Recent signing Al-Nassr did not appear in the FIFA 14 list of players in the running for the award, which is a look back at the best players from the previous calendar year.
The year 2022 has seen a number of memorable moments at both club and international level. From Bayern’s record 10th successive Bundesliga title and Erling Haaland’s exuberant start to life in England to Senegal’s first Africa Cup of Nations triumph and the first World Cup final in four finals for an African side with Morocco in Qatar.
A year of great football action has come to an end as Lionel Messi finally gets his hands on the World Cup trophy, but will it be enough for the Argentine to win FIFA’s prestigious individual award?
Who are the 2022 FIFA Best Men’s Player Award nominees?
The list of 14 candidates for the 2022 award includes a mixture of familiar faces and relative newcomers.
Messi and Mbappe feature alongside Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, while there are inclusions for youngsters Jude Bellingham and Achraf Hakimi.
While Ronaldo is a notable omission from the list, perhaps the most surprising inclusion is Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez, who dazzled in Qatar but only joined the English giants over half-way through the calendar year.
The full list of the 2022 FIFA best men’s player award nominees is as follows:
| Player | Club |
|---|---|
| Julian Alvarez | River Plate/Manchester City |
| Jude Bellingham | Borussia Dortmund |
| Karim Benzema | Real Madrid |
| Kevin De Bruyne | Manchester City |
| Erling Haaland | Borussia Dortmund/Manchester City |
| Achraf Hakimi | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich/Barcelona |
| Sadio Mane | Liverpool/Bayern Munich |
| Kylian Mbappe | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Lionel Messi | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Luka Modric | Real Madrid |
| Neymar | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Mohamed Salah | Liverpool |
| Vinicius Junior | Real Madrid |
How is the 2022 FIFA Best Men’s Player award decided?
The final shortlist of players are selected by FIFA based on sporting performance – both at team and individual level – as well as general conduct on and off the pitch.
Of those nominees, votes are then decided by media representatives, national team coaches, national team captains and, since October 2016, the general public.
Each group gets 25% of the vote, before a winner is announced from votes cast from those four sections.