Soccer. With “The Best”, Fifa devotes (again) its model player

And after 1h40 of ceremony, in the cozy atmosphere of the Salle Pleyel in the heart of 8^e arrondissement of Paris, the long-awaited moment has arrived… when, unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi was awarded the “The Best” trophy for the best player of the year 2022 by Fifa.

Sparkling tuxedo, shirt and black bow tie, number 30 of PSG, scorer the day before against OM in L1, took the stage for the strict hug with the president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, and the traditional speech agreed. Without a word higher than the other, he notably thanked his teammates and congratulated Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappé, who were in the running with him to win the silver trinket awarded to the winner.

This scene, any football follower has the impression of having experienced it dozens of times for fifteen years, and it is normal: it is the case. Best Fifa player of the year (ancestor trophy of the current “The Best”) in 2009 already, then four times Ballon d’Or during the period during which this award was awarded in partnership by Fifa and our colleagues from the magazine France Football (between 2010 and 2015), or even winner of the “The Best” trophy in 2019, Messi has always been able to win the honors of the body at the head of world football. Not to mention the countless other individual honors he has received during his career.

Monday evening, the Fifa ceremony began with a strong tribute to Pelé, who died at the end of December 2022. “He was football, all of football”, declared Gianni Infantino in particular in a solemn tone. This quote could also apply perfectly to a Lionel Messi who, although Argentine and not Brazilian, can be presented as the worthy heir of the “King”.

A smooth image

Messi, indeed, “is football, all of football”, but Messi, like Pelé in his time, is “only football”, one would be tempted to add. Never a political position on his part, never pranks or controversial statements … only cases of tax evasion masked with great communication by Barça, then PSG, the only two clubs for which he evolved.

Unlike Maradona, the other idolized number 10 in Argentina, Messi has never led a dissolute life. While his predecessor accumulated stories of drugs, fights and mores, La Pulga leads a quiet life as husband and father of three boys, as shown by his social networks from which emerge a smooth image… almost the life of a an Everyman.

Such a perfect successor in the future?

Bread blessed for Fifa, always anxious to release the most universal image possible of its sport. Messi is the child smaller than the others who succeeded thanks to his talent, and the face of Adidas (Fifa’s partner brand), whose destiny can make any parent dream who thinks about sport to choose to register your child.

In 2022, with his World Cup victory (largely recounted at Monday’s ceremony), the Argentinian completed the main quest of his career by winning the only major competition he was still missing, the one that suits him best.

The day he ends his career, will Fifa find a footballer who looks as much like the image it wants to give of its sport? From Pelé to Messi, he had to wait a few decades.