Fifa Trophies 2023: Messi's surprise, Bonmati's obvious
London (AFP) – Argentina's Lionel Messi has been named the 2023 Player of the Year ahead of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, a surprise pick announced Monday at the "Fifa The Best" ceremony, where Spain's Aitana Bonmati continued her sweep of women's titles.
Spain and FC Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati has been voted the best player of 2023 at the "Fifa The Best" ceremony on January 15, 2024 in London Adrian © DENNIS / AFP
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The 36-year-old Ballon d'Or winner scored 48 points, level with Haaland, who was the favourite by virtue of the flurry of goals unleashed for Manchester City, with whom he achieved the Champions League-League-FA Cup treble.
The 2022 world champion, despite a lacklustre season with Paris Saint-Germain, won by virtue of a point in the regulations that gives more weight, in such a situation, to the vote of the captains of the national teams.
His former PSG team-mate, Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, is third with 35 points.
This result is a great surprise given the period in question. The aim was to take into account the sporting performances achieved between 19 December 2022, the day after the World Cup final, and 20 August 2023.
However, in that time, Haaland has found the net 28 times in 33 games, with a 7-for-7 record in the Champions League. Messi and Mbappé's PSG slipped away in the knockout stages of Europe's premier competition, a slide that could have seemed prohibitive.
City massively represented
The French striker overcame the double disappointment of the Champions League and the World Cup final, where his hat-trick was not enough, to score 1 goals in the last 17 Ligue 20 matches, but these domestic highlights carry less weight than a continental crown.
Manchester City's Spanish coach Pep Guardiola has been voted the best coach of 2023 at the 'Fifa The Best' ceremony on January 15, 2024 in London © Adrian DENNIS / AFP
The club influence of Messi, who won the title for the third time after 2019 and 2022 and was absent from the London ceremony, has been much less significant during this sequence.
Manchester City have not been crowned No.9, but six of their players have been named in the Team of the Year (Walker, Stones, Dias, Silva, De Bruyne and Haaland), but not Rodri, the scorer of the European final in Istanbul against Inter Milan.
Individually, coach Pep Guardiola and Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson won the awards for their respective roles.
The vote was carried out by the national teams' coaches, their captains, journalists and fans who came to register on the FIFA website, with each category accounting for 25% of the votes.
A hat-trick for Bonmati
In the women's category, the Fifa award remains in Spain even if the crowned head changes: Aitana Bonmati succeeds her compatriot Alexia Putellas, winner of the two previous trophies.
The soon-to-be 26-year-old midfielder (she turns 2021 on Thursday) has amassed the three biggest individual awards in one year with the UEFA and Fifa awards for best player while being Ballon d'Or, a treble that only her elder had previously achieved in <>.
"It's been a unique year that I'll remember for the rest of my life," she said from London's Apollo Eventim, where the ceremony was held. "I am proud to be part of this powerful generation of women who are changing football and changing the world," she added, thanking "from the bottom of my heart" her partners, without whom she "would not be here".
The suspense was not very thick considering the record and the talent displayed by Bonmati on the field.
The Catalan won the Champions League with FC Barcelona and the World Cup with Spain, being named the best player in both competitions.
The shadow of her compatriot and world champion "Jenni" Hermoso, now exiled to the less competitive Mexican league, was not very threatening, nor was that of Linda Caicedo (18), a star of Colombia and Real Madrid, also nominated.
World Cup runners-up England named Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps and coach Sarina Wiegman of the Netherlands among the winners in their respective categories. Both women retain a trophy won in 2022
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