After defeating him on December 18 to lead Argentina to its first world title since 1986, Lionel Messi once again beat his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe to win the FIFA award for the best player in the world for the year 2022.
The choice fell on Messi, who won the award Monday in Paris, in recognition of his major role in leading Argentina to its third world title.
The nominations were in favor of Messi, who previously won the title of “the best” in 2019 in this award, which FIFA returned to award in 2016 after separating from the Golden Ball award awarded by “France Football” magazine.
Messi, who won the Golden Ball award seven times in a record achievement, was previously present on the podium of the FIFA ceremony, but he contented himself with watching the Polish Robert Lewandowski win the title on both occasions, while the Argentine settled for third place in 2020 behind his Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo and the runner-up in 2021 against the Egyptian Mohamed Salah. .
However, the 35-year-old’s coronation of the world title strengthened his chances to be the “best” in this race, whose champion was determined by the votes of the coaches and captains of all national teams and a journalist from each country, in addition to the fans.
Like Messi, Mbappe presented wonderful world finals, finishing top scorer with eight direct goals against his Argentine colleague, including a hat-trick in the final that made him the second player to score a “hat-trick” in the title match after England’s Jeff Hurst in 1966.
But the penalty shootout failed him in the end and prevented the player, who celebrated his 24th birthday two days after the final, from following in the footsteps of the late Brazilian legend Pele, who was crowned champion in 1958 and 1962 when he was 17 and 21 years old, although he finished the next edition with an injury.
‘It was a crazy year’
The other Frenchman, Karim Benzema, was the third party in the struggle for the title after winning the Golden Ball for the first time and the Champions League title for the fifth time in his career last year.
However, the chances of the Spanish Real Madrid star diminished after the injury prevented him from participating in the Qatar World Cup, which made the 44 goals he scored in 46 with the Royal Club last season insufficient for the 35-year-old to compete with Messi for the prestigious award.
The Argentine commented on winning this award, saying, “It’s great. I’m glad to be on the same list alongside Benzema and Kylian, who had a great year. This reward is an honor for me.”
He continued, “It was a crazy year, and I succeeded in achieving my dream. What was achieved was the best ever. It is the dream of every player.”
controversy of the greatest
For his millions of fans, the controversy surrounding the Argentine star as the greatest footballer in history is over.
The record of the little “flea” has always been blemished for not winning the World Cup, so that this obstacle constitutes a rich controversy when the clock strikes the mention of football greats, which prevents his name from being written in front of his late compatriot Diego Armando Maradona and Brazilian legend Pele.
However, the coronation of Argentina at Lusail Stadium in the Qatari capital, Doha, finally closed this controversy and filled the only remaining gap in his resume after a magical evening that lasted for 120 crazy minutes.
In his last appearance in the World Cup finals, Messi broke many records, including his participation in his 26th match in the World Cup, while he scored two goals from his team’s hat-trick in an exciting 3-3 draw, before resorting to the penalty shoot-out scenario.
Former England striker Gary Lineker wrote on Twitter that Messi is “a gift from the football gods”, while fellow international defender Declan Rice said, “We will never see a player like Messi again.”
Butias is best for ladies
In the women’s category, Spain’s Alexia Potillas retained the title, beating England’s Beth Mead and American Alexis Morgan.
Potillas was the driving force of her team, Barcelona, and helped lead it to the Champions League final, where it lost to Lyon, France, 1-3, and to win all its thirty matches in the league.
The Spanish, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2021 and 2022, became the first player to win the “Best” title for two consecutive years.
Scaloni and Martinis bonus too
And among the coaches, Lionel Scaloni was rewarded for the achievement of leading Argentina to the world title, outperforming the Italian Carlo Ancelotti, the Real Madrid coach who won the European Champions League and the Spanish League, and the Spaniard Pep Guardiola, who won the English Premier League title with Manchester City.
Scaloni’s honor came a few hours after announcing the extension of his contract with the Argentine national team until the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
After receiving the award, the 44-year-old said, “There is nothing more beautiful than seeing your people happy,” addressing “thanks to the players. Those 26 who led us to glory. Without them, I would not have achieved anything,” noting that the players played for the people. The Argentine and “this victory is for them, for my family, my wife and my children who are here, for my mother, father and brothers… for our entire country.”
In the women’s category, the title went to the Dutchman Sarina Wechman, who was crowned European Champion in 2022 with the England national team, ahead of French Sonia Bompastor, winner of the European Champions League with Lyon, and Swedish coach Pia Sundhage of Brazil.
Polish amputee soccer player Marcin Oleksiy won the Puskas Award for the best goal thanks to his amazing scissor, which he scored in November for his team, Varta Poznani, against Stal Gishov.
The share of the best goalkeeper for Argentina was also after Emiliano Martinez outperformed the Belgian Thibaut Courtois and the Moroccan Yassin Bono, who led his country to the achievement of becoming the first representative of Africa and the Arabs to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.
