Leonardo Bonucci’s top 3 votes for FIFA The Best men’s player award revealed as Kylian Mbappe misses out

Juventus skipper Leonardo Bonucci snubbed Kylian Mbappe for the FIFA 'The Best' award but voted for Lionel Messi among his top-three picks.

As the captain of Italy's national team, Bonucci cast his vote to decide the winner of this year's best player and his top choice was Messi.

The Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) superstar powered Argentina to the 2022 FIFA World Cup title with seven goals and two assists and was adjudged as the best player at the gala with 52 points.

His club teammate Mbappe came in second with 44 points, having enjoyed a prolific 2022 calendar year for club and country, which culminated with a hat-trick in the World Cup final for France.

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However, the 24-year-old's accomplishments failed to impress Bonucci, who didn't write his name on the ballot.

The legendary defender chose Karim Benzema in second place, with the Frenchman lifting three titles with Real Madrid last year, including La Liga and the Champions League.

Bonucci also voted for Luka Modric, another Los Blancos great, who was at the heart of their trophy-laden year in 2022, and played a vital role in helping Croatia to the bronze medal at the World Cup.

For him personally, it was a difficult year as Juventus didn't win a single trophy while also missing the flight to Qatar as Italy failed to qualify for the tournament for the second time in a row.

In July 2021, though, he guided the Azzurri to their first European title since 1968.

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Messi and Mbappe top choices for Ballon d'Or too

Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe both enjoyed terrific World Cup campaigns and have simultaneously been prolific for PSG too.

While the Argentine has scored 17 goals and made 16 assists in 28 games for the Parisians this season, his French counterpart has 29 goals from as many games, coupled with seven assists.

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Unsurprisingly, both players are the top favorites for the 2023 Ballon d'Or too, even though Messi currently seems ahead of him after pipping Mbappe to the World Cup in December's final.

Should they guide PSG to more trophies this year, especially in Europe, the competition between them could get more fierce.

The 2023 Ballon d'Or winner will be revealed in October.

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