With 52 votes, he beat rivals Mbappe and Karim Benzema, who polled 44 and 34 votes respectively.
The Argentina captain was rewarded for leading his country to victory at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, where he was adjudged the player of the tournament.
The winners of The Best FIFA Football Awards for the male and female categories are decided by the votes of the national team coaches, captains and selected journalists.
As Austria’s captain, Alaba was one of the captains who voted, and he voted for Messi ahead of Benzema and Mbappe, in that order.
However, the choice of the left-back did not go down well with many Real Madrid fans, and some took to their Instagram accounts to racially abuse him.
In response to this, Alaba said that he rates Benzema as the best striker in the world but has to choose based on the collective decision made by the Austrian national team.
“About FIFA The Best Award: The Austrian national team chose this award as a team, not me alone,” he tweeted.
“Everyone in the team council can vote and as they decide. Everyone knows, especially Karim, I am very happy with him and his performance.
Meanwhile, Femini Barcelona star Alexis Putellas emerged as the best female player of the year, with Alex Morgan and Beth Mead coming in second and third respectively.
In the best men’s coach category, World Cup-winning Argentinian Lionel Scaloni won the top honor over Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola.