And nobody could argue with that. But it resonated with many on the outside too. After a season in which Barcelona nearly finished the league campaign unbeaten and also won the Copa del Rey to boot, Messi’s exceptional displays counted for little when the time came to choose FIFA’s ‘Best’ player. For the first time since 2006, he will not be in contention for the prize as Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, and Mohamed Salah have edged him out of the shortlist.
It is by no means the only surprise. For the first time since FIFA instituted its award in 1991 — it has undergone various iterations since — the shortlist does not have a player from the World Cup winner in the year of the tournament. The absence of Pep Guardiola from the coach shortlist rankles too, as his Manchester City side broke multiple records on its way to 100 points in the Premier League. Not to mention, Ederson and Keylor Navas lost out to Kasper Schmeichel in the running for best goalkeeper.
But it is the name of Messi which is missed the most. His exclusion feels like injustice because Salah scored a goal less, albeit in two fewer appearances, and won nothing as compared to the Argentine’s domestic double with Barcelona. Moreover, it remains a difficult case to make that Salah’s influence on his team was any greater than Messi’s on Barcelona. The popularity of the Premier League seems to have catapulted the Egyptian’s success on a higher plane, as brilliant as he was last season.
Ronaldo’s place on the shortlist is less contentious since he scored as many goals as Salah in all competitions, but did so in only 44 appearances – 10 fewer than Messi. The Juventus forward also had a better World Cup than both Messi and Salah, in addition to winning the Champions League. Luka Modric made an even stronger case after Croatia’s World Cup heroics, not to forget the continental triumph with Real Madrid.
So, for Messi to make the shortlist, Salah would be the one to miss out. It seems plainly ridiculous to suggest that the five-time winner from Argentina does not deserve his place among the top three players of the world. And this argument is not made on his reputation alone. Messi’s form last season did not see a dip from its stratospheric residence. If anyone needs any reminder of how good he is, the highlights of his display against Deportivo Alaves in the league opener a few weeks ago should suffice.
But the narrative of a Messi weighed down by his teammates has assumed a persuasive quality. The loss against Roma in the Champions League last season and Argentina’s struggle at the World Cup brought intense scrutiny upon the talismanic footballer. However, we should recall that Ronaldo won the award in 2013 even though Real Madrid went trophy-less the season before and Messi scored more goals than him in that campaign.
This is why you would expect the experts — the national team coaches, their captains, fans, and journalists — to address the criticism of Messi with greater circumspection. The votes are weighted equally among the four constituents so it remains unlikely that one group could influence the selection heavily. Hence it must be assumed, until we learn something new from the results on 24 September, that the decision to exclude Messi had widespread backing.