Belgian superstar Eden Hazard snubbed both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and instead voted for Karim Benzema for the 2021 FIFA The Best Men's Player award.
Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski was a worthy recipient of the award for the second consecutive year. The 33-year-old forward secured 48 votes to beat Lionel Messi (44) and Mohamed Salah (39) to FIFA The Best award.
Lewandowski had an outstanding 2020-21 season for Bayern Munich. The Polish forward scored 48 goals in 40 appearances for the Bavarian giants last season.
Robert Lewandowski has now equaled Cristiano Ronaldo's tally of two The Best awards. The Manchester United forward won the prestigious award back in 2016 and 2017.
It is worth mentioning that captains of all national teams were allowed to cast their vote for the Best FIFA Men's and Coach award. Eden Hazard, who captains Belgium, went for his Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema in the first place. The 31-year-old attacker picked his national teammate Kevin De Bruyne in second and Chelsea midfielder Jorginho in third position.
Karim Benzema would eventually finish fourth with Frenchman N'Golo Kante coming fifth. The rest of the top 10 featured Jorginho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Kevin De Bruyne and Neymar respectively.
Eden Hazard also picked Italy's Euro 2020 winning manager Roberto Mancini as his choice while voting for the best men's coach of 2021. The award was eventually won by Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, who guided the Blues to the 2020-21 Champions League title.
Hazard picked the German tactician in second place and went for former Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte in third position.
Similar to Eden Hazard, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi snubbed one another for FIFA The Best award
Neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi picked one another in their three votes for FIFA The Best.
Lionel Messi went on to pick his fellow Paris Saint-Germain teammates. The 34-year-old forward picked Neymar in first place and Kylian Mbappe in second. Messi picked his former El Clasico rival Karim Benzema in third position.
Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, voted for eventual winner Robert Lewandowski in first position. The 36-year-old forward went for the Chelsea duo of Kante and Jorginho in second and third position respectively.
It is worth noting that Robert Lewandowski picked both Messi and Ronaldo in his top three. However, the Polish skipper opted to go for Jorginho in first place.