The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022: Best Men’s Player, FIFPro World XI, winner and date

Nicholas Hughes

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
• 10 min read

Lionel Messi was voted the Best FIFA Men's Player of 2022 at the annual ceremony in Paris.

While FIFA no longer runs the prestigious Ballon d’Or, it now oversees its in-house The Best FIFA Football Awards, which are still a landmark ceremony every year.

As well as a Best Men’s player award, there are also a number of other big honours handed out including the FIFPro World XI, the Puskas Award for the best goal scored and the Best Women’s player.

Recognition is also given off the field to the top coaches in the men’s and women’s games.

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Here at FootballTransfers, we have compiled everything you need to know from the 2022 iteration of the The Best FIFA Football Awards.

What are The Best FIFA Football Awards?

Following the 1990 World Cup in Italy, FIFA decided to launch its own ceremony to celebrate the best player in the world every year. It slowly gained traction, incorporating a women’s award in 2001 alongside several other trophies.

There are now nine awards, as well as a FIFPro 11. Those nine awards are: The Best FIFA Men’s Player, The Best FIFA Women’s Player, The Best FIFA Men’s Coach, The Best FIFA Women’s Coach, FIFA Fair Play Award, FIFA Puskas Award, FIFA Fan Award, The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper and the Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper.

How are The Best FIFA Football Awards decided and who votes? 

Unlike the Ballon d’Or traditionally, The Best FIFA Football Awards include fans in the voting process, giving the people a voice.

The voting for the FIFA Puskas Award, for example, sees fans vote online for one of the 11 finalists drawn up by a panel of experts, with a final trio then decided.

Fans are responsible for 50 per cent of the votes cast, with a panel of football experts providing the other 50 per cent to decide the eventual winner.

The FIFA Fan Award is entirely decided by fans, with no input from journalists, coaches or players when it comes to determining the winner. Three moments are chosen and fans vote online to ultimately decide the winner.

Fans also have the chance to cast their votes for The Best FIFA Men’s and Women’s Player, The Best FIFA Men’s and Women’s Coach and The Best FIFA Men’s and Women’s Goalkeeper awards.

Fans can vote for their top three favourites per category, with first choice generating five points, second choice three points, and third choice one point.

Fans make up 25 per cent of the vote, with the other 75 per cent coming from: national coaches of FIFA Member Associations, their team captains, and a select group of media from those countries.

The voting window is usually over a two-week period around a month out from the awards ceremony.

When is The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 ceremony?

Unlike the Ballon d’Or until now, The Best FIFA Football Awards is given based on performances over the calendar year of January to December, rather than the standard football season of August-June.

As such the ceremony takes place early in the new year. The ceremony for the 2022 awards took place on 27 February 2023.

Voting for the various categories began on 12 January. The finalists were revealed on 10 February.

Where is The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 ceremony?

The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 ceremony took place in Paris.

What is The Best FIFA Men’s Player award?

The Best FIFA Men’s Player award is exactly that – the award given to the best men’s player of the given year.

It is voted on by a number of different groups of people within football and ultimately awarded after the shortening of an original shortlist.

READ MORE: The Best FIFA Football Awards 2021: Best Men’s Player, Puskas Award, favourites and date

Messi won the award after his triumph in the 2022 World Cup, beating Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema to the honour.

Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d'Or and was the early favourite for the FIFA prize too.

Who are the finalists for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022?

The finalists for all the prizes on offer at The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 have been announced.

They are as follows;

The Best FIFA Men's Player: Karim Benzema (France), Kylian Mbappe (France), Lionel Messi (Argentina).

The Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper: Yassine Bounou (Morocco), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Emiliano Martinez (Argentina).

The Best FIFA Men's Coach: Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid), Pep Guardiola (Man City), Lionel Scaloni (Argentina).

The Best FIFA Women's Player: Beth Mead (England), Alex Morgan (United States), Alexia Putellas (Spain).

The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper: Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany), Mary Earps (England), Christiane Endler (Chile).

The Best FIFA Women's Coach: Sonia Bompastor (Lyon), Pia Sundhage (Brazil), Sarina Wiegman (England).

FIFA Puskás Award: Marcin Olesky (Warta Poznan vs Stal Rzeszow), Dimitri Payet (Marseille vs PAOK), Richarlison (Brazil vs Serbia).

FIFA Fan Award: Abdullah Al Salmi (Saudi Arabia), Japan fans, Argentina fans.

What is The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper award?

Similar to The Best FIFA Men’s Player, but solely for goalkeepers, The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper award celebrates the best player in between the sticks each calendar year, to give more recognition to a position that seldom wins individual prizes. The first award was handed out in 2017.

Emiliano Martinez won the award in 2022, beating Yassine Bounou and Thibaut Courtois to the trophy.

What is The Best FIFA Men’s Coach award?

This award celebrates the work of the best coaches in world football, and it ultimately decides which manager is considered to have been the best over the past 12 months.

The 2022 award went to Lionel Scaloni after Argentina's World Cup triumph, with Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti finishing as runners up.

What is The Best FIFA Women’s Player award?

Just as with The FIFA Best Men’s Player, there is an award for the best female player each calendar year as well. It started in 2001, 10 years after the men’s award was introduced, and brings more recognition and attention to women’s football.

Alexia Putellas is the reigning champion.

There are also female awards for The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper, The Best FIFA Women’s Coach and a FIFA FIFPro Women’s World XI.

What is the FIFA FIFPro Men’s World 11?

Since 2005, the world players’ union FIFPRO has asked professional footballers worldwide to select the best players in the game each calendar year, with over 25,000 players participating in the vote.

The goalkeeper, as well as the three defenders, three midfielders and three forwards who received the most votes are selected for the World 11. The remaining spot in the World 11 is assigned to the outfield player with the next highest number of votes who is not selected already.

The award celebrates the best 11 players in the world each year, and gives players who don’t have a realistic shot at winning the overall award, primarily defensive players, recognition for their work on the pitch.

Lionel Messi has the most appearances in the World 11 with 16, only just moving past Ronaldo with his selection in the XI of 2021. Ronaldo has 14 selections, while Sergio Ramos is next in terms of appearances, with 11.

Previous FIFPro Best XIs

2016: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich); Dani Alves (Barcelona/Juventus), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Marcelo (Real Madrid); Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 

2017: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus); Dani Alves (Juventus/Paris-Saint Germain), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/AC Milan), Marcelo (Real Madrid); Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Neymar (PSG)

2018: David de Gea (Manchester United); Dani Alves (PSG), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Marcelo (Real Madrid); Luka Modric (Real Madrid), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Eden Hazard (Chelsea); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Juventus), Kylian Mbappe (PSG)

2019: Alisson (Liverpool); Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax/Juventus), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Marcelo (real Madrid); Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Frenkie de Jong (Ajax/Barcelona), Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Real Madrid); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Kylian Mbappe (PSG)

2020: Alisson (Liverpool); Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich); Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Thiago (Bayern Munich/Liverpool), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)

2021: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan/PSG); David Alaba (Bayern Munich/Real Madrid), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Ruben Dias (Manchester City); Jorginho (Chelsea), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund).

2022: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid); Achraf Hakimi (PSG), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Joao Cancelo (Man City/Bayern Munich); Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Casemiro (Real Madrid/Man Utd), Kevin de Bruyne (Man City); Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Erling Haaland (Man City), Lionel Messi (PSG)

What is the FIFA Puskas Award?

Created in 2009 in honour of Real Madrid icon Ferenc Puskas, captain and star of the Hungary national team during the 1950s, the FIFA Puskas Award is handed out to the player judged to have scored the best goal of the year.

The criteria are: an aesthetically beautiful goal, awarded without distinction of championship, gender or nationality.

Amputee football star Marcin Oleksy won the 2022 FIFA Puskás Award for his brilliant scissor-kick goal.

What is the FIFA Fair Play Award?

The FIFA Fair Play award recognises exemplary behaviour that promotes fair play, sportsmanship and compassion in football. It can be awarded to a player, a coach, a team, fans or even entire footballing communities. The winner in 2022 was Luka Lochoshvili, who saved the life of an opponent by dislodging his tongue after a collision.

What is the FIFA Fan Award?

The FIFA Fan award was created in 2016 and celebrates the best fan moment or event across the calendar year. 2022’s winner was Argentina fans.

Who will present the The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony for 2022?

Ex-England international Jermaine Jenas and Samantha Johnson were the hosts for 2022.

Are The Best FIFA Football Awards and the Ballon d’Or the same?

No, they are not. The Ballon d’Or is a ceremony founded and run by France Football, whereas The Best FIFA Football Awards were founded and run by FIFA. They are two separate awards, although between 2010 and 2015, they merged together to form the FIFA Ballon d’Or.

They separated for 2016 and have remained two different awards since then. Before the merge, The Best FIFA Football Awards was known as FIFA World Player of the Year.