A bang in the FIFA election
Lionel Messi completely unexpectedly becomes world footballer
January 15, 2024, 9:54 p.m
Everything was ready for Erling Haaland. After a sensational year with Manchester City, the Norwegian striker is the favorite to be voted FIFA World Player of the Year. But things turn out differently. Lionel Messi can actually celebrate, although he had hardly any successes last year.
Lionel Messi again and again: The Argentine world champion was voted world footballer of the year despite his departure from the big sports stage. The 36-year-old was honored in London in his absence; he surprisingly beat goalkeeper Erling Haaland from triple winners Manchester City and Kylian Mbappé from Paris Saint-Germain. Messi, who moved to Inter Miami in the USA in the summer, was able to celebrate his eighth FIFA award – there was rather restrained applause in the Hammersmith Apollo.
By the way, FIFA explained the choice on its homepage as follows: “The winner of the 2022 World Cup and the Norwegian national player Haaland were tied with 48 points. They were separated by the number of nominations for the first choice that Messi received from the team captains of the national teams, according to the allocation rules (Article 12). France’s striker Mbappé came third with 35 points.”
German professionals played no role at the celebratory gala. DFB captain İlkay Gündoğan, Marc-André ter Stegen and Ann-Kathrin Berger made it onto the shortlist in the categories of best player, best goalkeeper and best goalkeeper, but did not make it to the final selection.
For a moment between the award ceremonies, the gala was also dedicated to Franz Beckenbauer. “Franz was by far the best and most important player in the history of German football,” said long-time companion Paul Breitner, visibly moved in the hall. “He was an extraordinary person.” It was his “great honor and a pleasure” to play in a team with Beckenbauer. The two other icons who died recently, the Englishman Sir Bobby Charlton and the Brazilian Mário Zagallo, were also remembered.
Haaland certainly deserved the award, officially dubbed “The Best,” after his outstanding year with City. The former Dortmund player scored 44 goals in 54 games across all competitions – and not only won the treble of the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup, but also the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup.