Lionel Messi has notched his seventh FIFA Player of the Year award to continue his remarkable season.
The Argentine maestro beat his PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema to the award.
Lionel Messi being named the FIFA Player of the Year was almost guaranteed after the 35-year-old led Argentina to world cup glory last year over France. Messi scored twice in the final before his team triumphed on penalties in a final for the ages.
The PSG forward finished the completion with 7 goals while winning the tournament’s Golden Ball as the best player.
“It was a crazy year for me,” Messi said. “I could fulfil my (World Cup) dream after fighting for it for so long. And in the end, it happened, and it was the most beautiful thing of my career”.
Messi earned 52 points, Mbappé 44, and Benzema 34 in the final voting.
The trio was also named to FIFA’s best XI which included Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, Portugal’s João Cancelo, Dutchman Virgil van Dijk, Belgium’s Kevin de Bruyne, Croatia’s Luka Modric, Brazil’s Casemiro, Norway’s Erling Haaland.
Given the gravity of their triumph, it was not a surprise to see Messi’s teammates scooping up other awards as well.
Emiliano Martinez, who played a pivotal role in Argentina winning the shootouts, was voted the Keeper of the Year while Lionel Scaloni won the FIFA Coach of the Year.
Over at the women’s bracket, Spain’s Alexia Putellas, who won the Ballon d’Or last year, was named women’s player of the year after inspiring Barcelona to a third consecutive national title in 2022.
She beat out competition from Alex Morgan and England’s Beth Mead.
England’s Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman received the accolade for best coach of a team after leading England to Euros glory.
