Lionel Messi at 1, Luka Modric at 5: Final 14 ranks for FIFA The Best men's player award for 2023 revealed
FIFA The Best men's player award for 2022 was handed out on Monday, February 27, with PSG star Lionel Messi taking home the prize for guiding Argentina to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
His club teammate and France international Kylian Mbappe came second while Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema finished third.
After the final round of voting and results, the top 14 players have been released and there are some surprise inclusions.
Luka Modric and Erling Haaland make up the top five after the aforesaid trio, while Sadio Mane came in at sixth, ahead of Julian Alvarez in seventh.
Fans are perplexed to see the Argentine ranked so high up although he was a part of the Argentine squad that romped to the title in Qatar in December last year.
PSG teammates Achraf Hakimi and Neymar were ranked eighth and ninth respectively, with Kevin De Bruyne finishing in 10th position.
Vinicius Junior, Robert Lewandowski, Jude Bellingham and Mohamed Salah were the other players who made it to the top 14 rankings.
There's a notion that Vinicius must have finished higher than 11th, given he had a successful year with Real Madrid. With 22 goals in all competitions last season, the Brazilian was a key player for Los Blancos in their La Liga and Champions League wins, even scoring the winner in their European final against Liverpool.
FIFA added a 4th attacker in the World XI but still no space for Vinicius Jr. Champions League winner, La Liga winner, UEFA Super Cup winner, Club World Cup winner along with 54 G/A. https://t.co/HK072QrnoB
While Lewandowski was the only player last season to hit the 50-goal mark in Europe's top five leagues, Bayern Munich's shortcomings in Europe certainly hurt his chances.
He also helped Poland reach the 2022 FIFA World Cup but could only net twice in the tournament.
Salah also enjoyed a prolific campaign last year, scoring 31 goals for Liverpool in all competitions while helping them to the FA Cup and Carabao Cup double.
However, the Reds fell short in the Premier League and Champions League, while his Egypt also failed to qualify for the Qatar showpiece, all of which undid his hardwork.
Messi equals Ronaldo and Lewandowski for most FIFA 'The Best' awards
Lionel Messi won his second FIFA 'The Best' award last night and joined Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski as the most successful players with the award.
Ronaldo won the first two editions in 2016 and 2017, beating Messi on both occasions, but didn't enjoy much luck thereafter.
Messi won 'The Best' player award for the first time in 2019 but Lewandowski then won it back-to-back in 2020 and 2021. All three players are currently locked at three awards each.