Messi voted for Neymar ahead of PSG team mate and rival Mbappe for The Best award
Lionel Messi voted for Neymar ahead of Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema at The Best FIFA Football Awards.
Messi was named the men’s best player in the world at the ceremony in Paris after seeing off competition from Benzema and Mbappe.
Given his status as Argentina captain, Messi was permitted to vote and he elected for Neymar as his first choice ahead of another of his PSG team-mates in Mbappe.
Votes were cast by supporters, national team captains, national team coaches and 300 journalists from various nations, with each of the four pillars given 25 per cent of the vote.
England captain Harry Kane voted for Messi, Sadio Mane and Benzema as his top three. Kane didn’t include Mbappe, who was part of the France side that knocked England out of the World Cup at the quarter-finals stage.
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, the captain of Egypt, selected Vinicius Junior as his first choice. The Brazilian star scored the winner for Real Madrid against Liverpool in the Champions League final last season.
Salah opted against including his former Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane in his top three – there were frequent suggestions of discontent between the pair when they played together. Instead, Salah round off his top three by choosing Kevin De Bruyne and Achraf Hakimi.
Pepe, the Portugal captain who previously played for Real Madrid, didn’t include his old Barcelona rival Messi in his top three. Instead he chose Mbappe, Modric and Benzema.
Meanwhile, England boss Gareth Southgate went for Messi, Luka Modric and Mbappe.
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni unsurprisingly voted for Messi as his winner, with another of his players named in second place in Julian Alvarez. Modric was his third choice.
France boss Didier Deschamps went for Mbappe ahead of Benzema and Messi.
Hugo Lloris, the France captain, opted for an identical trio as his manager in the same order.
Korea Republic boss Michael Franz Muller, Guyana manager Sam Cox and Central African Republic’s Raoul Savoy all put 19-year-old England midfielder Jude Bellingham as their first choice.
Brazil captain Thiago Silva voted for his compatriot Neymar folowed by Messi and Benzema.
Germany coach Hansi Flick chose Messi as his winner but didn’t include Mbappe or Benzema in his top three, instead going for Modric and Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski himself had Messi in first place followed by Mbappe and Modric.
Martin Odegaard had Messi as first choice, with his Norway colleague Erling Haaland in second and Mbappe third.
Greece boss Gustavo Poyet, meanwhile, had Haaland as his first choice above Messi and Benzema.
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente chose Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez in first place, with Bellingham second and Modric third.
