Breaking the Ronaldo-Messi dominance era which started back in 2008, Luka Modric was voted the Best Player by FIFA for the 2017-18 season. This achievement of Modric was backed by his stellar performances for Real Madrid in the Champions League last season, as well as with Croatia in the World Cup 2018.
For the first time since 2007, the Best Player was someone who wasn’t named Messi or Ronaldo. Cristiano Ronaldo still won a nomination in the Top 3 shortlist for the award, but Lionel Messi missed the spot after a poor last season with both club and country.
The votes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and other country captains and coaches have been released by FIFA.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi voted for Croatian Luka Modric in the first place, followed by Kylian Mbappe (France) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal). It was surprising to see Messi vote for Ronaldo for the award, as the rivalry of the duo intensifies year on year as the modern day greats achieve new heights in world football.
On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo voted for Raphael Varane (France) in the first place, followed by Luka Modric (Croatia) and Antoine Griezmann (France). Griezmann would be pleased with the vote following his row with FIFA over him not being nominated for the Top 10 shortlist, nor in the FIFPro World XI. The Frenchman said he didn’t know what more he could do, to deserve the appreciation, after winning the World Cup with France in Russia this year.
After reports of Ronaldo missing The Best FIFA Football Awards Gala 2018 were out, there were parallel reports stating that Lionel Messi was expected at the event by FIFA. But the iconic duo, possibly the greatest players to ever play this sport, missed the gala in an interesting turn of events.
Both Messi and Ronaldo were voted in the FIFPro World XI but event host Idris Elba handed out their trophies to presenters Ronaldinho and Michael Ballack during the ceremony, after sarcastically saying,
Messi.. Ronaldo… Two guys we don’t know.. However Michael and Ronaldinho will make sure they get their awards…!
After the separation of The Best FIFA Football Awards from the French Balon D’Or, the two awards are voted for and handed out individually since 2017. With the FIFA Best Player declared last night, it will be interesting to see who wins the Balon D’or 2018 which is expected to be held in December 2018. The voting for the Balon D’Or starts in October.
After criticisms from fans all over the world that Ronaldo deserved the award more than Modric last night it will be really intriguing to see how the Ballon d’Or 2018 pans out for the Portuguese and the Croatian.
