Five reasons why Messi should have been nominated for the FIFA Best Award

It is no longer news that Messi was omitted from the top three nominees for the FIFA Best awards, as he was beaten to the podium by Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mo Salah. The snub marked the first time the 31-year-old would fail to make the top three of FIFA's grand award since 2007.

As expected, the decision to exclude Messi generated a lot of intense debate online, with an almost equal number of fans ridiculing the decision by posting stats and figures supporting Messi's cause on one side, and another set suggesting that he didn't have a good season, hence the justification of the snub.

Like any other story, there are two sides to this one, and while there are numerous genuine reasons why Messi's exclusion was justified, there are also valid factors supporting his inclusion. Here are five reasons why Messi should have made it to the final three nominees for the FIFA Best award.

#5 He had a poor World Cup campaign, but so did Mo Salah

Without a doubt, this year's FIFA World Cup had an overbearing influence in deciding the nominees, respecting the age-old tradition which a lot of people had clamored for, and was made possible by the separation of the Ballon d'Or from the FIFA award in 2016.

Lionel Messi went into the World Cup with high hopes of captaining Argentina to its third World Cup triumph and first since predecessor Diego Maradona did so in 1986. It would have also ended his country's arduous 25-year wait for a major international trophy.

By and large, Messi undoubtedly failed in his quest, and critics point to this reason as the major one for his exclusion. The 2105 Ballon d'Or winner scored just one goal in four matches, as Argentina shambolically crashed out of Russia 2018 in the second round.

However, it must also be noted that one of the three nominees Mo Salah did not have a great campaign either, as the Pharaohs of Egypt were the first side to get eliminated from the group stage at the World Cup. and failed to pick up a single point, posting three losses, with Mo Salah scoring two goals.

Given that the current Premier League Golden Boot winner went into the World Cup not fully fit, following the shoulder breaking tackle by Sergio Ramos in the Champions League final, which made him miss Egypt's opening day loss to Iran, his goal return of two in two matches is pretty impressive.

What makes the situation even more incomparable is that Egypt and Argentina arrived the tournament with markedly different objectives, owing to their difference in pedigree and caliber of players, so it would be unfair to suggest that Mo Salah underperformed at the World Cup, as he was responsible for all his country's goals at the Mundial.

However, to gauge his World Cup performance by external factors such as these is irrational, as great players' impacts in tournaments are judged by their personal outputs and not the strength of their team. After all, Hristo Stoichkov won the 1994 World Cup Silver Ball, and Ballon d'Or after leading unfancied Bulgaria to a third-place finish in the USA.

If Salah's could merit a place on the podium despite his uninspiring World Cup campaign, then, by and large, Messi's performance at the Mundial shouldn't be a yardstick for his exclusion from the top three. Enough of the hypocrisy and double standard.

#4 He was the European Golden Boot winner and outscored all the nominees

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In what many considered to be a sub-par campaign for Lionel Messi, the Rosario born maestro still scored 34 goals in La Liga, which was enough to win him the European Golden Boot for a record 5th time.

His goals in the Champions League and the Copa Del Rey added up to make his total tally for the season 45, which was one more than both Mo Salah and Ronaldo managed, while Luka Modric managed just 2 goals across 43 club games last season.

Although it's a given that not all great footballers are great goalscorers, with one of the most revered players in history Zinedine Zidane having a modest goal return during his playing career serving as an example, so to discard Luka Modric on the basis of his goals would be downright unjustifiable, as the Croat's greatness comes not in his goalscoring, but in other subtle aspects of the game such as his innate ability to dictate play and control the tempo of a game.

However, Messi's total goals last season even if not exceptional by his high standards were enough to win him the European Golden Boot, i.e he outscored every single player in all 52 of Europe's top-tier leagues, and if that is not enough to merit a place on the podium for the best player award, then I don't know what is.

#3 He also out-assisted every one of the nominees

Lionel Messi's status as one of the greatest players cum goalscorers in the history of football has long been established, however, his unique passing ability and knack for picking teammates out with his vision also ranks him as the premier playmaker in the world, and one of the greatest passers of the ball in footballing history.

He broke Figo's overall record for assists in La Liga in February last season, and took his creating to another level over the weekend, as his assists against CD Huesca made him the first player to record 150 La Liga assists in the 21st century.

He set up teammates a total of 12 times in the league last season, for a grand total of 18 in all competitions, which was four more than Mo Salah on 14, and for all of the praise about Luka Modric's playmaking abilities, he only managed to assist 8 goals, which was the same as Ronaldo did, and a whopping 10 behind Messi.

Football is by and large all about goals, and every player on the field of play is either trying to stop them from entering his/her post, trying to create them or scoring them. With none of the nominees being defenders, that first measure is rendered null, hence it is rather baffling that a player who scored more and assisted more than all three nominees was left off the FIFA shortlist.

#2 He outperformed the nominees in other key areas

Beyond just the goals and assists, Messi's game is about so much more, and in this regard, he also outdid the other nominees.

Overall, he had better stats than all three podium placed players in other aspects of the game, as per Omnisport.

He completed more dribbles (253) than all three players Modric (73) Salah (114) Ronaldo (55), and created more chances than the trio, with his 121 chances created one of the highest across the continent, and significantly more than Modric (60) and Ronaldo (54), with Salah coming closest to the Argentine with 97 chances created for his teammates.

With more goals, assists, chances created and dribbles completed than all the nominees, it seems rather absurd that the man who posted all these incredible stats was left off the nominees' list.

#1 His season was not as bad as many people made out

Beyond the Champions League no-show, and World Cup woes, Lionel Messi had a better campaign overall with Barcelona than most people give him credit for.

It has already been established in this piece that he was the top goalscorer (34) and assist provider (12) in La Liga last season, but looking closely, we'd also find that he led the way in the league for shots attempted (192), chances created (84) and successful dribbles (174) as per Skysports via Sportsbible.

All these helped Barcelona to a 25th La Liga crown, remain undefeated across the first 36 league games, and on course to become the first club to finish a season unbeaten in La Liga history but for a surprise 4-3 loss to Levante on matchday 37 (a game in which Lionel Messi had been rested ahead of a luxury friendly in South Africa).

With the most goals scored in La Liga, most chances created, most assists, most shots and most successful dribbles, Messi still had a poor campaign undeserving of a podium finish eh?