Who did Messi, Ronaldo and VVD vote for?

Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk finished second behind Lionel Messi

After Lionel Messi was confirmed as Best FIFA Player of the Year, the votes of top stars including Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk have been revealed.

The award was decided by a collection of votes, coming from the captains of each international team, their managers and designated media officials from each country.

Messi took the top honour with 46 per cent of the scoring points, with Van Dijk receiving 38 per cent and Ronaldo 36 per cent.

Each voting individual had to make three selections: a first-placed player who would receive five points, a second-placed player to receive three points and a third-placed player to receive one point.

Following the ceremony, FIFA revealed the breakdown of the vote, with some interesting surprises among the selections.

Messi went for Liverpool winger Sadio Mane and had Ronaldo as his second pick, but Ronaldo did not return the favour, omitting Messi from his top three while opting for Juventus team-mate Matthijs de Ligt as his first option.

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Lionel Messi has been awarded Best FIFA Men’s player ahead of Virgil Van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi has been awarded Best FIFA Men’s player ahead of Virgil Van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo

England boss Gareth Southgate voted for Lionel Messi – not Harry Kane – as did Liverpool defender Van Dijk and Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Wales manager Ryan Giggs went for his former Manchester United team-mate Ronaldo, as did his former Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric.

Manuel Neuer picked Van Dijk alongside Steve Clarke, Mick McCarthy and Michael O’Neill but Sergio Ramos opted for Eden Hazard.

Here are some of the top picks of the votes of some more notable players and managers…

Gareth Southgate – England coach

(1st) Lionel Messi (2nd) Cristiano Ronaldo (3rd) Virgil van Dijk

Steve Clarke – Scotland coach

(1st) Virgil van Dijk (2nd) Kylian Mbappe (3rd) Sadio Mane

Ryan Giggs – Wales coach

(1st) Cristiano Ronaldo (2nd) Lionel Messi (3rd) Virgil van Dijk

Mick McCarthy – Republic of Ireland coach

(1st) Virgil van Dijk (2nd) Frenkie de Jong (3rd) Harry Kane

Michael O’Neill – Northern Ireland coach

(1st) Virgil van Dijk (2nd) Mohamed Salah (3rd) Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi – Argentina captain

(1st) Sadio Mane (2nd) Cristiano Ronaldo (3rd) Frenkie de Jong

Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal captain

(1st) Matthijs de Ligt (2nd) Frenkie de Jong (3rd) Kylian Mbappe

Harry Kane – England captain

(1st) Lionel Messi (2nd) Virgil van Dijk (3rd) Cristiano Ronaldo

Luka Modric – Croatia captain

(1st) Cristiano Ronaldo (2nd) Eden Hazard (3rd) Lionel Messi

Hugo Loris – France captain

(1st) Lionel Messi (2nd) Cristiano Ronaldo (3rd) Kylian Mbappe

Manuel Neuer – Germany captain

(1st) Virgil van Dijk (2nd) Sadio Mane (3rd) Eden Hazard

Virgil van Dijk – Netherlands captain

(1st) Lionel Messi (2nd) Mohamed Salah (3rd) Sadio Mane

Sergio Ramos – Spain captain

(1st) Eden Hazard (2nd) Cristiano Ronaldo (3rd) Mohamed Salah

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