The International Football Federation (FIFA) published the results of the voting by national team captains to select the winner of the "The Best" award for the best player in the world for 2021. Bayern Munich striker, Polish international Robert Lewandowski, won the award for the second consecutive year, surpassing the Argentine Lionel Messi, star of Paris Saint-Germain, and the Egyptian Mohamed Salah, top scorer of Liverpool, who finished in third place.
Salah participated in the voting as the captain of the Egyptian national team, awarding his first choice (five points) to Chelsea midfielder and Italy international Jorginho, placing Lionel Messi in second (three points), and selecting Lewandowski third (one point).
However, it was surprising that Messi, captain of the Argentine national team, Lewandowski, captain of the Polish national team, and Cristiano Ronaldo, captain of the Portuguese national team, all strangely overlooked Salah, not granting him any votes. Messi chose his teammates at Paris Saint-Germain, Brazilian Neymar and Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, followed by Real Madrid star Karim Benzema. Lewandowski voted for Jorginho, followed by Messi, and then Ronaldo, who ranked Lewandowski first, Chelsea's N'Golo Kanté second, and Jorginho third.
