Messi receives the award to the applause of Gianni Infantino (REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier)

Lionel Messi got the prize The best to the best player in the world in a sky blue and white gala, because Dibu Martinez was voted best goalkeeper, Lionel Scaloni as the best coach, and the albiceleste supporters as the most passionate. And when FIFA revealed the list of votes from the coaches and captains of the various teams, the surprises arose. La Pulga tops the list; behind were Kylian Mbappé, Karim Benzema, Luka Modric and Erling Haaland. Julián Álvarez emerged in seventh place. Now, who did the Argentine captain vote for? And the rivals he eliminated in the great feat? Has anyone not even considered the World Cup Ballon d’Or? Here, the pearls of the breakdown.

Messi picked Neymar, Mbappé and Benzema in his top three. That is to say that among his teammates, the heart pushed him to turn to his friend the Brazilian. Thiago Silva, captain of the Verdeamarela, also turned to Ney; Messi appeared on the second step of his preferences. Egyptian Mohamed Salah kicked the board straight: he didn’t consider Messi and put Vinicius junior first. He was followed by Kevin De Bruyne and Achraf Hakimi.

He wasn’t the only one to omit the PSG striker. For example, Dominik Szboszlai He voted for Erling Haaland at the top of his shortlist, alongside Karim Benzema and Mbappé. The same path was followed by center scorer Pepe from Portugal, who opted for Kiki, Modric and Benzema. What would Cristiano Ronaldo have done?

The one who did not take revenge for losing the final is Hugo Lloris, goalkeeper and former captain of the France team. He voted for Messi, albeit third, behind his fellow strikers. Virgil van Dijk, leader of the Netherlands, did not take into account the battle of the quarter-finals in Qatar: he selected it first.

The rest of Celeste and Blanca’s World Cup rivals? The Saudi Arabia captain stayed with Messi, while DT Hervé Renard opted for Mbappé as 1. In Mexico, Héctor Moreno went with the Argentine, while José Jaime Ordiales Domínguez, acting as a substitute for Tata Martino before Diego took over Cocca, it was with the French Tortoise. In Poland, Lewandowski did not show the resentment of past editions and stayed with the Chip.

The Australian coach put Messi third, but captain goalkeeper Matthew Ryan put him on the pedestal. Croatia’s Luka Modric paid teammate Karim Benzema but put Leo second.

Julián Álvarez also had his fans: He was elevated to the throne by the coach and owner of the Gabonese cinema, the Spanish DT Luis de la Fuente, the counselor of Botswana and the journalist of Liechtenstein.

This is how the table of positions remained, with the particular nationality that FIFA granted to Julián Álvarez
This is how the table of positions remained, with the particular nationality that FIFA granted to Julián Álvarez

Among coaches, Messi was much more selected than among players, as well as among journalists. And in the audience, he directly swept away. Moreover, he was the only Argentine in the ideal team of 2022. At 35, the striker does not descend from the top of world football.

Continue reading:

Julián Álvarez, chosen among the 10 best players in the world: the big mistake of FIFA and who voted for him against Messi
The best memes left by The Best gala: “Argentina, the best country in the world” and the reactions to the awards for Messi, Dibu Martínez, Scaloni and Tula
The pearls of Lionel Messi’s speech after winning The Best award for the best player in the world: the ovation that made him nervous and the tender message to his children
Messi has won his second The Best award for the best player in the world: the 53 individual awards he has won in his career

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