5 surprising top 3 votes for the Best FIFA Men's Player Award
Robert Lewandowski has won the 2021 Best FIFA Men's Player Award. This is the Polish international's second successive win. He missed out on the Ballon d'Or in November but there was belief among fans that he'd have a better chance of winning this one.
That is because the voting system used for the Best FIFA Men's Player Award is quite different to that of the Ballon d'Or.
The Best FIFA Men's Player! 
✨🌍 The Best FIFA Men's Player! 🌍✨
Many congratulations, Lewy! 🔴⚪
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The Best FIFA Men's Player Award has a unique voting system
Voters are divided into four - national team captains, national team coaches, media representatives and fans. Each get 25% of the vote share. Robert Lewandowski finished with 49 points while Lionel Messi came second with 44 points. Mohamed Salah took up the final spot on the podium with 39 points.
Due to the fact that some of the frontrunners for the Best FIFA Men's Player Award are national team captains, they also got to pick their top three. So Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah had to take their picks as well.
There have been some strange selections this time. Without further ado, let's take a look at five of the most surprising top 3 votes for the Best FIFA Men's Player Award.
#5 Gareth Southgate (England) - Jorginho, Kevin De Bruyne and Lionel Messi
England coach Gareth Southgate picked Jorginho as his top vote. He then chose Manchester City and Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne as his second pick. Southgate's third and final pick was Lionel Messi.
The England coach excluded eventual winner Robert Lewandowski in what was quite a baffling decision. It's difficult to argue that Kevin De Bruyne has had a better year than the Polish international. Southgate must surely have been impressed by Jorginho at Euro 2020 and the UEFA Champions League.
But we wonder why he decided to leave Lewandowski out of his top three, especially when he was clearly a cut above the rest.
England boss Gareth Southgate voted for 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
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#4 Gareth Bale (Wales captain) - Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema and Mohamed Salah
Wales captain and Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale did not deem Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo worthy of his votes. The Welshman's top pick was eventual winner Robert Lewandowski. His second pick was current teammate and in-form striker Karim Benzema.
It's rather strange that Bale chose Salah over Messi because 2021 was a defining year for the latter. The 34-year-old was named the Best Player of the tournament as he won the Copa America with Argentina in the summer. He also outperformed Mohamed Salah in the 2020-21 season.
Bale also didn't think that any of Ronaldo's exploits in 2021 were worthy of a vote.