Real Madrid’s Brazilian star Vinicius Jr. took home the FIFA The Best award for 2024, leaving Inter Miami’s Argentine captain, Lionel Messi, outside the top five. Messi finished in sixth place in the final standings.
After winning the award in 2023, Messi finished in sixth place this time around. He trailed behind Vinicius Jr., Rodri, Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal, and Lamine Yamal. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo did not make the finalist list at all, marking a notable absence for the Portuguese star.
The FIFA The Best award is determined through a voting process that includes national team captains, coaches, and journalists from around the world. Now, the breakdown of votes that Lionel Messi received from captains, coaches, and journalists has been revealed.
The votes of the players elected in first place gave five points, while second place gave three and third place only one. Here are those who chose Messi in first place to be the winner of the FIFA The Best award.
Lionel Messi poses for photos with The Best FIFA Men s Player Trophy during The Best FIFA Football Awards 2023. (IMAGO / ABACAPRESS)
Captains
- Anguilla – Germain Hughes
- Bangladesh – Sohel Rana
- Chile – Arturo Vidal
- Fiji – Roy Krishna
- Gibraltar – Liam Walker
- Italy – Gianluigi Donnarumma
- Laos – Bounphachan Bounkong
- Lesotho – Sekhoane Benedict Moerane
- Malta – Steve Borg
- Samoa – Andrew Setefano
- Solomon Islands – Javin Alick
- Tahiti – Teaonui Tehau
- Tunisia – Ali Abdi
see also
Vinicius shares emotional message after winning The Best award, confronts critics with strong words
Coaches
- Argentina – Lionel Scaloni
- Cambodia – Koji Gyotoku
- Chile – Ricardo Gareca
- Colombia – Néstor Lorenzo
- Cook Islands – Tuka Tisam
- Dominican Republic – Marcelo Neveleff
- Ecuador – Sebastián Beccacece
- Fiji – Sherman Rob
- Korea DPR – Yong Nam Sin
- Kuwait – Juan Antonio Pizzi
- Malaysia – Pau Marti Vicente
- Mexico – Javier Aguirre
- Myanmar – Myo Hlaing Win
- Nigeria – Augustine Owen Eguavoen
- Tonga – Kilifi Solia Uele
- Uruguay – Marcelo Bielsa
- USA – Mauricio Pochettino
- Vietnam – Sang Sik Kim
Media
- Congo – Emmanuel Kaba
- Samoa – Vaelei Von Dincklage
- São Tomé and Príncipe – Suahills Dendê
Messi’s votes revealed
As captain of the Argentina national team, Lionel Messi had the responsibility of casting his votes for the best player and coach of the season. For his first pick, Messi chose Barcelona’s rising star Lamine Yamal, who played a key role in Spain’s triumph at the 2024 UEFA Euro Cup.
His second vote went to Kylian Mbappe, the French forward from Real Madrid. Messi rounded out his selections by casting his final vote for the eventual winner of the award, Brazilian standout Vinicius Jr.
Messi’s votes for Coach of the Year
When it came to voting for Coach of the Year, Lionel Messi placed Argentina’s head coach Lionel Scaloni in the top spot. Scaloni, who has led Argentina to multiple international titles, earned Messi’s first vote.
