Lionel Messi Snubs Lamine Yamal in Surprise The Best Men’s Player Vote
Lionel Messi caught many by surprise when it was revealed that he ranked Lamine Yamal as only the third-best player in the world.
As a Barcelona icon who clearly retains a deep affection for the club and the city, it was widely expected that there would be a Blaugrana flavor to his voting for this year’s The Best FIFA Football Awards. Ousmane Dembélé, who played alongside Messi 95 times during their time together at Camp Nou, unsurprisingly topped his personal standings and the actual awards.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar was the clear winner at Tuesday’s ceremony, just rewards for the most prolific campaign of his varied career as the French champions ended their long drought for Champions League glory.
Yamal ranked second in the overall standings but Messi went with Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé on his own ballot. Looking past ingrained club rivalries, the Barça icon was clearly impressed with the record-breaking debut campaign his ex-teammate put together in the Spanish capital.
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Messi spent two seasons with Mbappé at Paris Saint-Germain, infamously getting the better of his then-clubmate in the 2022 World Cup final. The Argentine international sparked some controversy after bemoaning the understated reception he was afforded in Paris after the tournament in Qatar. “We had a normal relationship,” Messi sniffed.
Who Lionel Messi Voted for in 2025 The Best FIFA Football Awards
As Argentina’s captain, Messi was entitled to vote on all three men’s award which were handed out by FIFA at The Best awards in Doha, Qatar. The Best Men’s Player award wasn’t the only category which exposed a lack of bias from Messi.
Best Men’s Player
- Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain, France)
- Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid, France)
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain)
Best Men’s Coach
- Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Hansi Flick (Barcelona)
- Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
While Yamal could only finish third in Messi’s ranking, his manager Hansi Flick pushed his way up to second after leading Barcelona to a domestic treble. Much like Dembélé, Messi went for a PSG representative who has a history in Catalonia: Luis Enrique.
The outspoken manager’s relationship with Messi during their shared time in Spain was not without its difficulties. Midway through the 2014–15 season Enrique took the unprecedented step of benching the club’s all-time scorer, prompting a wildfire of speculation claiming that Messi had threatened to get his manager sacked.
Whatever rift there was, it was patched up in time for Barcelona to win a European treble.
Best Men’s Goalkeeper
- Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain/Manchester City, Italy)
- Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa, Argentina)
- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid, Belgium)
Messi has openly billed Emiliano Martínez and his penalty heroics as a key factor behind Argentina’s rapidly improved success at international tournaments. “The Beast,” in Messi’s words, was only good enough to rank second, behind his former PSG teammate Gianluigi Donnarumma, who claimed the official prize.
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