The dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in global awards in recent years has been halted as Luka Modric Monday night emerged as the new winner of the Best Player Award organised by FIFA.
Modric having won the Champions League with Real Madrid and reached the World Cup final with Croatia was voted as winner ahead of Mohammed Salah and Ronaldo who did not even turn up at the gala held in London.
In other categories, the Best Coach award was predictably given to Didier Deschamp after his World Cup victory with France.
Deschamps saw off stiff competition from his compatriot, Zinedine Zidane, who guided Real Madrid to their third consecutive Champions League trophy before quitting his Bernabeu post in the summer.
The 49-year old France boss also beat Croatian boss Zlatko Dalic, who took his nation to their first World Cup final after just nine months in the role
For the best goalkeeper award, Thibaut Courtois was voted winner ahead of the duo of Kasper Schmeichel and Hugo Lloris.
Lennart Thy emerged as the Winner of The FIFA Fair Play Award 2018 while there was something big to cheer for Salah as he won the 2018 FIFA Puskas Award for his sensational goal against Everton at Anfield last season.
Goals by Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and even Lionel Messi’s goal against Nigeria at the World Cup were all on the shortlist but there were not considered better than Salah’s stunning derby strike.
In the women’s category, Reynald Pedros (Lyon) was voted the best coach while Brazilian superstar, Marta is FIFA Women’s Player 2018. She beat the Lyon duo Ada Hegerberg and Dzsenifer Marozsan to the crown
In the final category, for best support, fans of Peru very voted ahead of the other nominees.
Fifa Fifpro World XI
David de Gea (Manchester United)
Dani Alves (Paris Saint-Germain)
Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
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