How Africa News
Lionel Messi was named Best FIFA Men’s Player for 2022 on Monday, following Argentina’s World Cup victory, and Spain’s Alexia Putellas retained the women’s honor at a ceremony in Paris.
Messi defeated his PSG colleague and World Cup final adversary Kylian Mbappe to win the men’s award, with Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema the other challenger.
It marks Messi’s second time winning the award, which was established by FIFA in 2016 when the world governing body of football broke from Ballon d’Or organizers France Football.
The honor, which is voted on by national team coaches and captains, media, and fans, commemorates a year in which the former Barcelona player capped his illustrious career by leading Argentina to World Cup success.
Argentina overcame France on penalties when Messi scored twice in an incredible final in Doha, despite Mbappe scoring a hat-trick for Les Bleus in a thrilling 3-3 draw.
Putellas Retains Gong
The 35-year-old, a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, replaces Robert Lewandowski on FIFA’s honours list, while Putellas retains the women’s award despite missing the second half of last year due to injury.
The 29-year-old defeated England’s European Championship-winning striker Beth Mead and United States star Alex Morgan to win the FIFA award in addition to the Ballon d’Or, which she has won for the past two years.
Putellas is now rehabilitating from a catastrophic knee injury suffered last July, which caused her to miss Spain’s Euro in England.
She had previously scored 11 goals during Barcelona’s journey to the Champions League final, which they lost against Lyon.
