National team captain Michael Mifsud is still not impressed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Malta’s record goal scorer once again omitted both players, who have shared every conceivable honour in world football between them for years, from his three votes for FIFA player of the year.

The captains of all FIFA's 209 members, along with coaches and journalists, voted for the winner of this year’s best player award, which was won by Ronaldo ahead of fellow shortlisted players Messi and Antoine Griezmann.

Mifsud opted instead for Barcelona duo Andrés Iniesta and Neymar, and Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez – having also snubbed the world’s top two in voting for last year’s Balon D’Or, and one of only six captains to do so this year.

Lionel Messi missed out on an award this year. Photo: Reuters

The only other team captains to leave Ronaldo and Messi off their voting sheets were those of Germany, Poland, Uruguay, Montserrat and Somalia. Meanwhile, Ronaldo and Messi, unable to vote for themselves, understandably also left their rivals off their voting cards.

As for Malta’s other representatives, coach Pietro Ghedin put his Italian compatriot Gianluigi Buffon top of the list ahead of Iniesta and Messi, while sports journalist Jesmond Moore had Luis Suárez behind the expected duo of Ronaldo and Messi.

Cristiano Ronaldo received the award for FIFA player of the year yesterday. Photo: Reuters