Cristiano Ronaldo did NOT vote for Best FIFA Men's Player as Portugal captain, somebody else took his place

Cristiano Ronaldo surprisingly did not vote at the Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 as Portugal’s captain after Lionel Messi scooped the major honour on the night.

Messi picked up FIFA’s distinguished prize for the second time ahead of Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid captain Karim Benzema.

Ronaldo, who left Manchester United to sign for Al Nassr, failed to make the 14-man shortlist for Best FIFA Men’s Player, which was awarded at a ceremony in Paris, France.

The 38­-year-old Portuguese forward previously won the FIFA award a record-tying two times (2016 and 2017) alongside Messi and Robert Lewandowski.

Despite missing out on the 2022 edition of the award, Ronaldo was still eligible to cast votes for each Best FIFA category thanks to his status as Portugal’s captain.

However, FIFA’s official website released the full list of national team captains who voted and Ronaldo was surprisingly absent.

It’s unknown why Ronaldo didn’t take part in the voting, but FIFA revealed the Al Nassr star’s former Madrid teammate Pepe instead voted as Portugal’s captain.

Journalists, captains and coaches who voted in each category allocated five points to their first pick, the second choice received three and the third scored only one point.

Pepe snubbed Best FIFA Men’s Player winner Messi from his top three picks, with the Porto defender ranking France forward Kylian Mbappe as his first choice.

The 40-year-old Portugal centre-back allocated his second- and third-choice picks respectively to former Madrid teammates Luka Modric and Karim Benzema.

Speaking after his win in Paris, Messi said “It’s amazing. It’s been a tremendous year and it’s an honour for me to be here and win this award.

“Without my teammates, I wouldn’t be here. I achieved the dream I had been hoping for so long. Very few people can achieve that and I have been lucky to do so.”

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Featured Image Credit: Alamy/Twitter

Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, FIFA, Football

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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