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Lionel Messi was pipped to The Best FIFA Men's Player award for 2021 by Robert Lewandowski. During the official award ceremony held in Zurich, the votes by all FIFA recognized nations' captains and coaches were counted.
As expected, the top three choices made by Messi made headlines shortly after the ceremony. Quite surprisingly, the Paris Saint-Germain forward named Neymar as his first-choice for The Best FIFA award. The Argentine shares a close relationship on and off the pitch with Neymar, having played together at Barcelona and now at PSG.
Lionel Messi's second vote went to Kylian Mbappe, who he has linked up with following the switch to PSG last summer. The duo have combined to good effect in the Champions League this season and Messi probably feels Mbappe deserves to be among the front-runners.
Despite heaping praise on Robert Lewandowski after receiving the 2021 Ballon d'Or award, Messi astonishingly left the Bayern Munich man out. The Argentine's third and final vote went to Karim Benzema after having squared off against the Frenchman on many occasions during his time at Barcelona.
Last year, Lionel Messi voted for Neymar and Mbappe in first and second place respectively, while Lewandowski got his third vote. However, the 36-year-old has opted for a slight change in opinion this time around at The Best FIFA awards.
Lionel Messi finished second in The Best FIFA Men's Player award for 2021 with 44 points
If reports are to be believed, Messi finished four points behind Lewandowski in the race for the 2021 Best FIFA Men's Player award. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner will be gutted to have missed out, especially considering how he missed out on the award in each of the last two years.
Messi, who has just recovered from COVID-19, is expected to be in contention to return to action for PSG on Sunday, when they face Reims in Ligue 1.
