Paris Saint-Germain teammates Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe will be competing against each other for The Best FIFA Men’s Player prize for 2022, similar to their showdown in the World Cup final. The other contender for the prize is Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema.
The ceremony will take place in Paris, and Messi is the favorite to win the award, having led Argentina to victory over Mbappe’s France in the epic match in Qatar. Messi has won the Ballon d’Or seven times and the FIFA award once in 2019.
Although Robert Lewandowski has won the title in the last two years, Messi’s World Cup triumph in 2022 was the defining moment of his career, which has put him in a good position to win the award.
The winner is determined by a jury consisting of the coach and captain of each men’s national team and one journalist from each country, but fans can also vote.
Mbappe scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final, becoming the first player to do so since Geoff Hurst in 1966.
He was also the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals, one more than Messi, who was named the best player and received the Golden Ball award. Mbappe was PSG’s most important player, scoring the most goals and being named France’s player of the year. However, their World Cup achievements are likely to overshadow everything else. Former Ballon d’Or winner Ruud Gullit acknowledged that Messi had the best chance of winning, but he also had great respect for Mbappe.
Karim Benzema’s chances of winning the award were diminished by his absence from the World Cup due to injury.
After being excluded from the French team for five and a half years due to his involvement in a sextape blackmail scandal, he redeemed himself by winning the Ballon d’Or in October 2022. He scored 44 goals in 46 games for Real Madrid last season, leading them to triumph in the Champions League and La Liga.
Alexia Putellas, the current Ballon d’Or winner, is nominated again for the women’s prize, despite being out with a knee injury since July. Beth Mead of England and US star Alex Morgan are the other finalists.
Lionel Scaloni of Argentina, Carlo Ancelotti of Real Madrid, and Pep Guardiola of Manchester City are among the nominees for the men’s coach’s honor. Sarina Wiegman of England, Sonia Bompastor of Lyon, and Pia Sundhage of Brazil are the nominees for the women’s coach award.
There is also a category for the best male and female goalkeeper, as well as the Puskas Award for the best goal, which includes nominees Richarlison of Brazil, Dimitri Payet of Marseille, and Marcin Oleksy, a Polish amputee player.