FIFA football award: Messi was named the FIFA player of the year

IKEJA, Nigeria - Feb. 28, 2023 - PRLog -- Lionel Messi was named FIFA player of the year on Monday after winning his maiden World Cup title with Argentina in December in Qatar. Messi won the best player vote over Mbappé and fellow Frenchman Karim Benzema, securing the FIFA prize for the seventh time in 14 years. The 35-year-old forward scored two goals in the World Cup final, which Argentina won on penalties against France following a 3-3 draw after extra time. The best women's player was Spain's Alexia Putellas for a second straight year. Putellas won her award from Alex Morgan of the United States and Beth Mead, who led England to the European Championship title in 2022.

Lionel Messi earned his 16th inclusion, taking outright the record he previously shared with Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese missed out for the first time since 2006 as Luka Modric made the team for a sixth time – a figure bettered only by Dani Alves (8), Andres Iniesta (9), Sergio Ramos (11), Ronaldo (15) and Messi.

Here are some of the players that took home awards yesterday during the FIFA football award;

• The Best FIFA Women's Player: Alexia Putellas (Spain/FC Barcelona Femení)
• The Best FIFA Men's Player: Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain FC)
• The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper: Mary Earps (England/Manchester United WFC)
• The Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martinez (Argentina/Aston Villa FC)
• The Best FIFA Women's Coach: Sarina Wiegman (England Women's National Team)
• The Best FIFA Men's Coach: Lionel Scaloni (Argentina Men's National Team)
• The FIFA Puskás Award: Marcin Oleksy (Poland/Warta Poznań)
• The FIFA Fair Play Award: Luka Lochoshvili (Georgia/Wolfsberger AC/US Cremonese)
• The FIFA Fan Award: Argentinian Fans

Mbappe, also nominated for the highly anticipated award of the night, scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final. Still, his achievement was overshadowed as Messi finally won the most coveted trophy in world football.

"I want to express my thanks to [Coach Lionel] Scaloni and my teammates. Without them, I would not be here," Messi said at the Best FIFA Football Awards in Paris. "I achieved a dream I had been hoping for so long, and finally, I achieved it. It's a dream for any player, very few people can achieve that, and I was lucky enough to do so."

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