Lionel Messi took home another sweeping win at the FIFA Best awards on Monday night, being crowned the Best Men's Player.
Unlike the Ballon d’Or, which is voted for by journalists, the FIFA Best awards are determined by media representatives, national team coaches, national team captains and supporters. Each group is equally weighted, ensuring that each category is evenly represented when it comes to deciding the winners.
The way each national team boss and skipper voted is also published by FIFA after the event. That means that fans can check in to see who each of them picked for first, second and third place.
Interestingly, none of Martin Odegaard, Mohamed Salah or Harry Kane voted for exact top three that ultimately ended top of the standings. Arsenal and Norway captain Odegaard did put Messi, who won the World Cup with Argentina, in first place.
But he then put Manchester City star Erling Haaland, who has enjoyed a stunning start to life in the Premier League, in second. And his top three was rounded off by Messi's PSG team-mate Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe became only the second man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final in December, though his France side ultimately lost out to Messi's Argentina. Haaland finished fifth in the actual voting, while Mbappe came home in second place.
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Liverpool star and Egypt captain Salah meanwhile went rogue with his voting, putting Real Madrid winger Vinicius top of his order. The Brazilian has impressed for Los Blancos, scoring the winning goal in last May's Champions League final.
In second place, Salah voted for Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, with the Egyptian selecting PSG right-back Achraf Hakimi in third. Hakimi also helped Morocco to become the first African side to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup.
De Bruyne finished 10th in the actual standings, just ahead of Vinicius in 11th, while Hakimi ended up in eighth place. Kane came closest to getting the final top three, also putting Messi in top spot.
He then selected Sadio Mane, who left Liverpool for Bayern Munich in the summer. And the England captain's top three was rounded out by Karim Benzema, who almost single-handledly inspired Real Madrid to winning the Champions League last season.
Messi of course finished top in the final standings, with Mane ending up in sixth place. But Kane's pick for third, Benzema, did end the night in third, with Messi paying tribute to his runners-up.
“It’s a pleasure to be here again, with Benzema, with Kylian, as both of them had a great year. This is an honour for me," the Argentine superstar said.
"I want to thank my colleagues, including my manager Scaloni, and we’re here representing them all (the Argentina team), as we would not be here without them. It recognises the role they played in what we achieved.
“It’s been a crazy year for me. I have achieved my dream, after so much fighting, and so much determination to win it. Winning the World Cup is the most beautiful thing that has happened in my career. It’s a dream for many, but few can win it.
“I want to thank my family, the people of Argentina, as it will remain in our memories forever. I want to send a kiss to my children, who are watching this, Thiago Mateo and Ciro, I love you…… now go to bed!”
