Lionel Messi will battle it out with Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to be crowned FIFA Men’s Best for 2023

• FIFA’s Best awards will be announced at a ceremony in London on January 15
• Erling Haaland finds himself in competition with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe
• Man City MUST win before going to ‘pointless FIFA jamboree’ – It’s All Kicking Off 

Manchester City Treble winner Erling Haaland is to go head-to-head with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe in a bid to be crowned FIFA Men’s Best for 2023. 

The world class trio have been narrowed down to the finalists from the initial shortlist of 12 players, which featured Declan Rice, Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Bernardo Silva among a host of stars.

FIFA’s Best awards honour the most oustanding performers across the men’s and women’s game, running from December 19, 2022, to August 20, 2023.

Haaland, Messi and Mbappe, who was denied a goal last night against Borussia Dortmund thanks to some spectacular defending from Niklas Sule, will discover the winner at a ceremony in London on January 15, 2024.

Messi won FIFA’s Best in 2022 after leading Argentina to World Cup glory, and he again finds himself in the mix at the age of 36 after transforming the fortunes of Inter Miami in MLS. 

The three finalists for this year’s FIFA’s Men’s Best awards have now been revealed by a panel

HOW DID MBAPPE, MESSI AND HAALAND MAKE THE TOP THREE?

Here is the process of how the shortlist was whittled down from 12 players to three:

• From the 12-player shortlist, each voter made their first, second and third choices for the prize.

• Points were given to nominees depending on where they were placed (five points for first, three for second and one for third).

• Nominated national team captains could not vote for themselves.

• Selections from the four voting groups – coaches, captains, journalists, and fans – each counted for 25 per cent of the total vote, irrespective of the number of voters from each group.

• The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award will be presented to the individual with the most points.

• If finalists are tied on points, the award will be bestowed on the individual who has received the most first-choice selections.

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Even with Messi’s greatness he has his work cut out against two of the sport’s greatest young stars. 

Messi’s case is that he helped guide Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 title last season, as well as go on to be named in the Ligue 1 team of the season.

Messi also finished the 2022-23 season at No 1 in the Ligue 1 assists chart and the all-time top scorer in the top five European leagues.

He is, however, in competition with one of his former team-mates in Mbappe, widely seen as one of the world’s greatest players. 

Mbappe, who scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final last year only to lose out to Messi’s Argentina, was crowned Ligue 1 Player of the Year after PSG’s title win.

The rapid Frenchman scores for fun, bagging 17 goals in his final 20 league games last season. That included a staggering run of nine goals in six matches at one stage.

Ex-team-mates Lionel Messi (left) and Kylian Mbappe (right) were picked by an expert panel

Erling Haaland is the favourite having swept the board to help Man City win a famous Treble

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify

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But perhaps the most compelling case of all comes from Manchester City and Haaland, who ended the eligibility window completing a famous Treble. 

The Norwegian goalscoring supremo was in a league of his own this year, running up his goal tally to fire Man City to Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League glory.

There were 33 games that fit inside the Best awards’ criteria window and Haaland scored 28 goals in those matches. 

As well as team accolades, Haaland also swept the board for the individual honours, finishing last season with the Premier League Golden Boot, the European Golden Shoe, and the rare double of being named English Premier League Player and Young Player of the season.

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