Argentina's Lionel Messi.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Lionel Messi continues to grab the spotlight and the Argentine's latest achievement has been winning The Best FIFA Men's Player award 2023.
Messi secured 48 points, same as runner-up Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker who's currently at Manchester City has had a prolific season goal-wise.
So, how did Messi manage to win the award?
Four separate votes are conducted to determine the winner, and they each contribute to 25 per cent of the total result.
Sports Illustrated reported that journalists voted overwhelmingly in favour of Erling Haaland, who continues to compete at top levels, be it the Premier League or the Champions League, while Messi after his heyday, has moved to Major League Soccer where he plays for Inter Miami - a far cry from his Barcelona or PSG days.
Haaland also got the better of Messi in the vote among national team coaches, as per SI.
Messi, however, was the clear favourite among the national team captains.
The rules state that each coach and captain can vote for three players, and their first pick gets five points, while the second lands up with three points, and one point goes to the third pick. Messi got more first-choice nominations in votes from these captains, making him the winner as per FIFA's Rules of Allocation (article 12).
Football stalwarts like Mbappe, captain of the French national team; Harry Kane, the English captain; and Mohamed Salah, captain of the Egyptian national team, voted for Messi.
Messi, also the captain of Argentina, voted in the awards though his first choice was Haaland ahead of both former PSG teammate Mbappe and Argentine team-member Julian Alvarez.
The little magician also won the fourth category by a landslide, which was open to the public, with fans making their choice on FIFA.com.
Messi, notably, was not present to collect his award.