Erling Haaland‘s fantastic year with Manchester City still hasn’t been enough for him to win another award apart from the UEFA player of the season. The Norwegian striker came close to winning The Best award by FIFA for 2023, but he’s still one of the players who couldn’t win the trophy in the same era as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Argentine superstar was also in the running alongside with PSG sensation Kylian Mbappe, and even though he finished tied with the Norwegian on 48 points, the first-choice nominations from national team captains gave Leo the upper hand.
With this result, not only does Haaland have to continue waiting for more recognition, but he was also prevented from joining Luka Modric and Robert Lewandowski as the only players to win The Best in the same era as Messi and Ronaldo.
Modric, Lewandowski remain the only The Best winners in Messi-CR7 era
FIFA created this prize in 2016 to take distance from the Ballon d’Or, which returned to France Football’s control, and with Messi’s recent success, only four different players continue making up the list of The Best winners.
Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring in a Champions League game against Young Boys
- 2016: Cristiano Ronaldo
- 2017: Cristiano Ronaldo
- 2018: Luka Modric
- 2019: Lionel Messi
- 2020: Robert Lewandowski
- 2021: Robert Lewandowski
- 2022: Lionel Messi
- 2023: Lionel Messi
see also
Which players and coaches didn"t vote for Lionel Messi at The Best FIFA 2022?
The Best shows same Messi-Ronaldo dominance than the Ballon d’Or
While the Ballon d’Or has more significance in world soccer, The Best has become an interesting alternative. But both have so far been dominated by Messi and Ronaldo. In only eight years of existence, the award given by FIFA has only seen two different winners apart from Messi or Ronaldo – just like the Ballon d’Or since 2008.
The Portuguese star won his first Ballon d’Or in 2008, and from then on, it started an era of absolute dominance between him and Messi, as they emerged victorious in 13 of the last 15 editions. Ronaldo won five Ballon d’Ors, whereas Messi set a record with eight triumphs. Luka Modric in 2018 and Karim Benzema in 2022 are the only players who managed to end with Messi and Ronaldo’s supremacy in the Ballon d’Or.
