Argentina captain and Paris St. Germain star Lionel Messi was today crowned at the FIFA awards in Paris as the best men’s player in the world.

It comes after a landmark year in which he played a pivotal role…..scoring 7 goals to go along with a joint-tournament best 3 assists to lead Argentina to their second world title following a thrilling victory over France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final in Qatar in December.

Messi came out on top…..won ahead of fellow finalists Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema. 

Here is the moment it was announced by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Messi who previously won in 2019 becomes the third player to receive the accolade twice, after Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowsky.

Messi in the meantime also earned a spot for a record 16th time on the Fifpro men’s world 11 alongside Karim Benzema, Kylian ,Mbappe, Virgil van Dijk, Kevin de Bruyne, Casemiro, Erling Haaland, Luka Modric, Joao Cancelo, Achraf Hakimi and Thibaut Courtois. 

The best women’s player award in the meantime was won for the second successive year by Spain and Barcelona midfielder Alexia Putellas who was rewarded for an exceptional season during which she hit the back of the net 34 times in all competitions while captaining Barcelona to a domestic treble and a place in the UEFA women’s champions league final.

Other winners include Lionel Scaloni of Argentina and England coach Sarina Weigman who won the FIFA best men’s and women’s coaches award. 

Other sectional prizes went to Mary Earps of Manchester United and England who was named the best women’s goalkeeper and Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa and Argentina who won the men’s equivalent.

The gala also saw FIFA’s paying tribute to the legendary Brazilian star Pele who died recently.