Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo was excluded from the shortlist for the annual FIFA award, which includes 14 players, for the first time, leaving Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe at the top of that list.
Ronaldo won the FIFA award in its first two editions, in 2016 and 2017, and was shortlisted in the following three years.
But this was the first time he was not even selected as a competitor by the FIFA-appointed panel of experts.
Ronaldo ranked seventh in the vote last year when Robert Lewandowski won for the second time in a row, ahead of Messi and Mohamed Salah.
The 37-year-old Portuguese star joined the Saudi club Al-Nasr last month, which seems to be an indication of the sunset of his football career with European clubs.
In addition to Messi, the list included one player from the World Cup-winning Argentine national team, striker Julian Alvarez.
Lewandowski was included in the list, which includes only four players who did not participate in the World Cup.
Karim Benzema, winner of the 2022 Ballon d’Or, and Sadio Mane, were injured before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, while Erling Haaland and Salah were absent because their countries, Norway and Egypt, respectively, did not qualify.
The list of candidates included: Jude Bellingham, Kevin De Bruyne, Achraf Hakimi, Luka Modric, Neymar and Vinicius Junior.
Five coaches are competing for the best coach award: Argentina’s coach, Lionel Scaloni, and Walid Rekragui, who led Morocco to become the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals. In addition to, Carlo Ancelotti, coach of Real Madrid, Didier Deschamps, French, and Pep Guardiola, coach of Manchester City.
Voting for #TheBest FIFA Football Awards is now open! 🏆
From coaches and footballers to the fans, the awards annually honour the most outstanding achievements of the world’s most popular sport.
Voting is open until February 3 on FIFA+:
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) January 12, 2023
The technical directors of the national teams and coaches from all over the world, along with a number of journalists, vote, and an online vote is held for the fans, and it extends until next February 3.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony to be held on February 27 in Paris.
