How Messi Beat Haaland, Mbappe To FIFA The Best Award

Lionel Messi beat Erling Haaland to the The Best FIFA Men’s Player award on Monday, despite the star forwards getting the same amount of votes.

The award is chosen by a group of voters that includes fans, national team captains, coaches, and members of the media. Messi won over Haaland and Mbappe. While both Messi and Haaland scored 48 points, the Inter Miami player was named the winner by more national team leaders than the Manchester City striker.

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The national team coaches and the media voted for Haaland more than Messi, but the captains and supporters voted for Messi. The FIFA rules state that the category determines the tie-breaker for each award. As stated in Article 12: “In the event of a tie for first place… the player, coach or goalkeeper with the highest number of ‘five-point’ scores from the votes cast by the nominee’s own group of voters per article 10 (i.e. for men’s players, the votes of men’s national-team captains; for men’s coaches, the votes of men’s national-team coaches; for men’s goalkeepers, the votes of men’s national-team captains; for women’s players, the votes of women’s national-team captains; for women’s coaches, the votes of women’s national-team coaches; and for women’s goalkeepers, the votes of women’s national-team captains) shall be the winner of the relevant Award.”

Messi has now taken home three FIFA The Best Men’s Player titles, having won them in 2019 and 2022 before. The World Cup winner’s triumph follows a year in which he joined Inter Miami after leaving Paris Saint-Germain and helped the MLS team win its first-ever title, the Leagues Cup. Haaland, on the other hand, led City to FA Cup, Champions League, and Premier League victories.

The 2023 prize maybe the final one Messi takes home. Haaland and Mbappe will hope to do even better in 2024 and claim the award for the first time in their careers.