Soccer

FIFA The Best 2023: Players and coaches who did not vote for Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi has once again won The Best FIFA award, this time for 2023. However, many national team captains and coaches didn't vote for the Argentine star.

Lionel Messi at the 2022 The Best ceremony.
© Aurelien Meunier/Getty ImagesLionel Messi at the 2022 The Best ceremony.

Lionel Messi will have to make room for another award in his trophy cabinet. The Argentine star who plays for Inter Miami has won his third The Best award by FIFA, this time for his performances in 2023.

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Even though he finished tied with Erling Haaland (both got 48 scoring points), Messi got the upper hand for having more first-choice nominations from national team captains.

While Messi received 107 “five-point scores” from the captains’ vote, Haaland got 64. Even so, it was a tight vote as many players and coaches did not pick Messi as their first option for The Best men’s player in 2023.

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Captains who didn’t vote for Messi

  • Afghanistan
  • Algeria
  • American Samoa
  • Armenia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belarus
  • Benin
  • Bermuda
  • Bhutan
  • Bolivia
  • Botswana
  • Brazil
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Bulgaria
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Cameroon
  • Cayman Islands
  • Congo
  • Costa Rica
  • Côte d’Ivoire
  • Cuba
  • Czechia
  • Dominica
  • El Salvador
  • Eritrea
  • Ethiopia
  • Gabon
  • Germany
  • Ghana
  • Gibraltar
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Guyana
  • Hong Kong, China
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • India
  • IR Iran
  • Iraq
  • Japan
  • Jordan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kosovo
  • Kuwait
  • Kyrgyz Republic
  • Laos
  • Lesotho
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Lithuana
  • Luxembourg
  • Macau
  • Malawi
  • Malaysia
  • Maldives
  • Mali
  • Mauritius
  • Moldova
  • Mongolia
  • Montserrat
  • Morocco
  • Myanmar
  • Namibia
  • New Caledonia
  • New Zealand
  • Nicaragua
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • North Macedonia
  • Norway
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Portugal
  • Republic of Ireland
  • Russia
  • Samoa
  • San Marino
  • São Tomé and Príncipe
  • Serbia
  • Seychelles
  • Singapore
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • South Sudan
  • Spain
  • Sri Lanka
  • Sweden
  • Syria
  • Tajikistan
  • Tanzania
  • Timor-Leste
  • Togo
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Turks and Caicos Islands
  • United Arab Emirates
  • US Virgin Islands
  • Vietnam
  • Zimbabwe
Lionel Messi\'s votes for The Best 2023, revealed by FIFA

see also

Coaches who didn’t vote for Messi

  • Albania
  • Algeria
  • Andorra
  • Angola
  • Armenia
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bangladesh
  • Belgium
  • Belize
  • Benin
  • Bermuda
  • Bhutan
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Botswana
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Bulgaria
  • Burkina Faso
  • Cayman Islands
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Chinese Taipei
  • Congo
  • Congo DR
  • Cook Islands
  • Côte d’Ivoire
  • Cuba
  • Czechia
  • Denmark
  • Djibouti
  • Dominica
  • Ecuador
  • Egypt
  • El Salvador
  • England
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eswatini
  • Ethiopia
  • Faroe Islands
  • Fiji
  • Finland
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Gibraltar
  • Grenada
  • Guam
  • Guatemala
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Haiti
  • Hong Kong, China
  • Hungary
  • India
  • Iraq
  • Jamaica
  • Japan
  • Jordan
  • Kenya
  • Korea Republic
  • Kosovo
  • Kuwait
  • Latvia
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Liechtenstein
  • Macau
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Malaysia
  • Maldives
  • Mali
  • Malta
  • Mauritania
  • Mexico
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Myanmar
  • Namibia
  • Nepal
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Nicaragua
  • Nigeria
  • North Macedonia
  • Norway
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Palestine
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Peru
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Puerto Rico
  • Qatar
  • Republic of Ireland
  • Romania
  • Rwanda
  • Samoa
  • San Marino
  • São Tomé and Príncipe
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Senegal
  • Serbia
  • Sierra Leone
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • Spain
  • Sri Lanka
  • St Kitts and Nevis
  • St Lucia
  • Sweden
  • Tahiti
  • Tanzania
  • The Gambia
  • Togo
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Tunisia
  • Turkmenistan
  • Uganda
  • Ukraine
  • United Arab Emirates
  • US Virgin Islands
  • USA
  • Vietnam
  • Yemen
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