Julian Alvarez, Jude Bellingham, Karim Benzema, Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Achraf Hakimi, Robert Lewandowski, Sadio Mane, Luka Modric, Neymar, Mohamed Salah and Vinicius Junior are the other nominated players for the FIFA Best Men’s Player Award 2022.

Messi-led Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. (AP Photo)

By India Today Web Desk: World Cup 2022 champion Lionel Messi and his Paris St. Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe headline the shortlist for the FIFA Best Men’s Player Award 2022.

Argentina, who defeated France on penalties 4-2 in the final, dominate the categories, with Julian Alvarez, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and coach Lionel Scaloni receiving nominations.

Along with the PSG stars Messi and Mbappe, and Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez, last year’s winner Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Neymar and Achraf Hakimi (PSG) have been shortlisted for the FIFA Best Men’s Player Award 2022.

Real Madrid’s star and 2022 Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, Jude Bellingham (Dortmund), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Sadio Mane (Bayern), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), and Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) complete the list.

Meanwhile, Barcelona and Arsenal highlight the women’s award with three players each – Alexia Putellas, Keira Walsh and Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona) and Leah Williamson, Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead (Arsenal). Interestingly, Putellas made it to the list despite missing most of last year owing to a knee ligament injury.

Chelsea’s Sam Kerr and Jessie Fleming and Olympique Lyonnais’ Ada Hegerberg and Wendie Renard have also made it to the list.

Moreover, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola have been nominated for the men’s award alongside Argentina’s Scaloni, France’s Didier Deschamps and Morocco’s Walid Regragui. For the best men’s goalkeeper award, Liverpool’s Alisson Becker, Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois and Aston Villa’s Martinez have been nominated.

FIFA will announce the three finalists in each category in early February. The world football governing body also named an 11-player shortlist for the 2022 Puskas Award for the “most beautiful” goal of the year, with Mbappe’s volley against Argentina in the World Cup final making the cut.

The Best FIFA Men’s Player

Julian Alvarez (Argentina / River Plate / Manchester City FC)
Jude Bellingham (England / BV Borussia 09 Dortmund)
Karim Benzema (France / Real Madrid CF)
Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium / Manchester City FC)
Erling Haaland (Norway / BV Borussia 09 Dortmund / Manchester City FC)
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco / Paris Saint-Germain)
Robert Lewandowski (Poland / FC Bayern München / FC Barcelona)
Sadio Mané (Senegal / Liverpool FC / FC Bayern München)
Kylian Mbappé (France / Paris Saint-Germain)
Lionel Messi (Argentina / Paris Saint-Germain)
Luka Modric (Croatia / Real Madrid CF)
Neymar (Brazil / Paris Saint-Germain)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt / Liverpool FC)
Vinícius Junior (Brazil / Real Madrid CF)

The Best FIFA Women’s Player

Aitana Bonmatí (Spain / FC Barcelona)
Debinha (Brazil / North Carolina Courage)
Jessie Fleming (Canada / Chelsea FC Women)
Ada Hegerberg (Norway / Olympique Lyonnais)
Sam Kerr (Australia / Chelsea FC Women)
Beth Mead (England / Arsenal WFC)
Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands / Arsenal WFC)
Alex Morgan (USA / Orlando Pride / San Diego Wave)
Lena Oberdorf (Germany / VfL Wolfsburg)
Alexandra Popp (Germany / VfL Wolfsburg)
Alexia Putellas (Spain / FC Barcelona)
Wendie Renard (France / Olympique Lyonnais)
Keira Walsh (England / Manchester City WFC / FC Barcelona)
Leah Williamson (England / Arsenal WFC)