The Argentine Leo Messi, the Norwegian Erling Haaland and the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé are the three finalists for The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2023 award, whose winner will be announced on January 15 at a ceremony in London.
12 players were initially nominated to be finalists for The Best FIFA Player, of this shortlist only three reached the final, this list included players like Gündogan, Rodri or De Bruyne among a large number of stars.
These players are selected by an international jury from the world of football made up of men’s national team coaches, men’s national team captains, football journalists and fans who have voted on the official FIFA website.
After his time at PSG, Messi left Europe to join David Beckham’s Inter Miami. However, that was not an obstacle to winning this year’s Ballon d’Or, managing to win it eight times, three more than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi, who in 2022 achieved this distinction for the second time after being crowned world champion with Argentina in Qatar, played a leading role in achieving the last League title for PSG, the second won by him in France.
Messi will once again compete for the FIFA award, just like last year with Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, runner-up in the world in Qatar with France, who scored the definitive goal for PSG to win the last league championship against Strasbourg, from a penalty. in the 90th minute, their eighth national title in 11 years.
FIFA recalled that during the qualification period for The Best 2023, Mbappé scored 17 times in the last 20 league games and starred in a streak of nine goals in six games to be the top scorer and be honored as Player of the Year.
The Norwegian Erling Haaland, 23, is up for the award after Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City’s first treble, with the Champions League, the English Cup and the Premier League. In the 33 games he played in those competitions during the qualifying period, Haaland found the net on 28 occasions.
Among other distinctions, Haaland also received the European Golden Boot, the English Premier League Golden Boot and the double of the Premier League Player and Young Player titles.
In recent days, the candidates for The Best for best coach have also been announced: Pep Guardiola, Simone Inzaghi and Luciano Spalletti, who will fight for this award. And the candidates for The Best for best goalkeeper: Yassine Bounou, Thibaut Courtois and Ederson who will compete for the trophy.
