• Lionel Messi was named The Best FIFA Men’s Player for 2022.
• Alexia Putellas was named The Best FIFA Women’s Player for 2022.
• Argentina defeated France on penalties in a thrilling final in Doha.

PARIS: Lionel Messi was named The Best FIFA Men’s Player for 2022 on Monday following Argentina’s World Cup victory. Alexia Putellas of Spain was named The Best FIFA Women’s Player for 2022 at a ceremony in Paris.

Messi won the men’s award ahead of Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe, his Paris Saint-Germain colleague and competitor in the World Cup final.

It marks Messi’s second time winning the award, which FIFA instituted in 2016 following their separation with Ballon d’Or organizers France Football.

The award, chosen by journalists, fans, and national team coaches and captains, honours the year that a former Barcelona player capped his illustrious career by leading Argentina to the World Cup win.

Despite Mbappe scoring a hat-trick for Les Bleus in a surprising 3-3 draw, Argentina defeated France on penalties in a thrilling final in Doha thanks to two goals from Messi.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, 35, replaces Robert Lewandowski on the FIFA honors list, and Putellas, who missed the second half of last year with an injury, nonetheless won the women’s award.

To add the FIFA trophy to the Ballon d’Or, which she has previously won two years in a row, the 29-year-old defeated American star Alex Morgan and English striker Beth Mead, who won the European Championship.

Putellas missed the Euro in England with Spain due to a major knee injury she sustained in July of last year.

On Barcelona’s previous run to the Champions League final, which they lost to Lyon, she had netted 11 goals.

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