More than 3 years after winning the award for the sixth time in his football career, it seems an opportunity for Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi to enhance his record in the number of times winning the award for the best player in the world.
Messi is looking forward to carrying the award again during the annual FIFA awards ceremony, which is scheduled for tomorrow, Monday, in the French capital, Paris.
And only 3 months ago, Messi was not a strong candidate for real competition to win this award, but his victory with the Argentine national team in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar doubled his chances of winning the award for the seventh time in his football career.
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
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Messi holds the record for the number of times winning this award with 6 titles, surpassing Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the title 5 previous times.
And the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deprotivo" revealed that Messi will win the award tomorrow, Monday, in Paris.
Messi has already reached the final list of candidates to win this award for the year 2022, but he faces fierce competition in this final list against two French strikers, Kylian Mbappe, his colleague in the French Paris Saint-Germain team, and veteran Karim Benzema, Real Madrid striker.
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Before the start of the World Cup in Qatar, Messi's achievements in 2022 were limited to winning with Saint-Germain the French League and French Super Cup titles, in addition to winning the "Vinalisma" cup with the Argentine national team, in which the team won as champion of the South American Nations Cup (Copa America). ) on the Italian national team, the European Nations Cup champion.
However, the veteran player wrote the most important and prominent chapter in his football career during the last weeks of 2022 by leading his country to the World Cup title, which was the only part absent from Messi's record of achievements after he was crowned in 2021 with the Copa America title.
Messi made a series of wonderful performances with the Argentine national team, and the team regained its balance after the sudden defeat against the Saudi national team in its first match in the tournament, to successfully make its way to the final match in which it defeated the French national team on penalties after a 3-3 draw.
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Messi scored 7 goals in the tournament, including two goals in the final match, and he also assisted 3 goals for his teammates.
Messi's leadership qualities were among the most important factors in the Argentine national team's success in winning the world title, and this contributed to Messi, 35, winning the Golden Ball award for best player in the tournament and becoming the first player to win this award twice after winning the same award in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, despite his team's defeat against The German national team in the 2014 edition.
During the Qatar World Cup, Messi achieved many records, as he became the only player so far to score in the World Cup when he was under 20, then after he was over 20, then after he was 30 years old.
The Qatar World Cup was not only a reason for Messi's arrival in the final list of candidates for the FIFA award, but also played a role in the arrival of Mbappe, his colleague in St. Germain and the star of the French national team attack.
Mbappe, 24, played a very important role in the French national team reaching the World Cup final 4 years after he led the same team to win the title.
Despite the French national team's final loss to its Argentine counterpart on penalties, Mbappe wrote history for himself in this version, especially in the final match, where he scored 3 goals (a hat-trick) in the final and became the first player to achieve this achievement since the 1966 World Cup.
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Mbappe was crowned top scorer for the 2022 World Cup with 8 goals, and raised his tally in the list of tournament scorers throughout history to 12 goals, after he scored 4 goals in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Mbappe's performance in the final against the Argentine national team impressed the observers of the tournament, especially as he succeeded in bringing the team back to compete strongly against tango dancers during the match, and the competition remained between the two teams until the end.
But Mbappe was not lucky to win the French roosters again the World Cup title.
During the past season, Mbappe had the biggest role in Saint-Germain winning the French League title, as the player scored 39 goals and made 26 others in 46 matches he played with the team in various tournaments last season.
Benzema's ambitions to win the FIFA 2022 award are based on his achievements with his club over a long and arduous season, while the injury forced him to miss the 2022 World Cup.
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And in mid-October, Benzema won the Golden Ball award for the best player in the world for the year 2022, presented by “France Football” magazine.
Benzema, 35, presented an exceptional season with Real Madrid, during which he won the Spanish League and the European Champions League.
Benzema was crowned the best player in the Champions League last season and the competition's top scorer award with 15 goals, in addition to winning the La Liga top scorer title last season as well, with 27 goals.
Benzema is currently dreaming of winning the “best” award in the FIFA referendum, despite not participating in the 2022 World Cup due to injury.