Today, Thursday, the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) revealed the list of players nominated to win the “Best” award, which is awarded to the best soccer player during the past year, which includes 14 names among the brightest and most brilliant in the European football sky in 2022.
The Argentine star Lionel Messi, who led his country to crowning the last World Cup in Qatar, and the Frenchman Karim Benzema (last year's Golden Ball winner) after he led Real Madrid to crown the European Champions League title last year, advance the list, and they are considered the most likely to win it.
The list also witnesses the presence of two Arab names, the Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, the top scorer of the English Liverpool team, and the Moroccan star Ashraf Hakimi, the right-back of the French Paris Saint-Germain team, and one of the makers of the epic arrival of the “Atlas Lions” to the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Paris Saint-Germain is the most represented French club in this list with 4 players, followed by Manchester City and Real Madrid with 3 players each.
Here are the nominees for #TheBest FIFA Player!
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Cast your vote for your men's and women's player on FIFA+!
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— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) January 12, 2023
Competing for this award are: Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Ashraf Hakimi, Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Julian Alvarez (Manchester City), Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowki (Barcelona), and Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Judd Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund).
Today, Thursday, the process of recommending the owners of the award for the best player in the world will begin, and will continue until February 27, the date of organizing the ceremony to announce the award holder.
The votes will be distributed to 4 categories, which will choose the owner of the “Best” award, and the categories are: journalists with 25%, coaches of national teams 25%, captains of national teams 25%, and the rest - that is, 25% - from the votes of the fans.