Argentine superstar Lionel Messi (36, Paris Saint-Germain) won the FIFA Player of the Year award.
At the 2022 FIFA Football Awards held in Paris, France on the 28th, Messi won the Player of the Year award given to the player who performed the best of the year. This is the Player of the Year award, which was regained after 3 years since 2019.
Messi beat Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) and Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), who were nominated for the final. In addition, Messi became the first player of the year for Paris Saint-Germain.
2022 was Messi’s year.
![Lionel Messi (Argentina) smiles after receiving the Best Male Player award at the FIFA 'The Best FIFA Football Awards' held in Paris, France on the 27th (local time). Messi received this award for his contribution to winning the '2022 Qatar World Cup' and was honored with the second award in his career following Cristiano Ronaldo (2016, 2017) and Robert Lewandowski (2020, 2021). 2023.02.28.[파리=AP/뉴시스]](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2023/02/28/118102416.2.jpg)
Lionel Messi (Argentina) smiles after receiving the Best Male Player award at the FIFA ‘The Best FIFA Football Awards’ held in Paris, France on the 27th (local time). Messi received this award for his contribution to winning the ‘2022 Qatar World Cup’ and was honored with the second award in his career following Cristiano Ronaldo (2016, 2017) and Robert Lewandowski (2020, 2021). 2023.02.28.[파리=AP/뉴시스]At the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which ended in December last year, Messi led Argentina to lift the dream World Cup trophy and even become the top scorer. In this performance, he even harvested the FIFA Football Awards Player of the Year award.
The Player of the Year award is different from the FIFA Ballon d’Or. However, from 2010 to 2015, the two awards were merged.
Messi holds the record for most awards in this category with seven Ballon d’Or awards. The ‘Player of the Year’ is tied for first place with Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nasr) and Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona) for the second time ever.
Messi also won the FIFA-FIFPRO World Best 11 and was named in the FIFA World Best 11 for 16 consecutive years.
“It was a great year,” Messi said. I am able to stand here thanks to my teammates and those who supported me. I am lucky enough to have an experience that few can get.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.