World footballer election
Close decision: Gündogan for Haaland, Kane for Messi
Thierry Henry accepts the trophy on behalf of the absent Lionel Messi. photo
© Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
That was close. Not goal guarantee Erling Haaland, but Lionel Messi is a world footballer. The fact that the Argentine won is thanks to the captains.
Erling Haaland got the most points from Ilkay Gündogan, Bayern professional Harry Kane was in favor Lionel Messi. The election of the world footballer in London was narrowly decided in favor of Messi – and the first votes of the national team captains were the deciding factor. Here the 36-year-old Messi was clearly ahead of the 23-year-old Haaland (64) with 107 first votes.
At the glamorous gala in London, Messi’s announcement caused astonishment and irritation in the hall, as most of the audience had expected Haaland to receive an award. The applause in the Hammersmith Apollo was extremely subdued. Some users on social media complained that the awards ceremony had lost its credibility.
“If you don’t take into account the World Cup, which made Messi the winner of the Ballon d’Or, Messi must not be the winner this time. I think he was the best footballer of the last 20 years, but he has with Paris and Miami “Where he is now causing a lot of hype, he hasn’t won any major titles,” said Lothar Matthäus, world footballer in 1991, on Sky.
Nagelsmann voted for Mbappé
But it was close. Messi, the Argentine world champion, received a total of 48 points in the vote by the world association FIFA, like the Norwegian Haaland. In FIFA’s electoral system, the captains of the national teams, their coaches, the media and fans have equal voting rights. Five points are awarded with the first vote, three with the second vote and one point with the third vote.
In total, Messi received 677 points from the captains, 476 from the coaches, 315 from the media and 613,293 from the fans. Converted into FIFA points, that made 13 (captains), 11 (coaches), 11 (media) and 13 (fans). Haaland received 557/11 from the captains, 541/13 from the coaches, 729/13 from the media and 365,893/11 points from the fans. Mbappé comes third with 35 points. Gündgoan came ninth in the final with 13 points.
France’s Mbappé chose Messi. The Argentine was also chosen by Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku, Edin Dzeko from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia’s Luka Modric, Denmark’s Simon Kjär and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, among others. Incidentally, national coach Julian Nagelsmann voted for the third finalist, Mbappé, and chose Gündogan second and Haaland only third.