Fan-voted World Cup award under fire after Casemiro and Ronaldo picks baffle pundits

FIFA’s decision to let supporters vote for the “Superior Player of the Match” award at the World Cup has come under fresh scrutiny, after a series of head-scratching winners that critics say owes more to online popularity than actual performance. The Independent’s Alan Smith singled out Brazil’s Casemiro, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain’s Lamine Yamal among those handed the honour despite modest, or even poor, individual displays.

Casemiro was named man of the match in Brazil’s uneasy win over Japan on Monday, according to the Independent, despite a torrid opening 45 minutes in which he was outmuscled for Kaishu Sano’s opener, collided clumsily with teammates Lucas Paqueta and Matheus Cunha, and looked a shadow of his former self before nodding home Brazil’s equaliser.

Bellingham admits he didn’t deserve it

England’s Jude Bellingham was also among the fan-voted winners after his side’s goalless stalemate with Ghana, but he was quick to reject the accolade afterwards. “I didn’t deserve it, to be honest,” Bellingham said, as quoted by the Independent. “It should have gone to one of their lads who defended so well. I had a couple of moments, it was hard to get into the game and I’m grateful for whoever voted, but it should’ve gone to one of their lads.”

Ronaldo, meanwhile, picked up the award for Portugal’s nervy victory over Croatia in Toronto despite his only meaningful contribution in the box, per the Independent, being a converted penalty before he was substituted. Yamal’s award for Spain’s 3-0 win over Austria raised eyebrows too, given Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice and Marc Cucurella supplied a further two assists in that match.

Messi and Salah add to the debate

Lionel Messi was another beneficiary of the online vote, winning the prize over several Cape Verde players in the early hours of Saturday despite what the Independent described as a match in which his opponents “delivered the match of their lives”. Messi’s own assessment was modest: “It was hard work,” he said.

Mohamed Salah was also handed a second player-of-the-match award of the tournament, the Independent notes, despite being largely anonymous for long stretches of his side’s fixture. The recurring pattern has fuelled criticism that FIFA’s format, which relies on fans voting “early and often” online, is being exploited more as a running joke than a genuine measure of performance.

A symptom of football’s celebrity culture

The Independent argues that the public vote has turned what was once a respected individual honour into a popularity contest that rewards star names and social media followings over genuine on-field impact. Some voters appear to have backed Casemiro almost mockingly, following his difficult start against Japan, while others simply gravitated towards the biggest names on the pitch regardless of their actual output.

The wider concern, as raised in the piece, is that such awards reinforce football’s drift towards individualised spectacle rather than team performance, with the votes often overlooking players who did the unglamorous defensive or supporting work that actually shaped results. With the knockout stages still to come, FIFA’s fan-vote format looks set to remain a talking point among pundits and supporters alike.

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