David Alaba insists Austria's vote for Lionel Messi as Best FIFA Men's Player was decided 'as a team and not me alone' after he was targeted with racist abuse for not picking Real Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema.
Messi was crowned the world's best male footballer at FIFA's annual award ceremony on Monday night, just over two months since he captained Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar.
The PSG superstar pipped club team-mate Kylian Mbappe and Benzema, who finished third in the vote, to claim his second The Best title and first since 2019.
The award is voted for by coaches, captains and journalists from every nation, and after Monday's ceremony FIFA has released a full breakdown of who picked who.
Surprisingly, the voting breakdown shows that Alaba, who captains Austria, went for Messi as his top choice ahead of Benzema, instead picking his Madrid team-mate second and Mbappe third.
