While there was little surprise when Cristiano Ronaldo was announced as the winner of the second FIFA 'The Best' award, some of the votes cast for who should win the award certainly raised some eyebrows.
National team captains were allowed to cast their votes for who they believed should be named as the greatest player in the world based off performances over the last 12 months, meaning both Ronaldo and second placed Lionel Messi had a say in the outcome of who won the prize.
The Portuguese captain named Luka Modric his first choice with Sergio Ramos and Marcelo in second and third. Argentina's captain went with Luis Suarez in first and Andres Iniesta and Neymar rounding off his top three.
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Quite clearly there's plenty of bias in the voting with Ronaldo picking three Real Madrid players and Messi picking two Barcelona players and Neymar who until recently was also a teammate.
Dani Alves went for Neymar as captain of Brazil and picked former colleague Messi as second and former Clasico rival Ronaldo in third place.
As captain of Croatia Modric, who Ronaldo picked as number one, returned the favour by voting for CR7 but had Messi in second place and Toni Kroos, his midfield partner as third place.
And the club based bias didn't stop with Barca and Real, with Eden Hazard voting for French midfielder N'Golo Kante as the world's greatest.
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Kante has become one of the Premier League's most influential midfielders over the last two years, helping Chelsea and Leicester City to Premier League titles. Images: PA
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The former Leicester City man has been a pivotal part of the Chelsea and Leicester teams that have lifted the last two Premier League titles and has also cemented himself in Didier Deschamps' France team, helping Les Bleus reach the final of Euro 2016, last year.
However, being one of the most influential midfielders in the Premier League and being the greatest footballer in the world are two very different things and Kante, despite his brilliance, still has some way to go if he's ever going to be in contention for the award, given Ronaldo and Messi's decade long dominance of world footballer's individual gongs.
Hazard is no stranger to awards himself. How long until Chelsea's star man is in contention for a Ballon d'Or? Images: PA
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Hazard rounded out his choices with Ronaldo and Modric also being voted for by the Belgian winger, meaning Messi didn't even get a look in.
Kante wasn't only selected by Hazard, however, with Bahamas captain Lesly St Fleur and Dominica skipper Euclid Bertrand also picking the former Foxes midfielder.
(H/T Metro)
Topics: Football News, Eden Hazard, Football, FIFA, Chelsea FC, Premier League, N'Golo Kante