FIFA Best Men's Player voting results in full as Mane beats 14th-placed Salah

27 February 2023 , 22:42

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FIFA Best Men's Player voting results in full as Mane beats 14th-placed Salah

Lionel Messi has been crowned as the FIFA Best Men's Player for 2022 – two months after winning the World Cup for the first time with Argentina.

The 35-year-old was named as the Player of the Tournament in Qatar after scoring seven goals and has now received yet another accolade following a sensational end to the year for club and country.

Having also scored six times and provided nine assists in just 14 Ligue 1 matches before the World Cup, Messi climbed ahead of his rivals after not even being nominated for the Ballon d'Or back in August.

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane (Getty Images)

Meanwhile, club teammate Kylian Mbappe finished second with Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema in third. PSG striker Mbappe has scored 29 goals in 29 appearances for his club this season and also won the Golden Boot at the World Cup with eight strikes as his France side lost out on penalties in the final.

Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah was named on the initial shortlist of 14 players, but finished last in the voting and was beaten by now-Bayern Munich star Sadio Mane, who was chosen in sixth. The duo helped Jurgen Klopp's Reds to the Champions League final last season, while also winning the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.

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Lionel Messi won the Best FIFA Men's Payer 2022 award (Joe Maher/FIFA via Getty Images)

Manchester City hotshot Erling Haaland entered the top-five after finishing 11th this time last year, having hammered in 25 Premier League goals already since his summer move. Luka Modric, Julian Alvarez, Achraf Hakimi, Neymar and Kevin de Bruyne also made up the top-10 for some impressive performances in 2022.

Others on the list included the likes of Real wizard Vinicius Jr, last year's winner Robert Lewandowski, Jude Bellingham and Salah. Cristiano Ronaldo was not even nominated for the award after struggling in a Manchester United shirt during the first half of the season and also failing to deliver at the World Cup with Portugal.

Did Lionel Messi deserve to win the award? Let us know in the comments below!

Kylian Mbappe was a narrow runner-up to his PSG colleague Messi (Getty Images)

Voting results in full

1. Lionel Messi - 52 points

2. Kylian Mbappe - 44 points

3. Karim Benzema - 34 points

4. Luka Modric - 28 points

5. Erling Haaland - 24 points

6. Sadio Mane - 19 points

7. Julian Alvarez - 17 points

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8. Achraf Hakimi - 15 points

9. Neymar - 13 points

10. Kevin de Bruyne - 10 points

11. Vinicius Jr - 10 points

12. Robert Lewandowski - 7 points

13. Jude Bellingham - 3 points

14. Mohamed Salah - 2 points

Lionel Scaloni was named as the FIFA Best Men's Coach of the Year after guiding Argentina to the World Cup, while Emiliano Martinez was chosen as the best goalkeeper. This is despite Thibaut Courtois being named in the team of the year alongside the likes of Casemiro, Joao Cancelo and Virgil van Djik, who weren't in the top-14 for the individual award.

Kieran King