Argentina featured heavily in shortlists for FIFA’s Best awards following their World Cup triumph, with forwards Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and coach Lionel Scaloni receiving nominations in their categories.
Messi, along with Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, are among the 14 players shortlisted for The Best FIFA Men’s Player award, the world governing body said on Thursday.
The trio are joined by last year’s winner Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona, Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and PSG’s Neymar and Achraf Hakimi.
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, who won the 2022 Ballon d’Or award, is also in the shortlist.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo was left off the list of nominees for the first time.
Ronaldo, who was released by Manchester United and benched by Portugal during the World Cup before signing for Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, won the FIFA award the first two times it was handed out — in 2016 and 2017 — and was among the three finalists the following three years. This was the first time he was not even selected as a contender by a FIFA-appointed expert panel.
