Lionel Messi votes for Ousmane Dembele as men's player of the year at FIFA Best awards as Thomas Tuchel picks Harry Kane and Cole Palmer

Awards season is in full swing with Ousmane Dembele named the men's player of the year at the FIFA Best gala - but did Lionel Messi agree with the decision? The award, covering performances from August 2024 to August 2025, is decided through votes from men’s national team coaches, captains, journalists, and fans. Argentina captain Messi voted for Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal in his top three.

Lionel Messi voted for Ousmane Dembele as his FIFA Best Men's Player of the Year

Image credit: Getty Images

Lionel Messi gave his seal of approval to FIFA's recognition of Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele as the best player of the year following Tuesday's awards ceremony in Qatar.

Messi, who has been on a 'GOAT' tour of India, was among those to hold a vote for the award presented annually by the sport's governing body, which was won last year by Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior.

Dembele, who joined PSG from Barcelona in 2023, was crowned the winner at the star-studded gala in Lusail as his goalscoring feats of the past 12 months were acknowledged.

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The 28-year-old netted 35 goals and assisted 16 times in 53 matches in all competitions, a record which has seen the accolades continue to land at his feet.

The 2025 Ballon d'Or winner saw off competition from PSG team-mates Achraf Hakimi, Nuno Mendes and Vitinha for the award, as well as France team-mate Kylian Mbappe.

The award, covering performances from August 2024 to August 2025, is decided by votes from men’s national team coaches, captains, journalists, and fans.

The breakdown of the points (five for first, three for second and one for third place) awarded has now been revealed by FIFA, with Messi among the many voters to select Dembele as their first choice.

The Argentina captain awarded Real Madrid forward Mbappe the runner-up position, with Barcelona's Lamine Yamal completing his top three.

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In 2023, Messi collected the best men's player award for the third time since the format of the awards began in 2016, adding to his titles in 2019 and 2022.

Next summer's World Cup promises to be his last, and another opportunity to add to his unrivalled list of individual honours, having not been in the running for this year's award.

Tuchel picks Kane, Palmer over Dembele

England head coach Thomas Tuchel picked his captain Harry Kane above Dembele, and his choice of Cole Palmer in second will certainly provide the Chelsea playmaker with support heading into a tournament year where competition in the No. 10 position is fierce.

Across all voters, however, Kane and Palmer were only placed eighth and 11th respectively from the final list of 11 nominees.

Voting Party	Country	Name	First	Second	Third
Captain	Argentina	Lionel Messi	Ousmane Dembele	Kylian Mbappe	Lamine Yamal
Captain	England	Harry Kane	Ousmane Dembele	Vitinha	Mohamed Salah
Captain	Scotland	Andy Robertson	Mohamed Salah	Ousmane Dembele	Nuno Mendes
Captain	Ghana	Jordan Ayew	Cole Palmer	Kylian Mbappe	Ousmane Dembele
Coach	Argentina	Lionel Scaloni	Kylian Mbappe	Pedri	Lamine Yamal
Coach	England	Thomas Tuchel	Harry Kane	Cole Palmer	Ousmane Dembele
Coach	Germany	Julian Nagelsmann	Vitinha	Ousmane Dembele	Harry Kane
Coach	Scotland	Steve Clarke	Ousmane Dembele	Vitinha	Mohamed Salah
Coach	Brazil	Carlo Ancelotti	Ousmane Dembele	Raphinha	Kylian Mbappe

*selected votes from coaches and captains

Palmer was first-choice among some voters, with Ghana captain Jordan Ayew, Cook Islands skipper Thane Pora Vogel Beal and Trinidad and Tobago's Kevin Molino feeling no player was better than Chelsea's No 10.

Grenada coach Anthony Modeste and Vietnam manager Sang Sik Kim shared their view on Palmer, who recently returned from a long lay-off to score in his side's 2-0 win over Everton last weekend.

Kane, however, showed no bias in his selections with the England captain voting for Dembele whilst recognising the performances of Vitinha in helping PSG win the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history.

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Mohamed Salah, who scored 29 Premier League goals in 2024/25 as Liverpool won the title in Arne Slot's first season in charge, was not included in the team of the year.

But the Egyptian was at least ackowledged by his team-mate Andy Robertson, with Scotland's captain selecting him ahead of Dembele and fellow left-back Nuno Mendes.

Just three Premier League players were named in the men's FIFPRO Best XI.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and Palmer were the league's representatives.

How were the award winners determined?

The voting process for the FIFA Men's and Women's Best awards was divided equally among four groups: men’s national team captains and coaches, women’s national team captains and coaches, media representatives from each member association, and registered fans.

Each group carried the same weight, contributing 25% to the final decision on the winners.

FIFA Men's Player of the Year shortlist

Ousmane Dembele (France and Paris Saint-Germain)
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain)
Harry Kane (England and FC Bayern Munich)
Kylian Mbappe (France and Real Madrid)
Nuno Mendes (Portugal and Paris Saint-Germain)
Cole Palmer (England and Chelsea)
Pedri (Spain and Barcelona)
Raphinha (Brazil and Barcelona)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool)
Vitinha (Portugal and Paris Saint-Germain)
Lamine Yamal (Spain and Barcelona)

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