REVEALED: England boss Gareth Southgate voted for Italy midfielder Jorginho as Men's Player of the Year in FIFA's 'The Best' awards... while Harry Kane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale all went for winner Robert Lewandowski

  • The voting has been revealed for the 2021 FIFA's Men's Player of the Year award
  • Harry Kane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale voted for Robert Lewandowski
  • England boss Gareth Southgate voted for Chelsea's Jorginho as 'The Best' player 
  • Bayern Munich striker picked up 'The Best' award for the second year in a row 

Following FIFA's 'The Best' awards ceremony, voting has been revealed to show each international captain's and coach's picks for the top three players of 2021.

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski picked up the prestigious Men's Player of the Year award for the second time following a prolific 2021 in attack for the Bundesliga giants. 

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The revealed votes paint an interesting picture as to how the Polish forward claimed the award, with many of Lewandowski's opposition voting for him. 

Robert Lewandowski did not attend the awards in person as he won Men's Player of the Year
The Polish forward received the award for a second successive year after flourishing in 2021

The document shows that international captains Harry Kane, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo all voted for the 33-year-old as their number one pick for the award.

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Interestingly, Chelsea's Jorginho received a number of votes to win the award, with Mohamed Salah, Lewandowski and England coach Gareth Southgate all voting for the Italian. 

Manchester United's Ronaldo barely appeared in any top three votes, with the Portuguese star snubbed by former team-mates such as Luka Modric and Bale.

Despite a number of injury struggles over the course of 2021, Lionel Messi voted for PSG team-mate Neymar as 'The Best' player of the year, with another PSG team-mate Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema rounding off the Argentine's top three picks.  

Chelsea's Jorginho picked up a number of votes at FIFA's 'The Best' awards
England coach Gareth Southgate voted for Jorginho as his Men's Player of the Year

Elsewhere there was controversy as a number of Premier League players missed out on 'The Best' XI of 2021, despite being nominated and winning other awards on the night.

Chelsea's Edouard Mendy won the FIFA Goalkeeper of the Year award but was omitted from 'The Best' XI with PSG's Gianluigi Donarumma instead taking the goalkeeper position.

Mohamed Salah came in the top three for the Player of the Year award, which makes his omission from a starting XI including four attackers, even stranger. 

FIFA Men's Player of the Year voting 

Argentina, Lionel Messi: Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema

Belgium, Eden Hazard: Karim Benzema, Kevin De Bruyne, Jorginho

Croatia, Luka Modric: Karim Benzema, Jorginho, Robert Lewandowski

Egypt, Mohamed Salah: Jorginho, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski

England, Harry Kane: Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi, N’Golo Kante

Germany, Manuel Neuer: Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah, N’Golo Kante

Netherlands, Virgil van Dijk: Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski, N’Golo Kante

Poland, Robert Lewandowski: Jorginho, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo 

Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo: Robert Lewandowski, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho

Spain, Sergio Busquets: Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Erling Haaland

Wales, Gareth Bale: Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema, Mohamed Salah

Coach - England, Gareth Southgate: Jorginho, Kevin De Bruyne, Lionel Messi 

 

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