FIFA Best Awards rocked as multiple voters 'made mistakes' before Lionel Messi win

Multiple people made a mistake when voting during the FIFA Best Awards, claimed Portugal boss Roberto Martinez.

Earlier this month Lionel Messi won the men’s player of the year at the FIFA Best Awards, edging out Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and Paris St-Germain attacker Kylian Mbappe.

Messi began 2023 at Paris Saint-Germain, where he scored nine goals as they won the French League title, before moving to Inter Miami in June. There, the 36-year-old has scored 10 goals in seven games as the US outfit won the inaugural Leagues Cup.

Meanwhile, Haaland grabbed 36 Premier League goals last term, and a club-record 52 goals in all competitions as Manchester City won the Champions League, FA Cup and Premier League treble.

The Fifa Best Awards normally cover a calendar year and are different to the Ballon d'Or awards, which reflect performances across a season.

However, this year, the men's Fifa Best Awards were judged from December 19, 2022 to August 20 2023, because the Qatar World Cup was included in last year's ceremony.

Portugal boss Roberto Martinez, who voted for ex-Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic, now at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, suggested that many were unaware that the vote did not factor in the 2022 World Cup, where Messi captained Argentina to victory.

“It was a mistake,” Portugal manager Martinez told A Bola when asked about his vote for Brozovic.

“Now we have a lot of votes, we have a lot of elections. We have the FIFA player, The Best player, who has been there all season. The first time we have a World Cup in winter and the voting is strange because it was only for six months.

Haaland scored a club record 52 goals for Man City in the 2022/23 campaign (Getty)

“For me, individual awards in football are difficult. I think the individual player represents what the team did. And what about Brozovic and Bernardo [Silva], and the players who were in the Champions League final, and who were successful in domestic trophies?

“But Brozovic is a player who represents an idea of ​​the game, who represents what Croatia is doing. But it was a mistake, for the period in question.

“And I think I wasn't the only one who made that mistake, because when you see the votes, I think there's more of an intention to see what happened at the World Cup too.”

The FIFA Best awards are determined by a mix of votes from national team managers and captains, journalists and fans on Fifa's website.

Messi and Haaland finished on the same amount of points, with Messi ultimately claiming the award having had more first-place nominations from national team captains.