How Lionel Messi won The Best FIFA Men's Player 2023: Every captain & coach that voted for Inter Miami star

Lionel Messi added another individual honour to his haul as his peers voted him The Best FIFA Men's Player of 2023.

The Argentine beat out the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to his third The Best triumph.

Messi celebrated his eighth Ballon d'Or award in October off the back of his World Cup heroics in Qatar, and although his majestic campaign in the Gulf didn't contribute towards this gong, the all-time great was still able to top the voting charts.

Here's a list of all the international captains and managers who voted for Messi.

Every captain to vote for Lionel Messi for The Best FIFA Men's Player 2023

Country	Captain
Albania	Berat Djimsiti
Andorra	Marc Pujol Pons
Angola	Fredy Ribeiro
Anguilla	Germain Hughes
Antigua and Barbuda	Quinton Griffith
Aruba	Fernando Lewis
Australia	Mat Ryan
Bahamas	Leslie St. Fleur
Bahrain	Sayed Abbas
Bangladesh	Jamal Bhuyan
Barbados	Jomo Harris
Belgium	Romelu Lukaku
Belize	Evral Trapp
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Edin Dzeko
Cape Verde	Ryan Isaac Mendes
Cambodia	Kouch Sokumpheak
Canada	Milan Borjan
Cental African Republic	Saint-Cyr Ngam-Ngam
Chad	Ahmat Abdraman
Chile	Gary Medel
China	Xi Wu
Chinese Tapei	Chun-Ching Wu
Colombia	Radamel Falcao
Comoros	Elfardou Ben Mohamed
Congo DR	Chancel Mbemba
Cook Islands	Tahiri Elikana
Croatia	Luka Modric
Curaçao	Leandro Bacuna
Cyprus	Kostakis Artymatas
Denmark	Simon Kjær
Djibouti	Hamze Abdi Idleh
Dominican Republic	Jean Carlos Lopez Moscoso
Ecuador	Enner Valencia
Egypt	Mohamed Salah
England	Harry Kane
Equatorial Guinea	Emilio Nsue Lopez
Estonia	Konstantin Vassiljev
Eswatini	Sifiso Matse
Faroe Islands	Viljormur Davidsen
Fiji	Roy Krishna
Finland	Lukas Hradecky
France	Kylian Mbappe
Georgia	Guram Kashia
Greece	Anastasios Bakasetas
Grenada	Jacob Kwame Berkeley Agyepong
Guam	Jason Ryan Quitugua Cunliffe
Guatemala	Jose Carlos Pinto Samayoa
Haiti	Johny Placide
Honduras	Antony Lozano
Indonesia	Asnawi Mangkualam Bahar
Israel	Eli Dasa
Italy	Gianluigi Donnarumma
Jamaica	Andre Blake
Kenya	Michael Olunga Ogada
Korea Republic	Son Heung-min
Latvia	Kristers Tobers
Lebanon	Hassan Maatouk
Liechtenstein	Nicolas Hasler
Madagascar	Rayan Raveloson
Malta	Steve Borg
Mauritania	Mohamed Dellah Yaly
Mexico	Guillermo Ochoa
Montenegro	Stevan Jovetic
Mozambique	Elias Gaspar Pelembe
Nepal	Kiran Limbu Chemjong
Netherlands	Virgil van Dijk
Northern Ireland	Jonny Evans
Palestine	Musab Battat
Panama	Anibal Godoy
Papua New Guinea	Raymond Gunemba
Paraguay	Gustavo Gomez
Peru	Paolo Guerrero
Philippines	Neil Etheridge
Poland	Robert Lewandowski
Puerto Rico	Nicolas Cardona
Qatar	Hassan Al-Haydos
Romania	Nicolae Claudiu Stanciu
Rwanda	Djihad Bizimana
Saudi Arabia	Salman Alfaraj
Scotland	Andy Robertson
Senegal	Kalidou Koulibaly
Sierra Leone	Osman Kakay
Slovakia	Milan Skriniar
Slovenia	Jan Oblak
Solomon Islands	Joses Nawo
St Kitts and Nevis	Julani Archibald
St Lucia	Terell Thomas
St Vincent and the Grenadines	Cornelius Stewart
Suriname	Shaquille Pinas
Switzerland	Granit Xhaka
Tahiti	Teaonui Tehau
Thailand	Theerathon Bunmathan
The Gambia	Omar Colley
Tongo	Hemaloto Polovili
Tunisia	Youssef Msakni
Turkey	Hakan Calhanoglu
Turkmenistan	Arslanmyrat Amanov
Uganda	Emmanuel Arnold Okwi
Ukraine	Andriy Yarmolenko
Uruguay	Federico Valverde
USA	Christian Pulisic
Uzbekistan	Eldor Shomurodov
Vanuatu	Brian Kaltak
Venezuela	Tomás Rincón
Wales	Aaron Ramsey
Yemen	Wahid Alkhyad
Zambia	Lubambo Musonda

In total, 107 captains voted for Lionel Messi in first place for The Best FIFA Men's Player 2023. Despite exiting Europe in favour of Inter Miami in MLS, the voting shows that many of his peers still regard Messi as the best player in the world.

The Argentine did have an immediate impact in Miami, leading the Herons to Leagues Cup glory in the summer, but there's no doubt that his achievements during the qualifying period for this award pale in comparison to Haaland, in particular.

Nevertheless, there was a litany of superstars who voted for Messi in first place. They include Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane, Luka Modric, Robert Lewandowski, Virgil van Dijk, and finalist Mbappe - his former teammate in Paris.

Jan Oblak, Son Heung-min, Milan Skriniar, Federico Valverde, Andy Robertson, Granit Xhaka, and Hakan Calhanoglu are among the other notable international skippers who placed Messi at the top of their voting poll.

Every coach to vote for Lionel Messi for The Best FIFA Men's Player 2023

Country	Coach
Afghanistan	Abdullah Almutairi
American Samoa	Tunoa Lui
Argentina	Lionel Scaloni
Aruba	Marvic Bermudez
Bahamas	Nesly Jean
Bahrain	Juan Antonio Pizzi
Barbados	Orlando Costa
Belarus	Carlos Alos Ferrer
Bolivia	Gustavo Costas
Brazil	Fernando Diniz
Burundi	Étienne Ndayiragije
Cape Verde	Pedro Leitão Brito
Cambodia	Félix Agustin Gonzalez Dalmás
Cameroon	Rigobert Song
Canada	Mauro Biello
Chile	Eduardo Berizzo
China	Aleksandar Jankovic
Colombia	Nestor De Lorenzo
Comoros	Stefano Cusin
Costa Rica	Claudio Alejandro Vivas
Curaçao	Dean Gorre
Cyprus	Temur Ketsbaia
Dominican Republic	Marcelo Neveleff
Eritrea	Ermais Tewelde Asmorom
Estonia	Häberli Thomas
Ghana	Chris Hughton
Greece	Gus Poyet
Guyana	Jamaal Shabazz
Honduras	Reinaldo Rueda Rivera
Iceland	Joey Gudjonsson
Indonesia	Taeyong Shin
IR Iran	Ardeshir Ghalehnoy
Israel	Alon Hazan
Italy	Luciano Spalletti
Kazakhstan	Magomed Adiev
Korea DPR	Sin Yong Nam
Kyrgyzstan	Stefan Tarkovic
Laos	Kanlaya Sysomvang
Lebanon	Aleksandar Ilic
Lesotho	Leslie Makhetha Notsi
Lithuania	Edgaras Jankauskas
Luxembourg	Luc Holtz
Mauritius	Etienne Olivier Fidy Rasoanaivo
Moldova	Serghei Clescenco
Mongolia	Ichiro Otsuka
Montenegro	Miodrag Radulovic
Montserrat	Lee Bowyer
New Caledonia	Johann Sidaner
Niger	Ibarhim Zakariaou
Northern Ireland	Michael O'Neill
Panama	Thomas Christiansen Tarin
Paraguay	Daniel Garnero
Philippines	Michael Weiss
Russia	Valeri Karpin
Scotland	Steve Clarke
Seychelles	Ralph Jean-Louis
Singapore	Takayuki Nishigaya
Solomon Islands	Felipe Vega Arango
South Sudan	Stefano Cusin
St Vincent and the Grenadines	Theon Gordon
Suriname	Aron Winter
Switzerland	Murat Yakin
Syria	Hector Cuper
Tajikistan	Petar Šegrt
Thailand	Mano Polking
Timor-Leste	Suntae Park
Tongo	Timote Moleni
Turkey	Vincenzo Montella
Turks and Caicos Islands	Ricky Hill
Uruguay	Marcelo Bielsa
Uzbekistan	Srecko Katanec
Vanuatu	Etienne Mermer
Venezuela	Fernando Batista
Wales	Robert Page
Zambia	Avram Grant
Zimbabwe	Baltemar Brito

Haaland got more love from the coaches than Messi, but the Argentine nonetheless received over 75 first-place votes from the international managers.

There was plenty of CONMEBOL admiration for Messi, with outgoing Brazil coach Fernando Diniz among the South American managers to place the 36-year-old at the top of their ballot. Lionel Scaloni was unsurprisingly loyal to his compatriot, as was former Argentina boss Marcelo Bielsa.

England's Gareth Southgate opted for Haaland, but Messi still received plenty of Home Nations adoration. Wales' Rob Page, Scotland's Steve Clarke, and Northern Ireland's Martin O'Neill each voted for the Argentine.

There will undoubtedly be a couple of "I had no idea you were still in management!" reactions as you scroll through the list. Former La Liga Coach of the Year Hector Cuper is currently in charge of Syria, and he voted for compatriot Messi. Avram Grant is also still going strong with Zambia, and he backed the Inter Miami superstar in voting.

Messi will also be pleased to hear that he topped the voting ballot of Montserrat coach Lee Bowyer.

How many points did Lionel Messi finish above Erling Haaland & Kylian Mbappe?

Rank	Player	Coaches points	Captains points	Media points	Fans points	Scoring points
1.	Lionel Messi	476	677	315	613,293	48
2.	Erling Haaland	541	557	729	365,893	48
3.	Kylian Mbappe	302	282	169	201,866	35

In the end, nothing could separate Messi and Haaland as they both accumulated 48 points. The Norwegian hitman was massively aided by a landslide in the media votes, with Messi racking up more votes from players and fans.

However, Messi won the tie-breaker as he notched 120 more captains points than Haaland.

Mbappe, meanwhile, was comfortably third in every category, ending with 35 points. Kevin De Bruyne (32 points), Victor Osimhen (24), and Rodri (24) were the hottest on his tail.

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