After the World Cup, the 2022 The Best Awards are the first big ceremony that will recognize the greatest performances of the year. However, FIFA snubbed a lot of important players, including Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Best Awards are FIFA’s annual recognition of the best players and coaches in the world. Since January 2017, the ceremony has emerged as an alternative to the Ballon d’Or when France Football severed its partnership with FIFA.
The most anticipated award is undoubtedly the award for Male Player of the Year. Stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo (2016, 2017), Lionel Messi (2019), Robert Lewandowski (2020, 2021) and Luka Modric (2018) have received this award.
Now, heading into The Best Awards 2022, a panel of experts has selected the nominees and left out some very important names. It is important to note that this was a year that included the World Cup in Qatar. Read here to find out who the biggest groomsmen are at the ceremony on February 27, 2023.
Who are the biggest snubs for the 2022 The Best FIFA Awards?
First of all, these are the nominees for The Best FIFA Men’s Player of 2022. Julian Alvarez (Argentina/River Plate/Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (England/Borussia Dortmund), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium / Manchester City), Erling Haaland (Norway/Borussia Dortmund/Manchester City), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco/PSG), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich/FC Barcelona), Sadio Mané (Senegal/ Liverpool/Bayern Munich), Kylian Mbappé (France/PSG), Lionel Messi (Argentina/PSG), Luka Modric (Croatia/ Real Madrid), Neymar (Brazil/PSG), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool) and Vinicius (Brazil/Real Madrid).
For example, Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t make the cut considering he had a very difficult year at the club level with Manchester United. Still, he was third top scorer in the 2021-2022 Premier League. The 37-year old left the team before the World Cup and later he signed for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia. However, the Portuguese legend achieved two major milestones in his career. First player ever to score at least a goal in five different editions of the World Cup and one of six players to participate in it five times.
Josko Gvardiol (Croatia), Olivier Giroud (France), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Richarlison (Brazil), Casemiro (Brazil), Bukayo Saka (England), Declan Rice (England), Bono (Morocco) and Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco) are other players who had a great World Cup but weren’t considered among the finalists. Ciro Immobile (Napoli), Pedri (FC Barcelona), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Son Heung-Min (Tottenham) Wissam Ben Yedder (AS Monaco) and Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen) were sensational at the club level in 2022, but also are not in the list.
