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How Lionel Messi won The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2023: Every captain & coach that voted for Inter Miami star

Lionel Messi added another individual honour to his haul as his peers voted him The Best FIFA Men’s Player of 2023.

The Argentine beat out the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to his third The Best triumph.

Messi celebrated his eighth Ballon d’Or award in October off the back of his World Cup heroics in Qatar, and although his majestic campaign in the Gulf didn’t contribute towards this gong, the all-time great was still able to top the voting charts.

Here’s a list of all the international captains and managers who voted for Messi.

Country

Captain

Albania

Berat Djimsiti

Andorra

Marc Pujol Pons

Angola

Fredy Ribeiro

Anguilla

Germain Hughes

Antigua and Barbuda

Quinton Griffith

Aruba

Fernando Lewis

Australia

Mat Ryan

Bahamas

Leslie St. Fleur

Bahrain

Sayed Abbas

Bangladesh

Jamal Bhuyan

Barbados

Jomo Harris

Belgium

Romelu Lukaku

Belize

Evral Trapp

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Edin Dzeko

Cape Verde

Ryan Isaac Mendes

Cambodia

Kouch Sokumpheak

Canada

Milan Borjan

Cental African Republic

Saint-Cyr Ngam-Ngam

Chad

Ahmat Abdraman

Chile

Gary Medel

China

Xi Wu

Chinese Tapei

Chun-Ching Wu

Colombia

Radamel Falcao

Comoros

Elfardou Ben Mohamed

Congo DR

Chancel Mbemba

Cook Islands

Tahiri Elikana

Croatia

Luka Modric

Curaçao

Leandro Bacuna

Cyprus

Kostakis Artymatas

Denmark

Simon Kjær

Djibouti

Hamze Abdi Idleh

Dominican Republic

Jean Carlos Lopez Moscoso

Ecuador

Enner Valencia

Egypt

Mohamed Salah

England

Harry Kane

Equatorial Guinea

Emilio Nsue Lopez

Estonia

Konstantin Vassiljev

Eswatini

Sifiso Matse

Faroe Islands

Viljormur Davidsen

Fiji

Roy Krishna

Finland

Lukas Hradecky

France

Kylian Mbappe

Georgia

Guram Kashia

Greece

Anastasios Bakasetas

Grenada

Jacob Kwame Berkeley Agyepong

Guam

Jason Ryan Quitugua Cunliffe

Guatemala

Jose Carlos Pinto Samayoa

Haiti

Johny Placide

Honduras

Antony Lozano

Indonesia

Asnawi Mangkualam Bahar

Israel

Eli Dasa

Italy

Gianluigi Donnarumma

Jamaica

Andre Blake

Kenya

Michael Olunga Ogada

Korea Republic

Son Heung-min

Latvia

Kristers Tobers

Lebanon

Hassan Maatouk

Liechtenstein

Nicolas Hasler

Madagascar

Rayan Raveloson

Malta

Steve Borg

Mauritania

Mohamed Dellah Yaly

Mexico

Guillermo Ochoa

Montenegro

Stevan Jovetic

Mozambique

Elias Gaspar Pelembe

Nepal

Kiran Limbu Chemjong

Netherlands

Virgil van Dijk

Northern Ireland

Jonny Evans

Palestine

Musab Battat

Panama

Anibal Godoy

Papua New Guinea

Raymond Gunemba

Paraguay

Gustavo Gomez

Peru

Paolo Guerrero

Philippines

Neil Etheridge

Poland

Robert Lewandowski

Puerto Rico

Nicolas Cardona

Qatar

Hassan Al-Haydos

Romania

Nicolae Claudiu Stanciu

Rwanda

Djihad Bizimana

Saudi Arabia

Salman Alfaraj

Scotland

Andy Robertson

Senegal

Kalidou Koulibaly

Sierra Leone

Osman Kakay

Slovakia

Milan Skriniar

Slovenia

Jan Oblak

Solomon Islands

Joses Nawo

St Kitts and Nevis

Julani Archibald

St Lucia

Terell Thomas

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Cornelius Stewart

Suriname

Shaquille Pinas

Switzerland

Granit Xhaka

Tahiti

Teaonui Tehau

Thailand

Theerathon Bunmathan

The Gambia

Omar Colley

Tongo

Hemaloto Polovili

Tunisia

Youssef Msakni

Turkey

Hakan Calhanoglu

Turkmenistan

Arslanmyrat Amanov

Uganda

Emmanuel Arnold Okwi

Ukraine

Andriy Yarmolenko

Uruguay

Federico Valverde

USA

Christian Pulisic

Uzbekistan

Eldor Shomurodov

Vanuatu

Brian Kaltak

Venezuela

Tomás Rincón

Wales

Aaron Ramsey

Yemen

Wahid Alkhyad

Zambia

Lubambo Musonda

In total, 107 captains voted for Lionel Messi in first place for The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2023. Despite exiting Europe in favour of Inter Miami in MLS, the voting shows that many of his peers still regard Messi as the best player in the world.

The Argentine did have an immediate impact in Miami, leading the Herons to Leagues Cup glory in the summer, but there’s no doubt that his achievements during the qualifying period for this award pale in comparison to Haaland, in particular.

Nevertheless, there was a litany of superstars who voted for Messi in first place. They include Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane, Luka Modric, Robert Lewandowski, Virgil van Dijk, and finalist Mbappe – his former teammate in Paris.

Jan Oblak, Son Heung-min, Milan Skriniar, Federico Valverde, Andy Robertson, Granit Xhaka, and Hakan Calhanoglu are among the other notable international skippers who placed Messi at the top of their voting poll.

Country

Coach

Afghanistan

Abdullah Almutairi

American Samoa

Tunoa Lui

Argentina

Lionel Scaloni

Aruba

Marvic Bermudez

Bahamas

Nesly Jean

Bahrain

Juan Antonio Pizzi

Barbados

Orlando Costa

Belarus

Carlos Alos Ferrer

Bolivia

Gustavo Costas

Brazil

Fernando Diniz

Burundi

Étienne Ndayiragije

Cape Verde

Pedro Leitão Brito

Cambodia

Félix Agustin Gonzalez Dalmás

Cameroon

Rigobert Song

Canada

Mauro Biello

Chile

Eduardo Berizzo

China

Aleksandar Jankovic

Colombia

Nestor De Lorenzo

Comoros

Stefano Cusin

Costa Rica

Claudio Alejandro Vivas

Curaçao

Dean Gorre

Cyprus

Temur Ketsbaia

Dominican Republic

Marcelo Neveleff

Eritrea

Ermais Tewelde Asmorom

Estonia

Häberli Thomas

Ghana

Chris Hughton

Greece

Gus Poyet

Guyana

Jamaal Shabazz

Honduras

Reinaldo Rueda Rivera

Iceland

Joey Gudjonsson

Indonesia

Taeyong Shin

IR Iran

Ardeshir Ghalehnoy

Israel

Alon Hazan

Italy

Luciano Spalletti

Kazakhstan

Magomed Adiev

Korea DPR

Sin Yong Nam

Kyrgyzstan

Stefan Tarkovic

Laos

Kanlaya Sysomvang

Lebanon

Aleksandar Ilic

Lesotho

Leslie Makhetha Notsi

Lithuania

Edgaras Jankauskas

Luxembourg

Luc Holtz

Mauritius

Etienne Olivier Fidy Rasoanaivo

Moldova

Serghei Clescenco

Mongolia

Ichiro Otsuka

Montenegro

Miodrag Radulovic

Montserrat

Lee Bowyer

New Caledonia

Johann Sidaner

Niger

Ibarhim Zakariaou

Northern Ireland

Michael O’Neill

Panama

Thomas Christiansen Tarin

Paraguay

Daniel Garnero

Philippines

Michael Weiss

Russia

Valeri Karpin

Scotland

Steve Clarke

Seychelles

Ralph Jean-Louis

Singapore

Takayuki Nishigaya

Solomon Islands

Felipe Vega Arango

South Sudan

Stefano Cusin

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Theon Gordon

Suriname

Aron Winter

Switzerland

Murat Yakin

Syria

Hector Cuper

Tajikistan

Petar Šegrt

Thailand

Mano Polking

Timor-Leste

Suntae Park

Tongo

Timote Moleni

Turkey

Vincenzo Montella

Turks and Caicos Islands

Ricky Hill

Uruguay

Marcelo Bielsa

Uzbekistan

Srecko Katanec

Vanuatu

Etienne Mermer

Venezuela

Fernando Batista

Wales

Robert Page

Zambia

Avram Grant

Zimbabwe

Baltemar Brito

Haaland got more love from the coaches than Messi, but the Argentine nonetheless received over 75 first-place votes from the international managers.

There was plenty of CONMEBOL admiration for Messi, with outgoing Brazil coach Fernando Diniz among the South American managers to place the 36-year-old at the top of their ballot. Lionel Scaloni was unsurprisingly loyal to his compatriot, as was former Argentina boss Marcelo Bielsa.

England’s Gareth Southgate opted for Haaland, but Messi still received plenty of Home Nations adoration. Wales’ Rob Page, Scotland’s Steve Clarke, and Northern Ireland’s Martin O’Neill each voted for the Argentine.

There will undoubtedly be a couple of “I had no idea you were still in management!” reactions as you scroll through the list. Former La Liga Coach of the Year Hector Cuper is currently in charge of Syria, and he voted for compatriot Messi. Avram Grant is also still going strong with Zambia, and he backed the Inter Miami superstar in voting.

Messi will also be pleased to hear that he topped the voting ballot of Montserrat coach Lee Bowyer.

Rank

Player

Coaches points

Captains points

Media points

Fans points

Scoring points

1.

Lionel Messi

476

677

315

613,293

48

2.

Erling Haaland

541

557

729

365,893

48

3.

Kylian Mbappe

302

282

169

201,866

35

In the end, nothing could separate Messi and Haaland as they both accumulated 48 points. The Norwegian hitman was massively aided by a landslide in the media votes, with Messi racking up more votes from players and fans.

However, Messi won the tie-breaker as he notched 120 more captains points than Haaland.

Mbappe, meanwhile, was comfortably third in every category, ending with 35 points. Kevin De Bruyne (32 points), Victor Osimhen (24), and Rodri (24) were the hottest on his tail.

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