BREAKING: Lionel Messi Beats Mbappe And Benzema, Wins 2022 FIFA Best Men’s Player

Lionel Messi has won the Best FIFA Men’s player award for 2022 at a ceremony in Paris on Monday on the back of his World Cup triumph with Argentina.

Infoexpert24 reports that Messi beat his Paris Saint-Germain teammate, and World Cup final rival, Kylian Mbappe to the award with Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema the other contender to claim the prize.

Messi, who last won this trophy in 2019, was one of four Argentine recipients on a night that recognized the 2022 World Cup champions.

Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martinez won The Best men’s goalkeeper, Lionel Scaloni claimed The Best men’s manager, and Argentina’s fans earned The Best fan award for their show of support in Qatar.

Among the recipients on the women’s side, England’s Mary Earps won best goalkeeper, while England manager Sarina Wiegman captured the top coach award after the Lionesses won their first major trophy at Euro 2022.

Despite earning the vote as top goalkeepers, Martinez and Earps were not voted by their peers on the FIFPro World 11 teams. Messi and Putellas both made it.

FIFA has been holding The Best awards since 2016 after the world governing body opted to establish its own awards following years of attaching its name to the prestigious Ballon d’Or awards run by French publication France Football. The Ballon d’Or, the FIFA The Best awards, and the Globe Soccer awards are recognised as the most coveted annual global football honours.

Voting for the FIFA The Best men’s awards was based on performances between August 2021 and December 2022 to incorporate the FIFA men’s World Cup which concluded in December. The women’s awards voting was based on competitions taking place between August 2021 to July 2022, taking into account last summer’s Euro 2022 and Copa America 2022 tournaments.

There were 10 award categories in total, including the FIFPro World 11 all-star teams for men and women. Pele’s wife was also presented with recognition for the legacy of the Brazilian great who passed away in December 2022.

The FIFPro World 11 selections are further below:

The Best men’s player: Lionel Messi
The Best women’s player: Alexia Putellas
The Best men’s goalkeeper: Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martinez
The Best women’s goalkeeper: Mary Earps
The Best men’s coach: Lionel Scaloni
The Best women’s coach: Sarina Wiegman
The Best Puskas award: Marcin Oleksy
The Best Fan award: Argentina fans
The Best Fair Play award: Luka Lochoshvili