Lionel Messi and Alexia Putellas are the best in the world for FIFA. The highest body in world football differed from the criteria established by the Ballon d’Or awarded to Karim Benzema in October and already with the World Cup on the table, unlike the prize awarded by ‘France Football’, recognized the Argentine star with The Best trophy from Paris Saint-Germain. The man from Rosario was crowned in the city where he now lives as the king of a night in which the queen was once again Spanish. Alexia Putellas rounded off a dream 2022 with her second consecutive Ballon d’Or-The Best double, confirming her status as the most unbalancing player on the planet.
In the men’s category, the World Cup in Qatar ended up being decisive, as usually happens in years of great national team tournaments. Messi closed the circle of a dream career in Doha with the long-awaited World Cup. It was the only gap in his palmares, the thorn stuck in it since that final lost to Germany in Brazil 2014, the last conquest to finally reach Maradona, the great myth. This The Best also has a special significance, since it is the tenth individual trophy for a player who is incomparable in terms of numbers. To his seven Ballon d’Ors and the FIFA World Player of the year 2009, before the governing body of world football and ‘France Football’ joined his paths until 2016, he now adds his second The Best.
“It is a pleasure and an honor to be here again. This year was crazy for me, I was able to achieve my dream after fighting so much and insisting so much,” said Messi, who highlighted the work of his teammates and the coaching staff of the Argentine team at the peak of a gala that It recovered its traditional splendor after the telematic version of 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic. A brilliant night in the city of light in which the figure of Pelé was very present, to whom a beautiful tribute was paid with images to remember, the presence of his widow and the moving speech of his compatriot Ronaldo Nazário .
The attacker from Rosario was the undisputed leader of the Albiceleste that conquered the world 36 years after that unforgettable summer of 1986 in Mexico. His seven goals and three assists earned him recognition as the best player of the tournament. And it is that Messi was the MVP of five of the seven games of Argentina in Qatar, including the four qualifying duels, a total dominance in the best of scenarios that has ended up being decisive for the election of The Best. And it is that good proof of the weight of the World Cup in the award is also offered by the nomination of Kylian Mbappé, runner-up in Qatar with a French team of which the PSG attacker was an indisputable reference.
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The Frenchman slipped into the podium of the great individual football trophies for the first time, in a clear sample of what is to come in the coming years, and confirmed that the club competition has had less weight in the choice of the winner , as Messi and Mbappé dominated despite a disappointing season at the Parque de los Príncipes. The pharaonic PSG fulfilled the Ligue 1 title, an obligation, but crashed again in the Champions League, with the epic KO in the round of 16 against Karim Benzema’s Real Madrid, to which its wonderful European nights opened the doors of the Ballon d’Or but not of The Best, which takes into account the entire year 2022 and not the season, as in the case of the award given by ‘France Football’. The three were in the FIFA ideal eleven, completing a dream attack together with Haaland, with Casemiro, Kevin de Bruyne and Modric in midfield, Achraf, Van Dijk and Cancelo as defenders and Courtois under sticks despite not being voted best goalkeeper
“Enjoy the way”
In the women’s category, the club competitions were decisive, as Alexia Putellas won her second consecutive trophy despite being left out of the Eurocup due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, from which she is still recovering. The Barça player prevailed over the English striker of Arsenal Beth Mead, European champion with her team, and the American attacker Alex Morgan, player of the North American San Diego Wave and one of the most mediatic footballers on the planet. “This shows that if you have a dream you have to pursue it and above all, enjoy the journey,” said the Barça midfielder, who was also part of an ideal eleven with another Spaniard, Mapi León.
