Leo Messi, winner of the FIFA Best of the Year Award 2022

It has gotten to the stage where individual awards no longer matter to Lionel Messi, however the Argentine was given yet another gong as he was voted as 'The Best' winner for 2022.

Initial leaks intimated that the Argentine would take home the award ahead of rivals Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema, with his performances at the 2022 World Cup the deciding factor.

In his debut season with Paris Saint-Germain, Messi could only manage six Ligue 1 goals, although over the course of 2022 his return improved.

Over the course of the calendar year, the former Barcelona forward scored 35 goals and registered 30 assists in 51 appearances for both club and country.

65 goal involvements is quite the achievement and it has certainly been taken into account by the voters for The Best Award.

The winners of The Best player, goalkeeper and coach awards were determined through a voting process in which four groups had an equal say: football fans, selected media representatives and the captains and head coaches of national teams from around the globe.

Argentina success has completed Messi's career

It's unfortunate that for so many years there were those who criticized Lionel Messi for a lack of success on the international stage.

Yet, in Qatar he was able to finally scratch the itch by lifting the famous trophy.

His iconic battle with Mbappe in the final will live long in the memory. He scored twice and netted a penalty in the shoot-out, whilst Mbappe netted a hat-trick before converting in the shoot-out.

Having both been named as finalists for the award, it seems as though the outcome of that match truly decided the destination of The Best Award for 2022.

There is very little to split the Paris Saint-Germain teammates and it's obvious that there will be a lot of individual awards in the Frenchman's future.

Messi's triumph in 2022 is his second after taking home the trophy in 2019 ahead of Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Curiously, he does have more runners-up finishes than any other player, having fallen just short on three occasions since the award began back in 2016.

In winning his second trophy, Messi has also drawn level with his arch-nemesis, Ronaldo, with two triumphs in the category since 2016.

Full list of The Best FIFA Awards 2022 winners

• The Best FIFA Women's Player: Alexia Putellas (Spain/FC Barcelona Femení)
• The Best FIFA Men's Player: Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain FC)
• The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper: Mary Earps (England/Manchester United WFC)
• The Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martínez (Argentina/Aston Villa FC)
• 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 Puskas Award: Marcin Oleksy (Poland/Warta Pozna)
• The FIFA Fair Play Award: Luka Lochoshvili (Georgia/Wolfsberger AC/U.S. Cremonese)
• The FIFA Fan Award: Argentinian Fans

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