Lionel Messi was crowned the winner of The Best FIFA men’s Player of the Year 2022 for his incredible performances in helping Argentina win the FIFA World Cup as well as with Paris Saint-Germain.
The Best FIFA Football Awards is an annual football award presented to the best players in a particular calendar year and it has been in existence since 2016. The award was formerly known as the FIFA World Player of the Year before it got merged with France Football’s prestigious Ballon d’Or award and came to be known as the FIFA Ballon d’Or.
However, in 2016, FIFA decided to part ways and give out their own separate awards which they called The Best. The selection of the best player of the year awards is different from the Ballon d’Or as the opinions of fans are also given significant weightage here. The results are decided through four different factors:
- Votes of current national team coaches
- Votes of current captains of every national team
- One specialist journalist from each territory
- Fans registered on FIFA.com
Each factor has an equal 25% weightage on the basis of which the award is decided.
With that knowledge, let’s now find out who won The Best FIFA Men’s player award 2022 and who have been the different winners over the years:
The Best FIFA men’s player award 2022: Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi was named The Best FIFA men’s player in 2022 thanks to his outstanding triumph with Argentina in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Messi beat competition from his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe and the Ballon d’or holder Karim Benzema to win his second The Best award.
“It’s amazing. It was a tremendous year and it is an honour for me to be here tonight and win this award,” said Messi.
“I want to express my thanks to [coach Lionel] Scaloni and my teammates; without them, I would not be here. I achieved a dream I had been hoping for so long and finally, I achieved it. It’s a dream for any player; very few people can achieve that and I was lucky enough to do so,” he added.
Also Read: How many trophies has Messi won?
Messi has been a regular on the scene of The Best FIFA football awards. He has not only been crowned FIFA World Player of the Year twice, but has also finished on the podium on a record four other occasions.
The Best FIFA men’s player award winners over the years
| Year | Player | Team |
| 2016 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid and Portugal |
| 2017 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid and Portugal |
| 2018 | Luka Modric | Real Madrid and Croatia |
| 2019 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona and Argentina |
| 2020 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich and Poland |
| 2021 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich and Poland |
| 2022 | Lionel Messi | Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina |
2016
Cristiano Ronaldo was the first-ever recipient of the newly constituted FIFA The Best award. Ronaldo had helped Portugal win the Euro 2016 and he won the award with over 34% of the votes, ahead of rival Lionel Messi who finished second with over 26%. French forward and Atletico Madrid player Antoine Griezmann finished third with just a little over 7.5% of the total votes.
2017
Cristiano Ronaldo won the award for the second time in a row following a sensational season with Real Madrid where Los Blancos won the Champions League. Ronaldo had an even bigger margin of victory this time around with over 43% of the votes. Meanwhile, Messi finished in second place once again while his former Barcelona teammate Neymar, who had moved to Paris Saint-Germain, ended third on the podium.
Also Read: Cristiano Ronaldo teams
2018
Luka Modric was elected as The Best player of the year as the Croatian midfield maestro had helped Real Madrid win their third consecutive Champions League title. Modric also had a sensational performance at the FIFA World Cup and helped Croatia reach the final where they were beaten by France. Modric attained close to 30% of the votes while Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah finished in second and third place respectively.
2019
Lionel Messi was elected FIFA player of the year for the first time in 2019 following a wonderful season with Barcelona. The Argentine maestro received 46 votes, which was more than enough to beat competition from Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk and fellow rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
2020
The year 2020 belonged to Polish striker Robert Lewandowski who was comfortably the best player in the world. Lewandowski scored goals for fun that season and helped Bayern Munich win the Bundesliga and the Champions League. He won the FIFA The Best award with 52 votes and finished ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
2021
Robert Lewandowski would go on to win The Best FIFA men’s player award once again, becoming the first and only player since Cristiano Ronaldo to win it twice. Lewandowski received 48 votes this time around, just four more than Lionel Messi who went on to win the Ballon d’Or. Mohamed Salah finished in third place.
Also Read: Who is the king of football?
2022
Lionel Messi’s World Cup-winning conquest put him well ahead of the bunch in 2022. Messi finished the World Cup in Qatar with the Golden Ball as the best player in the competition and also the Silver Boot as the second-highest goal-scorer. He also began the season on a strong note with PSG and received 52 votes for the award, ahead of Parisian teammate Kylian Mbappe, who he had beaten in the World Cup final. Karim Benzema finished in third place.
FAQs
How many times has Messi won The Best FIFA player award?
Lionel Messi has won The Best FIFA men’s player award twice.
Which players have won The Best FIFA men’s award on most occasions?
Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski, and Lionel Messi have each won The Best FIFA men’s award on two occasions.
Who finished on the podium of this year’s The Best FIFA award?
French forwards Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema finished on the podium of this year’s FIFA The Best award.
