Argentine Lionel Messi and his Paris Saint-Germain colleague, Frenchman Kylian Mbappe, will face another confrontation, but of a different kind, as they compete tomorrow, Monday, for the FIFA award for the best player in the world for the year 2022, with another French star, Karim. Benzema, crowned with the Golden Ball award.
And as happened last December when Argentina was crowned World Cup Qatar 2022 at the expense of Mbappe and his colleagues in the 2018 champion in the French national team, the confrontation is renewed between the two colleagues in Saint-Germain, as the Argentine appears to be the most likely candidate in the ceremony that will be held tomorrow, Monday, in Paris.
The nominations are 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 7 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. In front of the Egyptian Mohamed Salah.
But the 35-year-old's coronation of the world title, which was the first for Argentina since 1986, strengthened his chances to be the best for 2022 in this race, whose champion was determined by the votes of coaches and leaders of all national teams and a journalist from each country, in addition to the fans.
Finalists for the #TheBest FIFA Football Awards 2022 revealed 🏆
⬅ This award represents a tribute to exceptional performance in the world of the magic round for men and women
⬅ The winners will be crowned in a ceremony that will be held on Monday, February 27, 2023 in Paris
Details ✍👇
- FIFA.com - Arabic (@fifacom_ar) February 12, 2023
Gullit: Messi has a great chance
Like Messi, Mbappe presented a 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 deprived 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 version with an injury. .
Former Dutch star Ruud Gullit said, "Messi has the greatest chance to win the award (best player) because he won the World Cup."
The Dutch Ballon d'Or winner was talking about the Argentine in the context of his role as a member of the Laureus Awards Academy for Sports Excellence, which included Messi and Mbappe among the candidates to win it.
However, the former Italian Milan star added, "However, I respect Mbappe a lot. For me, he is on the same level (from Messi). What he did in the final is amazing and he bears this responsibility."
Benzema will be the third party in the struggle for the title of “the best” 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 may make the 44 goals he scored in 46 with the royal club last season insufficient for the 35-year-old to compete with Messi and Mbappe for the prestigious award.
Among the coaches, the Argentine Lionel Scaloni, winner of the Qatar World Cup 2022, the Italian Carlo Ancelotti, the Real Madrid coach who won the European Champions League, and the Spaniard Pep Guardiola (Manchester City, England) are competing.
The competition for the Puskas Award for the best goal will be between the French trio, Dimitri Payet, the Marseille player (against PAOK Thessaloniki, Greece), the Brazilian Richarlison (against Serbia in the Qatar World Cup), and the Polish Marcin Oleksi, the Varta Poznani player (against Stal Gishov).