Thiago Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly's FIFA Men's The Best player votes have been revealed after the awards were handed out on Monday night. After Karim Benzema won the Ballon d'Or last year the 2022 The Best was instead handed to Lionel Messi.
The Paris Saint-Germain winger had the benefit of the World Cup being played for this award whereas the Ballon d'Or was confirmed before the tournament started. Nevertheless the votes of each of the world's captains has now been published.
It is an exhaustive list documenting the top three picks for captains, managers and media representation from across the world and Chelsea's two stars had their say as well.
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Silva himself was nominated for the FIFPro XI but didn't make the cut with Virgil van Dijk, Achraf Hakimi and Joao Cancelo preferred. There was no space for Enzo Fernandez either due to a condensed midfield of Kevin De Bruyne, Casemiro and Luka Modric. The decision to have a 3-3-4 formation also made it harder for Silva and Fernandez to get in.
When it came to who Chelsea's two players voted for there was no consensus. Silva chose countryman Neymar as his first pick with Messi in second and Karim Benzema in third. Having played with Neymar in Qatar, part of the team that crashed out on penalties to Croatia, Silva has favoured his teammate before selecting the more popular picks.
Koulibaly went one step further. His Senegal side were also knocked out in the last-16 by England and had to deal without talisman Sadio Mane. That didn't stop Koulibaly from siding with his international teammate, picking him as the best player in 2022.
Behind Mane were Kylian Mbappe in second and Messi in third.
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