After two years of Messi's dominance, Vinicius is the new The Best, but the Argentinian is still among the top names.
After winning the Best award two years in a row, Messi ceded the throne to Vinícius Júnior, who was crowned FIFA's Best Player of 2024.
Vinícius had an extraordinary year at Real Madrid, a team that won virtually everything, with the Brazilian winger emerging as their standout figure and main point of reference.
Now, with the arrival of Mbappé in the squad, Vinícius remains the most decisive player in Carlo Ancelotti's starting XI. Ancelotti himself is recognized as Coach of the Year.
Players and coaches voted for Vini Jr
As time goes by, it is becoming more and more common to see the names of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo fade from the elite podium. While both continue to make an impact – Messi with Inter Miami in the MLS and Ronaldo with Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia – it is now the turn of stars like Vinícius, Mbappé, Lamine Yamal and Bellingham to take center stage at clubs like Real Madrid . and Barcelona.
Despite this, Messi was still in the top 10 nominees, a reminder that unlike the Ballon d'Or, the best award involves voting by players and captains.
At 37 years old, Messi remains influential and recently earned the MLS 2024 MVP award for leading Inter Miami to the most points in Major League Soccer history.
His recognition reflects the respect he continues to command among his professional colleagues around the world.
Where did Messi get into The Best?
With a total of 25 points, Messi took sixth place in the award for The Best, beating names like Kroos, Haaland or Mbappé, while he was only behind Lamine Yamal, Carvajal, Bellingham, Rodri and Vinicius, who took the award .
After dominating 2022 and 2023 with the recognition, it was now the turn of a Real Madrid star to take the crown.
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