Cristiano Ronaldo: Why he didn’t vote in the FIFA awards, despite his status as Portugal captain

Lionel Messi was ranked sixth in the FIFA Best Player awards, while Cristiano Ronaldo was sorely lacking in the results and votes.

Al Nassr star Ronaldo was left out of the ceremony, despite being eligible to captain Portugal.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner finished 2024 with a total of 43 goals, having scored in his side’s 2-1 defeat to Al Ittihad.

However, Ronaldo was left out of the list of nominees for the best FIFA player, having won the award in the first two editions.

Since then, long-time rival Messi has surpassed him with three honors and was even nominated last night.

The Argentine finished sixth after winning the MLS Cup with Inter Miami and helping his country retain their Copa America crown.

Ronaldo’s long-time successor at Real Madrid, Vinicius Junior, has finally achieved his Ballon d’Or redemption by edging out Rodri for the award.

The Brazilian picked up his first FIFA Best Player award ahead of the Manchester City midfielder, while Jude Bellingham took third place.

Dani Carvajal and Messi’s successor Lamine Yamal finished fourth and fifth, with Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé also in the top ten.

The Best Awards are FIFA’s equivalent of the Ballon d’Or, with national team coaches and captains among those eligible to vote.

Ronaldo is usually Portugal’s designated captain, but voting records released by FIFA showed he abstained from choosing a winner.

Instead, it was Man City midfielder Bernardo Silva who shouldered that responsibility – and he predictably opted for teammate Rodri.

This all comes after Ronaldo, who also refuses to vote for the Ballon d’Or, was accused of being upset by awards decisions in recent years.

France Football editor-in-chief Vincent Garcia, whose publication founded the Ballon d’Or, confirmed that Ronaldo had renounced his right to vote.

He told The Times: “The winners have the right to return to all future ceremonies, but not all come, some are very angry with us.”

“I don’t know for sure if Cristiano is, I don’t speak to him directly, but I know for example that former winners vote for the Kopa Trophy – for the best young player – and that Cristiano did not vote l “last year and he didn’t vote this year either.”

Ronaldo, who joined the club from Al-Nassr in December 2022, was omitted from the list of 30 Ballon d’Or nominees last year for the first time since 2003.

The Portuguese superstar is a five-time recipient of this award, but he has not won it since 2017.

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This year also marks the first time in over twenty years that neither Ronaldo nor Messi made the list of 30 nominees.

However, the latter exercised his right to vote at the FIFA awards, choosing Yamal as his first option, followed by Mbappé and Vinicius Jr.

Aitana Bonmati won the Best Player award, while Emiliano Martinez and Carlo Ancelotti were also honoured.

Emma Hayes was named best coach, while Alejandro Garnacho won the Puskas Award for his superb goal against Everton.

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