Invited to vote for The Best FIFA Player 2024, Didier Deschamps demonstrated objectivity. And this is not the case for everyone, far from it. The coach of the France team did not place Kylian Mbappé, his star player and captain of the Blues, in first place in his bulletin. The national coaches had to give a podium taking into account a list of eleven named players and “La Dèche” put Vinicius ahead of Mbappé, with 2024 Ballon d’Or Rodri in third position.
Deschamps’ vote is entirely respectable, where other coaches have clearly favored their compatriot(s). Thus, Luis De La Fuente formed a 100% Spanish top 3 with Dani Carvajal ahead of Rodri and Lamine Yamal, Lee Carsley (interim England coach) voted Jude Bellingham in 1st, Lionel Scaloni obviously chose Lionel Messi, with whom he won the 2024 Copa América, and Julian Nagelsmann gave an improbable Florian Wirtz/Rodri/Toni Kroos podium.
The French journalist also skips Mbappé
Among the other coaches who had the opportunity to vote for one of their players, the Norwegian Stale Solbakken placed Erling Haaland second after Rodri and Marcelo Bielsa gave his 3rd place to Federico Valverde behind Lionel Messi and Rodri. Vinicius is not unanimous among the coaches and Rodri is just ahead of the Brazilian winger among the coaches…
Note that the French journalist contacted by Fifa, Cyrille de La Morinerie, from Europe 1, did not give points to Kylian Mbappé, also placing Vinicius in the lead, ahead of Rodri and Jude Bellingham. Cyrille de La Morinerie votes for the second consecutive year for The Best even though Europe 1 is far from being a benchmark media outlet for sports in France.
