Thiago Silva is not happy with FIFA for their 'Best' awards and appears to have taken a swipe after Argentina and Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez finished above Robert Lewandowski and Kevin de Bruyne.
Alvarez finished seventh in the standings after receiving 17 scoring points despite his struggles for minutes at the Premier League champions, but bagged four goals for Argentina on their way to last year's World Cup triumph.
Now, injured Chelsea defender Silva has labelled the footballing body as a 'joke' in an apparent dig at Alvarez's status amongst the top ten players in the world.
Lionel Messi lifted the title following his stunning exploits that saw Argentina lift a first World Cup since 1986 while French pair Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe finished second and third.
Real Madrid's Luka Modric was awarded fourth place as Man City star striker Erling Haaland and former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane followed behind.
Alvarez topped out in seventh, above Neymar, Mohammed Salah, Achraf Hakimi, Vinicus Jr, and the previously mentioned Lewandowski and De Bruyne.
Alvarez's inclusion was the most surprising in the list of 14 other international stars given he has managed just five goals in 19 Premier League appearances for Man City this season.
Seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi jumped to his countryman's defence however, insisting that the 23-year-old deserved his place amongst the world's best.
Messi lamented after Monday's ceremony: 'During the whole World Cup, he was extraordinary.
'He ran everything. He fought for everything - creating chances, fighting. For us, he was the surprising discovery, and he deserves everything that has happened to him because he is a lovely guy.'
However despite only being at the formative years of his professional career, Alvarez wasn't the youngest inclusion on the list of nominees.
Instead 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham occupied that position and was also England's only male representative at the awards.
Silva will have more time to focus on footballing debates after it was revealed on Tuesday that the Chelsea star will be out of action for up to six weeks.
The 38-year-old suffered knee ligament damage in the Blues' latest damaging Premier League defeat against Tottenham on Sunday.