How many votes did Messi get and what position did he finish in The Best ranking

After two years of Messi’s dominance, Vinicius is the new The Best, but the Argentine is still among the top names.

After winning The Best award for two consecutive years, Messi ceded the throne to Vinícius Júnior, who was crowned FIFA’s Best Player of 2024.

Vinícius had an extraordinary year with Real Madrid, a team that practically won everything, with the Brazilian winger emerging as their standout figure and key reference point.

Now, with the arrival of Mbappé to the squad, Vinícius remains the most decisive player in Carlo Ancelotti’s starting eleven—Ancelotti himself being recognised as Coach of the Year.

Players and coaches voted for Vini Jr

As time passes, it is increasingly common to see the names of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo fading from the elite stage. While both continue to make an impact—Messi with Inter Miami in the MLS and Ronaldo with Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia—it is now the turn of stars like Vinícius, Mbappé, Lamine Yamal, and Bellingham to take centre stage with clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Despite this, Messi still featured in the top 10 nominees, a reminder that, unlike the Ballon d’Or, The Best award involves voting by players and captains.

At 37 years of age, Messi remains influential, recently earning the MLS 2024 MVP award for leading Inter Miami to the most points in Major League Soccer history.

His recognition reflects the respect he continues to command among his professional peers worldwide.

Where did Messi come in The Best?

With 25 points in total, Messi took sixth place in the The Best award, beating names like Kroos, Haaland or Mbappé, while only being below Lamine Yamal, Carvajal, Bellingham, Rodri and Vinicius, who took the award.

After having dominated 2022 and 2023 with the recognition, now it was the turn of a Real Madrid star to take the crown.

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