Well, that was a shambles, wasn’t it?
FIFA’s The Best awards ceremony took place in London last night and some of the results were truly bewildering.
Thibaut Courtois is apparently the best goalkeeper in the world.
Mohamed Salah’s good-not-great strike against Everton was the best goal scored anywhere in the world last season.
And 35-year-old Dani Alves is supposedly still the best right-back in the world.
All eyes were on the night’s final award — Men’s Best Player.
Luka Modric ended Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s decade-long duopoly, becoming the first human to win the (equivalent) award since Kaka in 2007.
The Croatian midfielder is a popular figure and his win has been widely celebrated by fans of many clubs.
Nothing gets the football gossip going like the detailed voting results of the world’s international captains, coaches and media representatives.
Who voted for whom? Here are the highlights…
Messi’s votes appear rather gracious.
Argentina’s skipper voted for long-time rival Ronaldo in third, Kylian Mbappe second, and Modric first.
Mbappe knocked Messi out of the World Cup and Modric has represented Barca’s fierce rivals since 2012.
Fair play, Leo.
Ronaldo voted for two of his former club-mates in Varane (first) and Modric (second).
The 2017 winner placed Antoine Griezmann third.
Harry Kane maintained traditionalist values by placing Ronaldo and Messi first and second respectively.
The 2018 World Cup Golden Boot winner also included Kevin De Bruyne in his top three.
The captains of Germany, Tanzania, Thailand, Panama, Peru and Malta all voted for Eden Hazard as the best player in the world.
While Hugo Lloris kept it friendly: Raphael Varane (first), Griezmann (second), Mbappe (third).
Modric followed Ronaldo’s example by voting for Varane first and Griezmann in third.
And he returned the favour to the Portuguese captain by placing him in second place.
OTHER NOTABLE CAPTAIN VOTES:
- Eden Hazard: 1st Modric, 2nd Varane, 3rd Mbappe
- Miranda: 1st Ronaldo, 2nd Mbappe, 3rd Messi
- Radamel Falcao: 1st Modric, 2nd Ronaldo, 3rd Mbappe
- Manuel Neuer: 1st Hazard, 2nd Modric, 3rd Varane
- Giorgio Chiellini: 1st Ronaldo, 2nd Modric, 3rd Salah
- Virgil van Dijk: 1st Salah, 2nd De Bruyne, 3rd Mbappe
- Robert Lewandowski: 1st Modric, 2nd Varane, 3rd Mbappe
- Sergio Ramos: 1st Modric, 2nd Ronaldo, 3rd Messi
- Diego Godin: 1st Griezmann, 2nd Salah, 3rd Modric
The head coach of Bahamas and the media representative for Vanuatu were the only people to vote for Harry Kane as the world’s best player.
Gareth Southgate snubbed both Ronaldo and Messi.
The Three Lions gaffer voted for Modric (first), Varane (second), and Hazard (third).
OTHER NOTABLE COACH VOTES:
- Roberto Martinez: 1st Modric, 2nd Varane, 3rd Messi
- Tite: 1st Modric, 2nd Salah, 3rd Ronaldo
- Dalic Zlatko: 1st Modric, 2nd Messi, 3rd Ronaldo
- Didier Deschamps: 1st Griezmann, 2nd Varane, 3rd Mbappe
- Joachim Low: 1st Modric, 2nd Mbappe, 3rd Hazard
- Roberto Mancini: 1st Ronaldo, 2nd Mbappe, 3rd Modric
- Ronald Koeman: 1st, De Bruyne, 2nd Griezmann, 3rd Modric
- Luis Enrique: 1st Messi, 2nd Modric, 3rd Salah
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL RESULTS.
At least we don’t have to worry about all this individual award nonsense anymore… until the Ballon d’Or.
NEXT: Six Mohamed Salah goals from last season that are better than his Puskas winner