Former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has taken a swipe at his former LaLiga rival Lionel Messi after the Argentine won FIFA’s The Best award, claiming organisers were ‘not doing things fairly’.
Messi capped off a memorable year that saw him win the World Cup with Argentina by claiming another prize, adding to his list of incredible honours after also winning the Ballon d’Or for the eighth time at the end of last year.
But some believe that Erling Haaland – who finished level on points with Messi before losing out on a technicality – or PSG star Kylian Mbappe should have been selected ahead of Messi, who has spent the last six months playing in the MLS with Inter Miami.
Haaland, who scored 48 points but earned fewer captain votes than Messi, had staked a solid claim to take home the prize after scoring 52 goals in 53 games last season, an incredible record in front of goal that helped Man City to the treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.
And Casillas didn’t attempt to hide his dissatisfaction after the results were revealed – claiming that the process was not fair and suggesting a new name should be given to the award.
Iker Casillas has taken aim at Lionel Messi after winning FIFA’s The Best award
Writing on X, Casillas said: ‘You create some nice prizes and you are taking them away by not doing things fairly. ‘The Smile’ more like. Anyway, good night!’
Casillas regularly went up against Messi during fierce years of competition between Real Madrid and Barcelona in LaLiga across 11 seasons – with the Argentine scoring 18 goals against the Spaniard in that time.
There has previously been respect between the pair as Messi hailed Casillas as a ‘legend’ when he retired in 2020 after suffering a heart attack.
‘Iker is retiring, but his status as a legend of the game was secured long ago – not just because he was one of LaLiga’s best players, but also because he won everything at international level,’ he told AS.
‘You’re a fantastic goalkeeper and were a really tough opponent, I have to say.
Casillas and Messi competed against each other for more than a decade for Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively
‘Looking back, I think it was a really special rivalry that pushed us to reach new levels every time we came up against each other.’
Meanwhile, Casillas referred to Messi as ‘The GOAT’ last year.
Messi’s Barcelona oversaw a period of dominance between the two sides as he won LaLiga eight times during Casillas’ time at Madrid, while the Spanish shot-stopper only won it three times during the same period.
Messi has since moved from Barcelona to PSG, where he added Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France to his trophy collection, before his famous World Cup triumph with Argentina at the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
It was that iconic moment that helped Messi to both the Ballon d’Or and The Best awards, with the forward receiving the backing of more national team captains over Man City’s Haaland.
Messi pipped Erling Haaland to FIFA’s The Best award after earning the backing of more national team captains
HOW CAPTAINS VOTED
Lionel Messi (Argentina) – Haaland
Kylian Mbappe (France) – Messi
Harry Kane (England) – Messi
Casemiro (Brazil) – Haaland
Ilkay Gundogan (Germany) – Haaland
Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands) – Messi
Martin Odegaard (Norway) – Haaland
Alvaro Morata (Spain) – Rodri
Andrew Robertson (Scotland) – Messi
Victor Lindelof (Sweden) – Haaland
Mo Salah (Egypt) – Messi
France captain Kylian Mbappe – who finished in third with 35 points – picked Messi, despite being rivals with him for the award, followed by Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne.
And England skipper Harry Kane also gave Messi the nod, picking Haaland second and then Man City’s Bernardo Silva in third.
Messi was also the name picked by Belgium captain Romelu Lukaku, Netherlands skipper Virgil van Dijk, Italy captain Gianluigi Donnarumma and Croatia’s Luka Modric.
It’s perhaps not a surprise that Portugal captain Pepe – a staunt former opponent of Messi from their LaLiga days – snubbed the forward from his top three, instead picking countryman Bernardo Silva as his winner, followed by Haaland and Victor Osimhen.
However, Haaland did receive the backing of some of Man City’s Premier League rivals.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, his team-mate at international level with Norway, gave the forward his first choice vote.
Man United defender Victor Lindelof, Sweden’s captain, put the Red Devils rivalry with Man City aside with his selections.
Lindelof placed Haaland above Messi in the voting, while he also chose Silva for his third place vote.
Messi’s incredible year that saw him win the World Cup saw him triumph over Haaland
Among coaches, Haaland was more popular than Messi. England boss Gareth Southgate didn’t even name him in his top three as he instead went for Haaland, Rodri and Silva.
He was also snubbed by Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann, who opted for Mbappe, Ilkay Gundogan and Haaland.
Belgium boss Dominic Tedesco also found no place for Messi.
Tedesco went for his star man Kevin de Bruyne, followed by Mbappe and Haaland