Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi defeated Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe in the race for the best FIFA footballer in 2023 and thus “defended” the title won in 2022 as well.
Izvor: Shutterstock
On Monday in London, Messi (36) became a laureate for the third time at the awards ceremony for the best FIFA footballer.
However, the Argentine was not present at the party as he was preparing with his Inter Miami team-mates for a pre-season friendly against El Salvador on Friday.
Messi had the most votes and won the award for the third time, after being the best in both 2019 and 2022. The Argentine and Norway striker Haaland had an identical number of points – 48 each, but Messi had more votes of five points each, which secured him a new trophy, while Mbape collected 35.
BREAKING NEWS:
Leo Messi wins The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2023 for the third time in his career
He competed against Haaland and Mbappe.#Messi#TheBest#FIFATHEBESTpic.twitter.com/5JQ38dGGHX
— Tito Hare (@harerimana_tito)January 15, 2024
FIFA’s best player awards are usually based on performance over a calendar year – unlike the Ballon d’Or, which judges footballers based on their achievements over the course of a season.
However, the FIFA criterion was achievements in the period from December 19, 2022 to August 20, 2023.
Izvor: Shutterstock
The award for the best coach went to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who really had no competition in the last calendar year.
Fifa Best Awards: Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola named the best coach of the year#Royalblogpic.twitter.com/K9DXlg0ebL
— Royalblog (@royalblogg)January 15, 2024
He won as many as five trophies – Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, Club World Cup and European Super Cup.
With a convincing 28 votes, even 10 more than former Napoli coach Lućan Spalletti, i.e. Inter’s head of profession Simone Inzaghi (11 votes).
In the women’s competition, the title was best won by Barcelona and Spanish national team midfielder Aitana Bonmati, ahead of Colombian Linda Casiedo and her compatriot Jennifer Hermoso.
Brazilian goalkeeper and Manchester City player Ederson was declared the best goalkeeper, while in the women’s competition the award was won by Englishwoman Mary Earps, who plays for Manchester United.
In the women’s competition, Sarina Vigman, the coach of the English national team from the Netherlands, was chosen as the best coach of the year. This is the fourth time she has won this award in the FIFA selection, after 2017, 2020 and 2022.
FIFA also chose the ideal team for last year, and it includes: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City). , Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) and Vinicius (Real Madrid).
The “Puškaš” award for the best goal of the year was won by the Brazilian Guilherme Madruga, for the goal he scored in the duel of his team Botafogo against Novorizontino, in the match of the second Brazilian league. In that match, he shook the net with “scissors” from over 20 meters.
Botafogo/SP beat Novorizontino with this great goal from Guilerme Madruga. The game was 1×0.pic.twitter.com/SANCDC2vOL
— Interior da Bola (@interiordabola)June 28, 2023
The prize for fair play was won by the Brazilian national team, which wore all-black jerseys as a sign of support for their teammate Vinicius, who has long been the target of racist attacks.