Erling Haaland Beats Cristiano Ronaldo To Win Best Men's Player At 2023 Globe Soccer Awards
Erling Haaland was named the Best Men's Player at the 2023 Globe Soccer Awards ceremony in Dubai on Friday.
Haaland scored 52 goals in 53 games for Manchester City last season, helping fire the club to glory in the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League.
Despite this remarkable achievement, Haaland lost out to Lionel Messi in the vote for both the Ballon d'Or and The Best FIFA Men's Player award.
Messi was also among the nominees for Globe Soccer's Best Men's Player prize, although the Argentina captain did not attend Friday's event.
The other nominees were Jude Bellingham, Karim Benzema, Kevin De Bruyne, Kylian Mbappe, Victor Osimhen, Mohamed Salah, Bernardo Silva and Vinicius Junior.
It was not confirmed who had placed second in the vote, but Haaland and Ronaldo were shown in split-screen mode moments before the winner was officially revealed.
Ronaldo appeared to know what was coming though, as he was seen pointing at Haaland during the dramatic pause.
Cristiano Ronaldo pictured pointing at Erling Haaland when the two players were shown in split-screen mode at Friday's Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai
Globe Soccer Awards/YouTube
Haaland pictured posing with his trophy after winning the Best Men's Player award
IMAGO/LaPresse/Fabio Ferrari
Ronaldo had previously won this award a record-breaking six times - picking up the 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 editions.
Although he was unable to win it for the seventh occasion, Ronaldo did not leave Friday's party empty-handed.
The Al Nassr forward was named Best Middle East Player.
He also received the Maradona Award for being the top-scoring player in world football last year - with 54 goals in 59 games for Al Nassr and Portugal.
Finally, Ronaldo picked up the Fans' Favourite Player of the Year award.
Barcelona and Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmati won the award for Best Women's Player.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid and England youngster Jude Bellingham won the Emerging Player award.
Neither Bonmati nor Bellingham attended Friday's ceremony in Dubai but both delivered pre-recorded acceptance speeches.
The majority of the awards were decided by two votes - a public poll and a vote conducted by a panel of 30 key football industry figures, including Francesco Totti, Iker Casillas, Luis Figo and Marcello Lippi.
