The Argentine football star may have failed to break into top-three, but who did Messi vote for in FIFA The Best awards?
Luka Modric won FIFA The Best award, ending a decade-long dominance for the title between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. While the Argentine star finished fifth in the awards, Ronaldo was voted the second-best player of the year.
Modric also won the UEFA Player of the Year, where Ronaldo and Messi finished at similar positions.
The player votes were made public after the awards ceremony.
Each player could vote for three players – the first-placed player to receive five points, the second-placed player to receive three points, and third-placed player to receive one point.
There were many interesting selections by the players in the voting, including Lionel Messi’s.
The Argentine star voted for Cristiano Ronaldo in the third place for the award. Messi chose Kylian Mbappe, who was sensational for France in the World Cup 2018, as the second-best player for the year.
Messi placed his first vote for Luka Modric, who eventually bagged the award in FIFA The Best gala.
How Messi and Ronaldo voted for #TheBest 👀 pic.twitter.com/S1LGbBQFjO
— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 24, 2018
“This trophy is not just mine,” Modric said. “It’s for all my Real Madrid teammates. For all my teammates in the Croatia national team. For all the coaches that I have played for.”
Also read: Twitter erupts as Luka Modric wins FIFA World Player of the Year
While Ronaldo finished second behind the Croatian star, Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah finished third. The Egyptian scored a record 32 goals in the Premier League season last year, and was central to Liverpool’s extraordinary run to the Champions League final.
Didier Deschamps, France’s World Cup winning coach, was named the manager of the year at FIFA The Best gala.
