World Cup champion Lionel Messi was named best men's soccer player in 2022 by FIFA during a ceremony held in Paris on Monday. Meanwhile, U.S. women's national team star Alex Morgan finished second to Spain's Alexia Putellas for the women's 2022 award.
Ednews.net reports citing Ustoday that Messi now has won the men's award for the second time (first since 2019), while Putellas won the women's award for the second consecutive year.
Messi finally won his first World Cup, delivering Argentina its first world championship since 1986, all the while cementing his status as arguably the game's greatest-ever player. The 2022 tournament represented a record-tying fifth World Cup appearance for Messi. The top player from the team that Argentina defeated in the World Cup final, Kylian Mbappé, finished second in the voting for the men's award, while Karim Benzema — the 2022 Ballon d'Or winner — finished third.
Polish soccer star Robert Lewandowski had won the previous two men's awards.