Lionel Messi won The Best FIFA Men’s Player prize for 2022 on Monday, following his World Cup triumph with Argentina. At the same ceremony in Paris, Spain’s Alexia Putellas retained the women’s award. Messi triumphed over his Paris Saint-Germain teammate and World Cup final rival, Kylian Mbappe, as well as Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, to claim the men’s honor. This marks the second time Messi has received this award, which FIFA inaugurated in 2016 after separating from Ballon d’Or organizers France Football.
The award is determined by votes from national team coaches and captains, journalists, and fans. It recognizes a year in which the former Barcelona star capped his illustrious career by leading Argentina to victory at the World Cup. In an epic final held in Doha, Messi scored twice as Argentina defeated France on penalties, despite Mbappe’s remarkable hat-trick in a thrilling 3-3 draw.
At 35 years old, Messi, a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, succeeds Robert Lewandowski on the FIFA honors list. Meanwhile, Putellas retained the women’s prize despite spending the latter half of last year sidelined by injury. The 29-year-old outperformed England’s European Championship-winning striker Beth Mead and United States star Alex Morgan to add the FIFA crown to her collection, which includes two consecutive Ballon d’Or titles. Currently, Putellas is recovering from a serious knee injury sustained last July, which prevented her from participating in the Euro in England with Spain. Prior to her injury, she had scored 11 goals during Barcelona’s run to the Champions League final, where they were defeated by Lyon.
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