On Monday, Lionel Messi took up The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award for 2022 following his World Cup victory with Argentina, and Alexia Putellas of Spain regained the women’s trophy during an event in Paris.
Messi won the men’s award ahead of Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema and World Cup final rival and colleague Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain.
As a result of FIFA’s 2016 decision to separate from Ballon d’Or organisers France Football, Messi has now received the award twice.
The honour commends the year in which the former Barcelona player capped off his illustrious career by leading Argentina to the World Cup victory and is decided by votes from national team coaches and captains, media, and fans.
Despite Mbappe scoring a hat-trick for Les Bleus in a surprising 3-3 draw, Messi scored twice as Argentina defeated France on penalties in a thrilling final in Doha.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, 35, replaces Robert Lewandowski on the FIFA honours list, while Putellas kept the women’s prize despite missing the second half of last year due to injury.
In order to add the FIFA trophy to the Ballon d’Or, which she has previously won two years in a row, the 29-year-old defeated American star Alex Morgan and English striker Beth Mead, who won the European Championship.
Putellas is now rehabilitating from a severe knee injury she sustained in July of last year, which prevented her from travelling to England with Spain for the Euro.
Previous to that, she had contributed 11 goals to Barcelona’s journey to the Champions League final, which they ultimately lost to Lyon.
