The Best FIFA Awards: Who voted for who? Lionel Messi and Didier Deschamps do not vote for Kylian Mbappe

FIFA has released the full list of who each captain, national team coach and media member voted for in The Best FIFA Awards which took place on Monday evening.

The awards are FIFA’s answer to the Ballon d’Or with the accolade voted on by every single national team captain and coach, as well as a member of the media.

So let’s talk about some notable voting results, shall we? Why not start with the winner of the men’s award, Messi?

The World Cup-winning captain went for Neymar over another of his PSG team-mates, Kylian Mbappe. It was also interesting to note that his third vote went to a Real Madrid player, Karim Benzema.

Speaking of Mbappe, it was not a great night for the French superstar if he was hoping to receive first-place votes from those close to him. His national team manager Didier Deschamps went for Benzema as his first-placed player, over Mbappe who was in second.

In what has become an eternal rivalry, Portugal skipper Pepe (conducting the vote in place of Cristiano Ronaldo) did not vote for Messi. Instead, he had Mbappe as his first-placed player, followed by two of his and Ronaldo’s former Madrid team-mates, Luka Modric and Benzema.

Modric himself received four first-place votes, from the North Korea captain and the national team managers of Brunei, India and Oman.

There were surprise first-place votes for Julian Alvarez, most notably from new Spain manager Luis de la Fuente, whilst England star Jude Bellingham also received some first-place votes.

One sour note from the fallout of the event was Austria captain David Alaba receiving a swathe of racist abuse from Real Madrid fans on his social media platforms after he voted for Messi as the best player.

Alaba was forced to take to social media to defend himself, explaining in a statement that his vote was on behalf of the entire Austrian team, and he reiterated that he felt Benzema was still the best striker in the world.

“Regarding FIFA The Best Award: The Austrian national team vote for this award as a team, not me alone. Everyone in the team council is able to vote and that’s how it’s decided. Everyone knows, especially Karim, how much I admire him and his performances.

“I have often said that, for me, he is the best striker in the world, and that is still the case. Without doubt.”