At the Best FIFA Football Awards in Paris on Tuesday, Lionel Messi, the World Cup-winning captain of Argentina, was crowned the best player in men’s football by FIFA. Messi defeated Real Madrid captain Karim Benzema and PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe to win the illustrious trophy at Salle Pleyel in Paris.
At The Best FIFA Football Awards on Tuesday, Lionel Messi, the captain of the World Cup-winning Argentina team, was named the best player in men’s football by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Together with Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Karim Benzema of Real Madrid, Messi was nominated for the prestigious award. Messi guided Argentina to its third FIFA World Cup victory in Qatar last year.
After leading Argentina to victory in the 2022 World Cup, Messi became the early favourite to win the coveted trophy, adding yet another individual honour to his extraordinary collection. Last year’s dramatic FIFA World Cup final saw Messi’s Argentina defeat Mbappe’s France. Mbappe, a colleague of Messi’s from PSG, scored an incredible hat-trick in the Qatar World Cup final. Since Geoff Hurst did so in 1966, Mbappe is the first player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA World Cup final.
Benzema, a colleague of Mbappe’s from France, missed the World Cup due to an injury. The Ballon d’Or trophy was given to the Real Madrid captain in October of last year. In 46 games last season for Los Blancos, Benzema scored 44 goals. The seasoned French forward led Real Madrid to Champions League and La Liga championships the previous year. From 2005–2006 through 2021/22, the 35-year-old was successful in scoring in the Champions League 17 times in a row.
FIFA deemed Messi the greatest male player, but Spain’s Alexia Putellas took home the prize for best female player for the second consecutive year. Lionel Scaloni, the manager of the World Cup-winning Argentina team, was chosen as the FIFA men’s coach of the year. For the coach of the year title, Scaloni defeated Pep Guardiola of Manchester City and Carlo Ancelotti of Real Madrid. FIFA selected Emiliano Martnez of Argentina as the top male goalkeeper. Marcin Oleksy, a Polish amputee, earned the Puskas award at the FIFA awards for the year’s greatest goal. Oleksy of Warta Poznan had defeated Stal Rzeszow with a magnificent volley goal, which earned him the Puskas trophy in Paris.
