The Best FIFA Awards gala took place on Monday night with the great and good of the beautiful game descending upon Paris for one of football’s most prestigious and clumsily named annual ceremonies.
The big winners on the night were Lionel Messi and Alexia Putellas, who were crowned best men’s and best women’s player of the year respectively while the equivalent coaching awards went to Lionel Scaloni of Argentina and Sarina Wiegman of England.
Elsewhere, Marcin Oleksy received the 2022 Puskas Award for his stunning volley in the Polish amputee league game between Warta Poznan and Stal Rzeszow.
– Olesky tells ESPN about wonder goal that won Puskas Award
As per usual, The Best FIFA Awards were dished out as a result of votes cast by fellow players, national team captains and coaches, and a select group of esteemed football journalists.
After leading Argentina to World Cup glory in December, Messi unsurprisingly cantered to the top accolade by claiming 52 points in the vote — far more than Kylian Mbappe (44) and Karim Benzema (34) in second and third.
FIFA published a full breakdown of the voting, so as curious onlookers we are able to sift through and pick out some of the more notable choices and patterns.
