Lionel Messi has been awarded the prestigious FIFA The Best award for 2022 in leaked results that showed how the Argentine superstar fared against his competition.
In typical fashion with the two biggest football awards, the results of the voting by the electoral college of the FIFA The Best awards was leaked on Saturday afternoon. The leak confirms the prediction of Messi’s triumph by fans and journalists the world over.
The predictions were made after, in December 2022, Messi led Argentina to their first World Cup in three decades after a fierce battle with the 2018 winners France. Les Bleus were led by Kylian Mbappe, Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain teammate, who scored a hat-trick in the final to steal the top scorer award of the tournament outrightly when it looked like he would be sharing the honour with the former Barcelona talisman.
Messi was crowned the tournament’s best player deservedly, also making him the first man to win two player of the tournament award in the history of the World Cup since the award was first introduced in 1982.
Should the leaks turn out to be true, this will be a stark reminder to France Football, the organisers of the Ballon d’Or, that Messi remains one of the best and most influential players in the world.
The PSG forward was not even nominated for the award which went to Karim Benzema, the second Frenchman after his former manager Zinedine Zidane to ever win the award since its inception.
The FIFA The Best awards will hold in Paris, France on Monday, and Messi could receive only his second award since it was separated from the Ballon d’Or to beat out competition from Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
Messi has now adapted to life in France after initial struggles to fit in with the club’s style of play under fellow Argentine Mauricio Pochettino. Under Christophe Galtier, Messi has scored 16 goals in all competitions and provided 14 assists in only 27 games played for the French Ligue 1 leaders this season.
He could also be on course for a record-extending eighth Ballon d’Or come October 2023 but a lot will lie on his side’s performance in Europe this season.
Messi is out of contract at the French club in the summer and all hands are on deck to renew the mercurial Argentine for at least one more season as they push to establish themselves in European football.
