The Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe, and Argentina forward Lionel Messi are on the shortlist for the FIFA Best Male Player award, the world governing body of football announced on Friday.
Messi might get his second The Best award after helping Argentina win their third World Cup title by defeating Mbappe’s France in the final last year in Qatar, scoring seven goals during the tournament, and receiving his second Golden ball.
Mbappe, the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner for France, and Benzema, the winner of the World Cup’s Golden Boot, both make their first appearances among the three finalists.
When it was the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2009, the FIFA Ballon d’Or in each of the following years from 2010 to 2012, and once more in 2015, Messi won his six previous honours. He is currently the Best FIFA Men’s Player for 2019.
Despite finishing fourth in the voting for the 2018 award, Mbappe makes the shortlist for the first time. In the previous three years, the 24-year-old has finished sixth, seventh, and eighth. The FIFA award has gone to Robert Lewandowski the last two years.
Karim Benzema won the more prestigious Ballon d’Or award presented by France Football magazine in October in advance of the World Cup. Due to an injury, the France forward was forced to miss the competition. The lengthy list of Ballon d’Or contenders unveiled in August did not include Messi.
Despite being sidelined since July with a knee injury, Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas could win the Best Women’s Player award for the second year in a row. Forward As the top scorer and player of the competition, Beth Mead led England to the Euro 2022 championship. She is also a nominee.
The list is completed by American forward Alex Morgan, a finalist in 2019.
Putellas won the Best Women’s Player award for 2021 and finished in the top three once more despite getting hurt just before the European Championship and missing the competition for Spain. Mead, who tied for the tournament’s most goals and was named its best player, helped England win the Euro 2022 championship. She sustained a serious knee injury while playing for Arsenal in November and might not be able to participate in the Australia and New Zealand-co-hosted Women’s World Cup, which begins in July.
When the United States won the CONCACAF W Championship last year, Morgan, who finished second in the voting to teammate Megan Rapinoe in 2019, was named the tournament’s player of the year. As she also tied for the top score.
On February 27, a ceremony will be held in Paris to announce the winners.
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