Lionel Messi has won The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award after leading Argentina to victory at the 2022 World Cup.
Messi, 35, scored seven goals in Qatar as Argentina won their third World Cup.
It’s amazing. It’s an honour for me to be here tonight and win this award,” said Messi.
“Without my team-mates I wouldn’t be here. It was an amazing year and I achieved the dream that I’ve been hoping for so long and finally, I managed to achieve it.
“It [the World Cup] is the most wonderful thing that’s happened to me in my career.”
Messi provided two assists in the Ligue 1 win over Marseille for team-mate Kylian Mbappe, who was also one of the final three nominees for The Best FIFA Men’s Player award.
Mbappe was the top scorer at the 2022 World Cup with eight goals, including a hat-trick in the final as France lost to Argentina on penalties.
He finished 2022 with 56 goals in 56 games for club and country.
Messi and Mbappe sat together at the ceremony in Paris, with Messi watching as Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni won The Best FIFA Men’s Coach Award. Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema did not attend the ceremony.
Benzema missed out on the World Cup with France due to injury but was a key player for Real Madrid as they won the Champions League for a 14th time. He is the fourth-highest scorer in Champions League history with 88 goals behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and Robert Lewandowski.
Bayern Munich’s Lewandowski had won The Best FIFA Men’s Player award for the last two years but did not make it to the final three this time.
In the FIFA/FIFPRO World XI, there was no place for Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese missed out for the first time since 2007.
Below is the 2022 FIFA/FIFPRO World XI
➤ Goalkeeper: Courtois.
➤ Defenders: Hakimi, Virgil van Dijk and Joao Cancelo.
➤ Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modric and Casemiro.
➤ Forwards: Lionel Messi, Mbappé, Karim Benzema and Erling Haaland.
Checkout the voting results for the best FIFA Men’s Player award.
Source: Soccanews.com