Martin Odegaard and Granit Xhaka’s votes in The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 have been revealed, with Lionel Messi winning the men’s main prize.

Argentina's coach Lionel Scaloni (R) reacts after receiving the Best FIFA Mens Coach award during the Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 ceremony in Paris on February 27, 2023. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
Argentina’s coach Lionel Scaloni (R) reacts after receiving the Best FIFA Mens Coach award during the Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 ceremony in Paris on February 27, 2023. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

Every year since 2017, FIFA have held The Best FIFA Football Awards, with various individual awards including the best men’s player, goalkeeper, coach, and the same awards for the women’s game.

The awards are voted on by national team captains, coaches, and local media, which means Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka (Switzerland) and Martin Odegaard (Norway) both get to nominate their top-three picks.

Here are their nominations for best men’s player, goalkeeper, and coach of the year, in order.

Granit Xhaka’s nominations

Best Player

  1. Lionel Messi
  2. Luka Modric
  3. Kylian Mbappe

Best Goalkeeper

  1. Thibaut Courtois
  2. Alisson Becker
  3. Ederson

Best Coach

  1. Lionel Scaloni
  2. Carlo Ancelotti
  3. Pep Guardiola

Martin Odegaard’s nominations

Best Player

  1. Lionel Messi
  2. Erling Haaland
  3. Kylian Mbappe

Best Goalkeeper

  1. Thibaut Courtois
  2. Alisson Becker
  3. Emiliano Martinez

Best Coach

  1. Lionel Scaloni
  2. Carlo Ancelotti
  3. Pep Guardiola

As you can see above, the two sets of nominations are similar for both players.

As a note, the Best Coach category was selected from a shortlist of five coaches: Lionel Scaloni, Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola, Walid Regragui, and Didier Deschamps.

Thus, neither Xhaka nor Odegaard could vote for Mikel Arteta, which they surely would have.

Arsenal's Spanish manager Mikel Arteta (R) speaks to Arsenal's Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium in London on February 15, 2023. (Photo by IAN KINGTON/IKIMAGES/AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal’s Spanish manager Mikel Arteta (R) speaks to Arsenal’s Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium in London on February 15, 2023. (Photo by IAN KINGTON/IKIMAGES/AFP via Getty Images)

Both players had Messi and Courtois as their picks for the winners, both had Mbappe in third for the player category and Alisson in second for the goalkeeper category, but they differed on the other two selections.

Xhaka had Luka Modric as his second-best player of the year, perhaps influenced by the fact they both play in midfield, whilst Odegaard selected his international teammate Erling Haaland.

Then Xhaka had Ederson as his third-best goalkeeper, whilst Odegaard picked eventual award-winner Emi Martinez.

That decision is rather amusing, given Martinez is Xhaka’s former teammate, whilst he left Arsenal before Odegaard joined.

Ultimately, these awards aren’t particularly meaningful. It’s just a bit of fun to see who each player picked.

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