Lionel Messi has been crowned the 2022 Best FIFA Men’s Player.
The awards ceremony - which was this year hosted in Paris - seeks to “crown the outstanding figures in world football”. And Messi certainly encompasses that after a year which saw his long quest for a World Cup finally come to an end.
In what was likely his last crack at lifting international football’s biggest prize, the Paris Saint-Germain superstar helped fire Argentina to glory in Qatar. Messi scored seven times in as many matches in the tournament and was awarded the Golden Ball for best player.
Victory in the Middle East helped further cement his legacy as one of the greatest footballers of all time. On the domestic front in 2022, he helped PSG to the Ligue 1 title and scored 17 goals and registered 24 assists in 37 appearances.
But it was an international calendar year which included 18 goals, six assists and a World Cup which put him above the competition. Recognition from FIFA means Messi has scooped the award for the second time since its inception in 2016.
And with a pair of gongs, he joins Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski as two-time winners. In the seven editions of the ceremony, Messi has only been out of the top 3 once and was a narrow runner-up to Robert Lewandowski 12 months ago.
In a typically humble acceptance speech, Messi said: “I’d like to express thanks to my team-mates, to Scaloni [Argentina coach] and without them I wouldn’t be here. My coach, he is part of this victory as well. I’d like to pay tribute to all of my team-mates. It was an amazing year and I achieved a dream I’ve been hoping for so long.
"Finally I achieved it. It’s a dream for any player. Very few players can achieve that and I’ve been lucky enough to do it.”
This time around, his main competition came from French duo Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe. Benzema won the Ballon d’Or back in October of last year thanks to his stunning performances during Real Madrid ’s run to the Champions League. Messi wasn't even nominated for that particular award, although he appears a shoo-in for a record eighth in a matter of months.
As for Mbappe, he enjoyed a similarly historic World Cup to his PSG team-mate Messi. The 24-year-old was the top scorer in Qatar and became the first person since Sir Geoff Hurst to score a hat-trick in the final.
Since winning his first Ballon d’Or in 2009, Messi has picked up the prestigious award another six times. But he has failed to enjoy a similar level of dominance with the FIFA equivalent.
Unlike the Ballon d’Or, which is voted for by journalists, the FIFA Best awards are determined by media representatives, national team coaches, national team captains and fans. The weight of each group is equally weighted, ensuring that each category is evenly represented when it comes to deciding the recipients.
Lewandowski had won the award for the previous two years thanks to his exploits with previous club Bayern Munich. He has now joined Barcelona, to help fill the void left by Messi’s stunning exit in the summer of 2021.
