FIFA’s The Best Awards for 2022 will be given out in a week’s time. The nominations for the Best men’s player in the world has been narrowed down to three names – Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah and Robert Lewandowski.
The voting is conducted by a panel consisting of national team coaches and captains, alongside one journalist from each territory. The period of evaluation of the players will be between 8 October 2020 to 7 August 2021.
So, who is going to go home with the award when it is given out next week? Let’s compare the stats of each of the finalists and see who has the better chances of winning.
FIFA’s The Best Awards 2022 – Who wins Men’s Player of the Year?
Robert Lewandowski
Games: 45 Starts: 44 Sub appearances: 1
Goals: 51 Assists: 6
Penalties scored: 8
Lewandowski is the most recent winner of FIFA’s The Best Men’s Player of the Year Award. Although the player finished second in the Ballon d’Or rankings, he received the striker of the year award for his performances. He has continued to break records at a regular pace, and it is difficult to see past the Polish forward as the favourite.
Mohamed Salah
Games: 47 Starts: 43 Sub appearances: 4
Goals: 28 Assists: 6
Penalties scored: 5
Salah has been in remarkable form in the 21/22 season, but in terms of goals and assists, he doesn’t quite match up to the level that Messi and Lewandowski have set. While the Egyptian is one of the best players in the world right now, he might miss out only because of the timeframe that the awards are evaluating.
Lionel Messi
Games: 57 Starts: 55 Sub appearances: 2
Goals: 43 Assists: 17
Penalties scored: 9
Lionel Messi’s time at PSG is out of the evaluation time, and based on his last season with Barcelona, he makes a very strong case to win the award. This is further driven home by his Copa America and Copa del Rey wins with club and country. Taking into account those two important wins, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has a strong case to edge out his competitors this time.
