In the early hours of Tuesday morning (28th), Paris staged a grand soccer ceremony - the FIFA Best of the Year Award Ceremony. At the event, Lionel Messi, known as the "King of Balls", was uncontested winner of the World Footballer of the Year (best men's player) award, beating out Kylian Mbappe and Benzema. This is the seventh time in his career that Messi has won this honor, once again breaking an unparalleled record. It is worth noting that the Argentine national team also swept the Best Coach and Best Goalkeeper awards for the first time in history.
This year FIFA (International Football Association) has made a major change to the awards ceremony by adjusting the awards rating cycle from quarterly to annual. As a result, Messi, who was previously unseen in the Ballon d'Or Top 30, stood out for his outstanding performance at the World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year. With 52 points, Messi edged out Mbappe (44) and Benzema (34) for Mr. World Footballer of the Year in a four-way vote among fans, journalists, national team leaders and captains. All three were also named in the best 11-man squad.
Messi, who is 35 years old, finally fulfilled his dream of winning the World Cup last December when he played in it for the fifth time. Now, he won the Mr. World Football award again after four years. On the podium, Messi was overwhelmed with emotion: "It's been a crazy year, and I've struggled for so many years to finally realize my dream of winning the World Cup. This is the dream of all footballers, but only a few can realize it. I am very grateful to God for letting me be one of those few."
After a number of reforms, the Mr. Football World award has been won four times in the six years since it was first awarded to Lionel Messi in 2009, when it was merged with the Ballon d'Or. In 2016, the award was changed to a "best of the year" format, and in 2019 Messi was crowned Mr. Football World for the seventh time, further edging out Portuguese star Carlo (five times), who has been the most successful player in the world. This is his seventh time winning the award, leaving behind Portuguese star Cairo (five times).
In addition to Lionel Messi, the Argentine national team was also a big winner at the awards ceremony. Coach Carlos Scarloni beat Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti to win the "Best Coach" award. Goalkeeper Damián Martínez also won the "Best Goalkeeper" award over Real Madrid's Thiago Silva. This is the first time in history that a player from the same country has won the three awards for Best Player, Best Goalkeeper and Best Coach, which is amazing.
FIFA Awards 2022 winners of each award:
Best player (men): Lionel Messi
Best player (women): Pelé
Coach of the Year (Men): Scaloni
Coach of the Year (Girls): Wegman
Best goalkeeper (men): Damian Martinez
Best Goalkeeper (Women): Ibi
Pushcart Prize: Ollrich
Fair Play Award: Luzushuveli
