23:43
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Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland finished level in voting for the FIFA Best Men's Player award. However, Messi was declared the winner due to the weighting of national team captains' votes, where each vote counts for five points, and Messi having a higher count.
On Monday, at The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony in London, Messi was announced as the award winner. The forward for Inter Miami and Argentina beat his fellow finalists, Manchester City striker Haaland, and PSG's Kylian Mbappe, to take away the trophy.
Messi and Haaland tied for first place, each earning 48 points. However, the Inter Miami star benefited from the committee's rules to ensure that ties would not happen on the night of the winner's ceremony, and the fact he received more votes from national team captain's meant he got the nod.
The 36-year-old opted not to attend the ceremony in London to receive his award personally. Instead, his former Barcelona teammate, Thierry Henry, who hosted the show, accepted the accolade on behalf of the Argentine.
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In addition to winning the Best FIFA Men's Player award, the 36-year-old was honoured with a place in the FIFA FIFPRO Men's World XI. His fellow nominees Haaland and Mbappe were included, along with several Manchester City players - John Stones, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Kevin De Bruyne, and Bernardo Silva.
Messi has won FIFA's Best Men's Player award in 2019, 2022 and 2023. His latest win moves him ahead of rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the accolade twice since it was founded in 2016.
The recipient of The Best FIFA Men's Player, Best Coach and Best Women's Player awards is determined through a comprehensive voting process involving four key stakeholder groups: national team captains, national team coaches, journalists, and fans participating in public voting. According to FIFA, each group holds an equal weight of 25% in the overall voting process.
Messi was named Best FIFA Men's Player for the second straight year (Christian Liewig - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)Voters rank three players for the award, assigning five points to the first choice, three to the second, and one to the third. After the conclusion of the voting period, the points are tallied, and the player with the highest total emerges as the winner.
In a tie, the player with more first-choice votes prevails. If the tie persists, preference is given to the player receiving more votes from all team captains or, if necessary, team coaches before resorting to additional tie-break methods defined by FIFA.
Messi further solidified his status when he secured his eighth Ballon d'Or award earlier in the year, setting a record for the most wins and surpassing Haaland. Despite winning the Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain in 2022/2023 and contributing 21 goals and 20 assists, his domestic achievements were overshadowed by Haaland in the eyes of several pundits.
Haaland's season saw him clinch the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, and FA Cup, along with an impressive goal tally of 52. Many believe he should have won the award, but after a tie on votes, it was Messi adding another trophy to his huge collection.