FIFA held their annual The Best awards for 2022 on Monday evening, with the best individual players, coaches and fans being recognised for their contributions to the sport for the past year. Here are all the recipients from last night.
The Best FIFA Men’s Player: Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain FC)
The Argentine was expected to win the trophy, as revealed by Fabrizio Romano over the weekend. And following his player of the tournament performance in a victorious 2022 World Cup run, he has won the Best FIFA Men’s Player Award for 2022 ahead of Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe.
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martínez (Argentina/Aston Villa FC)
Winning the penalty shootout in the finals of the 2022 World Cup, Emi Martinez has been awarded the best goalkeeper award for 2022. But surprisingly, he has not been included in the FIFPRO World XI, being replaced by Thibaut Courtois of Belgium and Real Madrid.
The Best FIFA Women’s Player: Alexia Putellas (Spain/FC Barcelona Femení)
The Barcelona star has now added the Best Women’s Player award to her collection of Ballon d’Or trophies. Even though she was sidelined for the Euros, her contributions for Barcelona have been recognised and rewarded by the global body.
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper: Mary Earps (England/Manchester United WFC)
Winning the Three Lionesses win the Euros in front of their home crowd, Mary Earps has been named the best women’s goalkeeper of 2022.
FIFPRO World XI:
Thibaut Courtois, Joao Cancelo, Virgil van Dijk, Achraf Hakimi, Casemiro, Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modric, Karim Benzema, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe & Lionel Messi
Here are the other awards given out at the ceremony:
- The Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Sarina Wiegman (England Women’s National Team)
- The Best FIFA Men’s Coach: Lionel Scaloni (Argentina Men’s National Team)
- The FIFA Puskás Award: Marcin Oleksy (Poland/Warta Poznań)
- The FIFA Fair Play Award: Luka Lochoshvili (Georgia/Wolfsberger AC/U.S. Cremonese)
- The FIFA Fan Award: Argentinian Fans
