Farai Dziva|Barcelona captain Lionel Messi was on Tuesday crowned the world’s player of the year at the 2019 FIFA awards.

Messi went ahead of Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo to scoop the award.

Ronaldo didn’t vote for either of his rivals and opted to pick Juventus teammate Matthijs de Ligt as his first choice, followed by another former Ajax player Frenkie de Jong and PSG’s Kylian Mbappe.

Messi, however, put his long-time rival as runner-up behind Liverpool’s Sadio Mane who didn’t make it into the final nominees.

Mane was also placed on top of Eden Hazard’s list while Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez put him in second.

Van Dijk who finished second in the category picked winner Messi as his best player and placed his Liverpool team-mates Mane and Mo Salah in second and third positions respectively, snubbing Ronaldo.