Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has won the FIFA Best Men's Player award for the third time in the last four years. He left Norwegian striker Erling Haaland behind in a close contest. Whereas, among women, Aitana Bonmati won this award.
Spain and Barcelona striker Aitana Bonamati received the Best FIFA Women's Player award at The Best FIFA Awards at a star-studded ceremony. Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola won the Best Men's Manager of 2023 award, while England coach Sarina Wiegman won the Best Women's Coach of the Year award for a record fourth time. Guardiola defeated Inter Milan's Simone Inzaghi and Napoli's Luciano Spalletti to achieve the honor. Manchester City stopper Ederson won the best male goalkeeper award, while Manchester United and England number one Mary Earps won the best female goalkeeper award at the ceremony in London.
How Messi won the tie-breaker with Holland
Lionel Messi won the Best Player award in 2022 for his contribution to helping Argentina's men's team win the World Cup in Qatar. Messi was once again in the running for the award after winning the Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain and leading Inter Miami to the League Cup in his first season in Major League Soccer.
Messi overtook Erling Haaland and his former teammate Kylian Mbappe, who scored 52 goals in all competitions for Manchester City. Messi also won the FIFA Best Men's Player of 2019 award and has won the award on five previous occasions (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015). He has received this honor for the eighth time in total.
Messi and Haaland were tied with 48 points each in the FIFA rating system for the award. However, Messi won the award due to more votes from the national team captains. The best awards are decided after counting the votes of national team captains, coaches, journalists, and fans.
Indian captain Sunil Chhetri, Harry Kane, and Mohammed Salah were also among those who voted for Messi. The Argentina captain himself voted for Haaland ahead of Mbappé and his teammate Julian Alvarez. According to FIFA rules, if the finalists are tied on points, the person with the first choice from among their group of voters (in this case the captain) will be declared the winner.
Etana Bonamati Best Female Player
Barcelona star Aitana Bonamati has won the Best Female Player award for 2023 after a stellar season at club and international level. The 25-year-old midfielder was deserving of this prestigious award. He led Spain to its first world title and Barcelona to domestic and European titles in 2023.
Etana Bonamati said “I want to congratulate all the nominees and also say that I am proud to be part of a powerful generation of women who are changing the rules of the game and the world. A few weeks ago, when 2023 ended, I got nostalgic because it was an extraordinary and unique year, which I will remember for the rest of my life. It is incredible to start 2024 by receiving this award. I give credit for this to the teams I played in, Barcelona and the national team. “I attribute it to the seasons we had.”
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