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Cristiano Ronaldo has never voted for Lionel Messi as one of the world's top 3 soccer players

Barnaby Lane   

Cristiano Ronaldo has never voted for Lionel Messi as one of the world's top 3 soccer players
Sports2 min read

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has never voted for Lionel Messi as one of the top three soccer players in the world at either the "FIFA Best" or "Ballon d'Or" awards.

Messi scooped soccer's most prestigious individual prize on Monday night when he was voted "The Best FIFA Men's Player" for a record sixth time. 

The award, formerly known as the Ballon d'Or, is voted for equally by four separate groups - national team coaches, national team captains, media representatives, and the public - who each represent 25% of the final poll. 

As per tradition, following this year's ceremony in Milan, the full breakdown of voting was released by FIFA.

The document shows that Messi voted for Liverpool's Sadio Mane, Ronaldo, and Dutch youngster Frenkie de Jong as his top three players, while Ronaldo chose to omit the Argentine from his line-up, instead opting to vote for Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, and Kylian Mbappe. 

This means Ronaldo continued his trend of ignoring Messi in his vote for the top three players in the world - something he has done for nearly a decade. 

Both Messi and Ronaldo have been guilty of omitting players from rival clubs over the years.

17 of the players Ronaldo has voted for since 2010 have been his teammates, with this year being the only year in which he didn't include a single player from his club.

19 of Messi's votes have been handed to his teammates, however the Argentina international has included only one - FC Barcelona new boy Frenkie de Jong - in the past two years, while also voting for Ronaldo. 

Read more: Lionel Messi has been twice as good as Cristiano Ronaldo in the modern era, according to a computer algorithm

Messi scooped this year's award after a brilliant 2018/19 campaign with Barcelona, in which he scored 51 goals in all competitions, helping the Spanish giants win La Liga, as well as the Supercopa de Espana.

The 32-year-old missed the start of the new season after suffering a calf injury during the summer, however returned to action on Tuesday in a 2-1 victory over Villarreal.

His much anticipated return however was cut short at half-time, when he was substituted for Ousmane Dembele after picking up another injury. 

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde described the knock as a "small problem in the adductor," as per the BBC, however admitted the full extent of the injury is currently unknown. 

Barcelona next play Getafe CF at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez on Saturday September 28. 

Read more: 

Cristiano Ronaldo says the best goal he ever scored still wasn't as good as sex with his girlfriend

Lionel Messi's 4-year-old son showed off his soccer skills at the family home, and he's got the Midas touch of his father

A former Manchester City and England star says Raheem Sterling is just as good as Messi and Ronaldo

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