Every player Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo voted for in FIFA Best and Ballon d'Or awards since 2010

The Best FIFA Football awards 2023 takes place tonight in London, with a total of nine different individual prizes up for grabs.

The main award is of course the Best FIFA Men’s Player, where Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe are all in the running.

The award is decided by votes from coaches and captains of national teams, a journalist from each territory and fans on the official FIFA website.

They vote for their top three in the category and the individual with the most points comes out on top.

Players are known to vote tactically and go for their mates and that is definitely the case with Messi and Ronaldo, the two greatest players of all time.

At one stage the duo were able to vote for the Ballon d'Or, an award they have won 14 times between them.

Image: Getty

Journalists now have the final say with the gong but Messi and Ronaldo did not have one another in their shortlist during the the time when the France Football accolade was merged with FIFA.

Messi finally voted for Ronaldo, placing him in his top three in 2018 and 2019.

Ronaldo would returned the favour a year on, putting Messi second in his top three for 'The Best', which was won by Robert Lewandowski.

Image: Getty

Much to Lewandowski's frustration, there was no Ballon d'Or that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although both have spoken about the mutual respect, neither Messi and Ronaldo have ever picked the other in first place and it's unlikely to ever happen.

Lionel Messi awards voting

Ballon d'Or:

2010: Didn't vote

2011: Xavi, Iniesta, Aguero

2012: Iniesta, Xavi, Aguero

2013: Iniesta, Xavi, Neymar

2014: Di Maria, Iniesta, Mascherano

2015: Suarez, Neymar, Iniesta

FIFA 'The Best':

2016: Suarez, Neymar, Iniesta

2017: Suarez, Iniesta, Neymar

2018: Modric, Mbappe, Ronaldo

2019: Mane, Ronaldo, De Jong

2020: Neymar, Mbappe, Lewandowski

2021: Neymar, Mbappe, Benzema

2022: Neymar, Mbappe, Benzema

Cristiano Ronaldo awards voting

Ballon d'Or:

2010: Xavi, Casillas, Sneijder

2011: Did not vote

2012: Did not vote

2013: Falcao, Bale, Ozil

2014: Ramos, Bale, Benzema

2015: Benzema, James Rodriguez, Bale

FIFA's 'The Best':

2016: Bale, Modric, Ramos

2017: Modric, Ramos, Marcelo

2018: Varane, Modric, Griezmann

2019: De Ligt, De Jong, Mbappe

2020: Lewandowski, Messi, Mbappe

2021: Lewandowski, Kante, Jorginho

2022: Did not vote

Topics: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ballon d'Or

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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