Voting for Best FIFA Men's Player revealed: Who picked who?
Well, there you have it.
Croatia and Real Madrid engine Luka Modric was voted by his peers as the Best FIFA Men's Player at the annual awards ceremony in London, England. After leading his nation to a first-ever World Cup final in Russia this summer, Modric beat out Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah for the honor.
As is the case every year, FIFA has now released a breakdown of the voting. Lionel Messi, Ronaldo's counterpart in a decade-long duopoly over football's individual awards, finished fifth.
| Rank | Player | % of Total Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luka Modric | 29.05 |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 19.08 |
| 3 | Mohamed Salah | 11.23 |
| 4 | Kylian Mbappe | 10.52 |
| 5 | Lionel Messi | 9.81 |
| 6 | Antoine Griezmann | 6.69 |
| 7 | Eden Hazard | 5.65 |
| 8 | Kevin De Bruyne | 3.54 |
| 9 | Raphael Varane | 3.45 |
| 10 | Harry Kane | 0.98 |
Courtesy: FIFA
World Cup Golden Boot winner Harry Kane landed at No. 10 and received just three first-choice votes - from the coaches of the Bahamas, Chinese Taipei, and Vanuatu.
The governing body also published data regarding the selections of each country's team captain, coach, and media representative, which delivered an interesting read.
Argentina skipper Messi, for instance, named Ronaldo in his top three players - third, to be exact, behind Modric and Kylian Mbappe - while Ronaldo did not return the favor. Modric himself, like Ronaldo, voted for Real Madrid teammate and France's World Cup-winning center-back Raphael Varane in first place.
Here is a list of some selected players' choices:
| Country | Captain | 1st Choice | 2nd Choice | 3rd Choice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Lionel Messi | Luka Modric | Kylian Mbappe | Cristiano Ronaldo |
| Belgium | Eden Hazard | Luka Modric | Raphael Varane | Kylian Mbappe |
| Brazil | Miranda | Cristiano Ronaldo | Kylian Mbappe | Lionel Messi |
| Croatia | Luka Modric | Raphael Varane | Cristiano Ronaldo | Antoine Griezmann |
| England | Harry Kane | Cristiano Ronaldo | Lionel Messi | Kevin De Bruyne |
| France | Hugo Lloris | Raphael Varane | Antoine Griezmann | Kylian Mbappe |
| Germany | Manuel Neuer | Eden Hazard | Luka Modric | Raphael Varane |
| Italy | Giorgio Chiellini | Cristiano Ronaldo | Luka Modric | Mohamed Salah |
| Poland | Robert Lewandowski | Luka Modric | Raphael Varane | Kylian Mbappe |
| Portugal | Cristiano Ronaldo | Raphael Varane | Luka Modric | Antoine Griezmann |
| Spain | Sergio Ramos | Luka Modric | Cristiano Ronaldo | Lionel Messi |
Meanwhile, though France's victorious coach Didier Deschamps - himself elected as Best FIFA Coach - unsurprisingly selected a trio of his compatriots, and Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic picked Modric as the winner, some other results are worth a glance.
| Country | Coach | 1st Choice | 2nd Choice | 3rd Choice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Lionel Scaloni | Lionel Messi | Luka Modric | Antoine Griezmann |
| Belgium | Roberto Martinez | Luka Modric | Raphael Varane | Lionel Messi |
| Brazil | Tite | Luka Modric | Mohamed Salah | Cristiano Ronaldo |
| Croatia | Zlatko Dalic | Luka Modric | Lionel Messi | Cristiano Ronaldo |
| England | Gareth Southgate | Luka Modric | Raphael Varane | Eden Hazard |
| France | Didier Deschamps | Antoine Griezmann | Raphael Varane | Kylian Mbappe |
| Germany | Joachim Low | Luka Modric | Kylian Mbappe | Eden Hazard |
| Italy | Roberto Mancini | Cristiano Ronaldo | Kylian Mbappe | Luka Modric |
| Portugal | Fernando Santos | Cristiano Ronaldo | Luka Modric | Eden Hazard |
| Spain | Luis Enrique | Lionel Messi | Luka Modric | Mohamed Salah |
Some extremely notable names did not receive nominations. Brazil star Neymar, France's star midfield pair of N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba, and the entirety of Spain's talent pool were left off the list.
The full list of votes from national team captains, coaches, and media representatives can be found here, courtesy FIFA.