The men’s player of the year at the 2022 Best Fifa Awards has been recognized as Argentina and Paris St. Germain forward Lionel Messi.
The 35-year-old won the award ahead of Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe, two French strikers.
In 49 appearances for club and country in 2021–22, Messi scored 27 goals, leading Argentina to World Cup victory in Qatar.
Alexia Putellas of Barcelona was chosen women’s player of the year.
Major female accolades go to Wiegman and Putellas.
It’s great, stated Messi, who received the honor a second time. It’s been an amazing year, and it’s a privilege for me to be here and get this honor. I wouldn’t be here without my teammates.
“I realized the dream I had hoped to realize for so long. I was fortunate to succeed in doing so because very few people can.
In Paris, Lionel Scaloni received the award for men’s coach of the year after guiding Argentina to their third World Cup victory.
The award went to Scaloni, who defeated Carlo Ancelotti of Real Madrid and Pep Guardiola of Manchester City, who led his team to the Champions League victory.
Sarina Wiegman, the manager of England, was selected women’s coach of the year after she guided the Lionesses to their first major victory, the European Championship, on home soil in 2017.
Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa and Argentina was named the top goalkeeper for men, and Mary Earps of England took home the honor for women.
Martinez, 30, contributed to his nation’s World Cup success by saving four penalties along the process, including one in the shootout victory over France in the championship game.
Earps, who competes for Manchester United in the Women’s Super League, started each of England’s six Euro 2022 games en route to the team’s championship.
How Martinez rose to become the finest goalie in the world
The Fifa Puskas award for the best goal of the year was given to footballer Marcin Oleksy, an amputee who plays for Warta Poznan in Poland. With the aid of his crutches, he launched an incredible overhead volley against Stal Rzeszow that went into the goal.
In order to save the life of his opponent, Georg Teigl, who had passed out on the field, Luka Lochoshvili, who won the fair play award, restrained his opponent’s tongue.
Thibaut Courtois; Achraf Hakimi; Virgil van Dijk; Joao Cancelo; Kevin De Bruyne; Luka Modric; Casemiro; Lionel Messi; Erling Haaland; Karim Benzema; and Kylian Mbappe comprise the Fifpro Men’s World XI.
Winners in full:
Lionel Messi is the top male athlete.
Alexia Putellas is the top female athlete.
Emiliano Martinez is the top male goalie.
Mary Earps is the top female goalkeeper.
Lionel Scaloni is the greatest male coach.
Sarina Wiegman is the top women’s trainer.
Marcin Oleksy won “Best Puskas”
Argentina supporters win for best fandom.
Luka Lochoshvili received the best fair play honor.