According to FIFA’s announcement, Messi came sixth in the voting for The Best title in 2024. The Argentine player voted for junior Lamine Yamal to win the award, while Cristiano Ronaldo did not vote.
Messi is the winner of the FIFA The Best 2023 award, having won this title 3 times, the most among players. Although he left for the United States to play for Inter Miami, in the 2024 elections he was still on the list of 11 players competing for the award.
However, the 37-year-old only finished sixth with 25 points, ahead of Toni Kroos (retired), Haaland or Mbappé, and only behind Lamine Yamal, Carvajal, Bellingham, Rodri and Vinicius.
Vinicius is the player who won the FIFA The Best 2024 award with 48 points, just 5 points more than Rodri. Rodri is the player who won the Ballon d’Or before Vinicius with a score of 1,170 versus 1,129 respectively, which generated a lot of controversy.
Meanwhile, Messi, as captain of the Argentina national team, voted for Lamine Yamal to win the award, followed by Mbappé and Vinicius occupying third place on the list.
Lamine Yamal is a player who has received a lot of praise from Messi lately. The famous Argentine player believes that the 17-year-old Barcelona player will have a bright future ahead of him and is a typical representative of the new generation of players.
Messi also predicted that Lamine Yamal will be the perfect replacement for his role in the Catalan national team in the present and in the future, and will win important FIFA awards in addition to the Ballon d’Or.
Compared to Messi, who is still on the list of nominations and votes for the FIFA The Best award, Ronaldo, although currently the captain of the Portuguese national team, has not participated in the voting in recent years. In 2022 and 2023, midfielder Pepe is the elected representative, and in 2024, it is Bernardo Silva.
Ronaldo is said to have reacted to FIFA since their defeat in the 2022 World Cup. The 39-year-old also said that FIFA was biased by not including him in the shortlist of awards many times and intended to scorn him, hence, he decided to boycott the award by the world football agency.
In the FIFA The Best 2024 awards, in addition to Vinicius winning the award for best player, Barcelona player Aitana Bonmati won the award for best player. The best coach is Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid). Emiliano Martínez is the best goalkeeper, while Alejandro Garnacho takes home the award for best scorer…
The typical 2024 squad was announced at the FIFA The Best 2024 tournament, which includes goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, defenders Carvajal, Rúdiger, Días, Saliba; midfielders Bellingham, Kroos and Rodri, forwards Lamine Yamal, Haaland and Vinicius.