Ousmane Dembélé was crowned the winner of FIFA The Best 2025 award following the votes cast by captains of FIFA affiliated national teams. If Lionel MessiWhen the vote became public, questions quickly emerged why Cristiano Ronaldo did not take part in the voting process despite his long-standing role as Portugal captain.
Unlike the Ballon d’Or, the selection process for The Best involves votes from coaches and national team captains, along with media representatives and fan votes in certain categories. In his role as captain of Argentina, Messi took part in the process despite not being nominated for The Best for the first time in 18 years.
But even though he was not among the contenders for the Best XI or the main prize, Messi still took part in the voting in several categories. For Best Player of the Year, the Argentine legend selected Ousmane Dembélé in first place, followed by Kylian Mbappé in second place and Lamine Yamal in third placewith the last two finishing in positions other than the Ballon d’Or rankings.
After supporting his former teammate Dembélé as a top player, Messi also opted for household names Best trainer of the year. He voted PSG’s Luis Enrique firstFC Barcelona’s Hansi Flick second and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta third.
Ousmane Dembélé awarded FIFA The Best 2025.
Messi’s election for Best Goalkeeper of the Year surprised many fans. He selected former PSG team Luigi Donnarumma in first placebefore the Argentinian Emiliano “BackMartínez came second, while Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois completed the top three.
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Ousmane Dembélé joins elite club with Messi and Ronaldo after winning FIFA The Best and Ballon d’Or in 2025
Why didn’t Cristiano Ronaldo vote in The Best?
When FIFA announced the full distribution of votes of players, coaches and media representatives, Christiano Ronaldo‘s name was missing. Instead, a Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva cast the ballot in Portugalselecting Vitinha, Nuno Mendes and Dembélé as his top three for the Best award.
Although Ronaldo usually wears the captain’s armband Portugalhe was not listed as the official voting leader, following on from the past two editions when Silva and Pepe were responsible for submitting the votes. This has become a recurring situation, as Ronaldo has publicly stated that individual awards have lost credibility for hima position he has reiterated in discussions surrounding both The Best and the Ballon d’Or.
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