World football’s top players and managers of 2022 are being recognized at The Best FIFA Football Awards show on Monday. Below, theScore is tracking all the winners of the various trophies being handed out in Paris.
Best Men’s Coach
Lionel Scaloni (Argentina)
Many eyebrows were raised when Argentina turned to Scaloni in 2018 after a series of unsuccessful coaching hires. After all, he had no experience coaching a senior men’s team – at club or international level – before being thrust into one of the most intimidating jobs in all of football. The rest, of course, is history. Scaloni led Argentina to the World Cup title, creating harmony in a previously disjointed squad and crafting a system that got the best out of Lionel Messi without putting the entire creative burden on his namesake’s shoulders. With Scaloni at the helm, Argentina returned to heights not experienced since the days of Diego Maradona. His success in Qatar saw Scaloni beat out club titans Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola for the award.
Best Women’s Coach
Sarina Wiegman (England)
Wiegman is the first person – male or female – to win FIFA’s top coaching prize three times. She’s been nominated in this category every year since 2017 but has perhaps never been more of a shoo-in than this year. Wiegman completed transformed England’s fortunates, instilling belief in a squad that hadn’t realized its potential under predecessor Phil Neville. England used a variety of tactics to stymie opponents at Euro 2022 and ultimately beat Germany in a memorable final at Wembley Stadium.
Puskas Award winner
Marcin Oleksy – Warta Poznan vs. Stal Rzeszow (Nov. 6, 2022)
The 2022 FIFA Puskás Award-winning goal, via @AmpFutbolPolska. 👏pic.twitter.com/vWef9upoV3
— Squawka (@Squawka) February 27, 2023
Oleksy, the first-ever amputee footballer to be on the shortlist for the Puskas Award, scored a sensational scissor kick in November that quickly went viral, and garnered a message of support from Polish compatriot Robert Lewandowski.
Best Men’s Goalkeeper
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa and Argentina)
Martinez made headlines for his penalty-saving heroics at the 2022 World Cup. The 30-year-old made two stops in the quarterfinal shootout win over the Netherlands, and his massive save in the 120th minute of the World Cup final against France gave Argentina the opportunity to win the title on penalties. Martinez outshined Thibaut Courtois, who made nine saves to help Real Madrid conquer the Champions League for the 14th time, and Yassine Bounou, who was part of Morocco’s incredible run the World Cup semis.
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Mary Earps (Manchester United and England)
Earps, 29, back-stopped England to the Euro 2022 title on home soil, playing in all six of her country’s matches. Beating out competition from 2021 winner Christiane Endler and German shot-stopper Ann-Katrin Berger, Earps told the audience in Paris she didn’t expect to win the award, which no English woman had claimed before. Earps contemplated retirement after serving as England’s third-string ‘keeper at the 2019 World Cup. “Without rain, you don’t get rainbows,” she said.
The following awards are still to come today …
Best Men’s Player finalists
As was the case in the World Cup final, club teammates Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe face off for the top men’s prize on offer, with reigning Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema also in the mix. This FIFA award, inaugurated in 2016 after the governing body’s split with Ballon d’Or organizer France Football, has gone to Messi just once before, in 2019. Can he double his total and get another one over on Mbappe?
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and France)
- Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain and France)
- Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina)
Best Women’s Player finalists
Despite being sidelined since July with a torn ACL that forced her to miss last summer’s European Championship, Spanish superstar Alexia Putellas – the holder of both this award and the Ballon d’Or Feminin – leads the nominees once again. She’s joined by Arsenal forward Beth Mead, who led England to glory at Euro 2022 by claiming both top scorer and best player honors at the tournament, and American superstar and icon Alex Morgan.
- Beth Mead (Arsenal and England)
- Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave and United States)
- Alexia Putellas (Barcelona and Spain)
Men’s FIFA FIFPro World11
To be announced.
Women’s FIFA FIFPro World11
To be announced.
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