Barcelona forward Lionel Messi picked up a record sixth FIFA Best Men's Player of the Year award on Monday night, beating Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk to the prestigious title.
It was a deserved victory for the 32-year-old, who scored 54 goals in 58 games for club and country last season compared to Cristiano Ronaldo's 31 in 47.
Following the award ceremony in Milan, the full list of voting was revealed, highlighting that Lionel Messi had voted for Liverpool's Sadio Mane as his number one choice.
Messi also placed long term rival Cristiano Ronaldo in second and teammate Frenkie de Jong in third.
Ronaldo, on the other hand, gave new Juventus teammate Matthijs de Ligt his top pick, with former Ajax midfielder De Jong second and PSG forward Kylian Mbappe third.
None of the 34-year-old's likely rivals featured in his top three, a regular trend in his voting patterns down the years.
As you can see in the above graphic, Ronaldo has often voted for current teammates in either The Best or Ballon d'Or awards.
The former Real Madrid forward decided to pick Champions League and World Cup winner Rafael Varane in last year's FIFA Best awards, while Messi voted for eventual winner Luka Modric.
But one particular trend is clear - Ronaldo has never voted for Lionel Messi, while the Argentinian delivered twice in 2018 and 2019.
The Barcelona forward failed to get in the top three for either award last year but things have certainly changed this time around.
That's despite the former Manchester United and Real Madrid player heaping praise on his main rival at UEFA's ceremony last month.
"We've shared the stage for 15 years, me and him. I don't know if thatβs ever happened in football, the same two guys, the same stage, all the time. Itβs not easy," Ronaldo said.
"We have a good relationship. We've not had dinner together - yet - but I hope to in the future.
"I miss playing in Spain, we had that battle the last 15 years which is good, he pushed me and I pushed him. It's good to be in the history of football. I'm there and he's there as well."
Yet Messi isn't good enough to earn a vote from Ronaldo, apparently.
basketballer
646
Just One Difference : - Messi Plays Humanity in Voting. - Ronaldo still Plays Competition in Voting. And then even an Illiterate can Answer who's the Real Goat π #LM10
chizieg
408
you can't pretend you share same stage with your rival for 15 years yet you can vote for him, it really shows that there is an injustice in your voting and hatred outside the pitch.
cmohn61
314
It seems Messi admits Ronaldo is better than him which is why has voted for him and you know Ronaldo knows he is better than Messi so he didnβt vote for him
A_YY
279
*Messi is the hypocrite here, why didn't he vote Ronaldo those season he was exceptional...the years he knew he didn't stand a chance, he voted him in 3rd and 2nd place to earn public praise and some dullards will call him a nice guy. Smart thinking ppl don't fall for cheap plot like this and the media make a news out of this are even worse.
JamesWalker
243
Ronaldo don't wants to vote for messi but wants to have Dinner with him, Suspicious Really?
FootballAddict
179
So everyone especially barca fans acted like messi voted for ronaldo for the 1st place for these entire fkcin 15 years when it was clear both of them has been the best for the past years! Lol haha..he voted for ronaldo twice yaβll! Twice out of these more than decades of dual domination in the football world. While credit has to be given to messi to actually voted for ronaldo twice at thr very least,this is a competition,u cant blame anyone for not voting to their direct competitor because everyone would be happy to win the award. I see the pattern in ronaldo,he always helped to vote for his teammate be it at the club level or at the national team. He knows that they arent winning the top prize,but at least they got vote for consolotation being in the list of the words besy rather than being nominated but got no votes at all such a humiliation. Its fantastic of how this apps being so biased and intended to initiate hate towards ronaldo when he repeatedly said before of how much respect he has on messi and these brainless people are just too easy to be triggered anyway,no surprise. Its a competition after all,u dont want ur direcr rival to win it. It was clear anyway both of them has been dominating the world football,if messi really thinks ronaldo is the best all these time,why he only voted for ronaldo twice? Come on..these are all strategies,like i said its a competition. Any people with brain would definitely think why messi never voted for VVD as its obvious that VVD is the closest rival to him this year? VVD isnt even in the 3 votes from him? Dont blame him too for that. Its a competition.
Betabdnry
116
I began to wonder what a goalkeeper, defender or midfielder would do to collect a FIFA WORLD BEST PRIZE. Where would the likes of Messi be if goalkeepers, defenders leak goals and midfielders are not up to it? I am very disappointed that when it is obvious and glaring that VVD had done beyond the expectation of a defender despite this was given to Messi. It reminds me of the case of Schinder been robbed of world best. Well, there's another chance to reverse this injustice with the up coming BALLON DIOR. FOOTBALL is a TEAM WORK not only for those scoring goals after all, no man is an Island. I'm not seeing it from Messi Ronaldo rivalry please
rioaemosy
111
there's no reason to criticize cr7.he voted for the best young defender,midfielder and forward in world football right now.in that de ligt and de jong were two kids that knocked him and his old club out of ucl and had an exceptional season last year whereas mbappe was close behind messi in the golden boot race which is exceptional for a 19 year old.it just means ronaldo knows how to vote and messi has no clue about voting because everyone knows cr7 didn't have a good enough performance last season. or maybe messi voted for cr7 because messi knows cr7 has no chance to win but all you blind messi fans only look at the side which makes your so called goat look good.
Lizbrs
109
Thats why many people admire Messi
kitakoitam
53
β Lionel Messi: 603 Career Goals. β Cristiano Ronaldo: 603 Career Goals. β Lionel Messi: 5 Ballon D'or. β Cristiano Ronaldo: 5 Ballon D'or. β Lionel Messi: 6 Golden Boot. β Cristiano Ronaldo: 4 Golden Boot. β Lionel Messi: 1 FIFA Best Player Of The Year. β Cristiano Ronaldo: 2 FIFA Best Player Of The Year.. β Lionel Messi: Argentina All-Time Topscorer. β Cristiano Ronaldo: Portugal All-Time Topscorer. β Lionel Messi: FC Barcelona All-Time Topscorer. β Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid All-Time Topscorer. β Lionel Messi: La Liga All-Time Topscorer. β Cristiano Ronaldo:Champions League All-Time Topscorer. β Lionel Messi: Included in the FIFPro Men's World XI for 13 Consecutive Years. β Cristiano Ronaldo: Included in the FIFPro Men's World XI for 13 Consecutive Years.
kitakoitam
42
β Lionel Messi: 603 Career Goals. β Cristiano Ronaldo: 603 Career Goals. β Lionel Messi: 5 Ballon D'or. β Cristiano Ronaldo: 5 Ballon D'or. β Lionel Messi: 6 Golden Boot. β Cristiano Ronaldo: 4 Golden Boot. β Lionel Messi: 1 FIFA Best Player Of The Year. β Cristiano Ronaldo: 2 FIFA Best Player Of The Year.. β Lionel Messi: Argentina All-Time Topscorer. β Cristiano Ronaldo: Portugal All-Time Topscorer. β Lionel Messi: FC Barcelona All-Time Topscorer. β Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid All-Time Topscorer. β Lionel Messi: La Liga All-Time Topscorer. β Cristiano Ronaldo:Champions League All-Time Topscorer. β Lionel Messi: Included in the FIFPro Men's World XI for 13 Consecutive Years. β Cristiano Ronaldo: Included in the FIFPro Men's World XI for 13 Consecutive Years. . . just stop fighting and watch their playing!!
Obismart
41
Thatβs why I donβt like fake ass Ronaldo..why are you going to have dinner with someone you hate but pretending to respect his God given talent.
Nawcitz
23
Gosh, can these articles stop? There's no point to these articles.
You do know that @Afy will never stop with nonsense, creating hate in the community and expecting us to be friendly? Messi and Real Madrid fan here, but @Afy is the culprit behind the scenes where many fans get triggered and insult each other. But he only bans some Real Madrid fans for just trolling the Barca fans, but never bans Barca fans for insulting us... @Afy is biased. It should be Anti Football, not All Football. @Afy is a Real Madrid hater, and it is evident as even after so much feedback on the articles, he never changes, so I verbally attacked him, although I never abuse anyone before anyone does to me, and he impulsively banned my account permanently without analysing his mistakes. All Football is the most heartless, corrupt app ever in football history. We've got feelings too buddy...
SingamFootball
9
actually Legends doesn't vote each other... Ronaldo knew this, but perhaps Messi doesn't know it. π€π€π€π€π€π€