FIFA announced this Friday the three finalists for The Best award, given to the best player of 2021: Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah and Robert Lewandowski. With Cristiano Ronaldo out of the race, one of the surprises turned out to be the non-inclusion of Jorginho, a player who won the Champions League for Chelsea and Euro 2020 for the Italian national team. The midfielder was being pointed out as one of the potential winners for the FIFA award, but ends up being left out of the three finalists, as well as other names pointed to the final victory, such as Karim Benzema.
After winning the Ballon d’Or, Lionel Messi makes it to the final three thanks to his performances at Barcelona, where he was the top scorer in the last edition of the Spanish league, as well as his victory in the Copa América, with Argentina. The Argentine star moved to PSG last summer, where he has scored six goals and made five assists in 16 games for the Parisians.
Lewandowski, the latest FIFA The Best award winner, is a finalist for this award after winning the German championship and scoring 43 goals in 34 games last season, an absolute Bundesliga record. The player was decisive in Bayern Munich’s journey and, this season, he already has 30 goals and three assists in just 25 games.
More discreet with the Argentine and the Pole, Mohamed Salah appears among the three final candidates after, already this season, he is going through one of the best phases of his career, with superb displays that follow, he who has already scored 16 goals and nine assists in the Premier League, being the top scorer so far. In all competitions, the Egyptian international has already scored 23 goals and provided nine assists this season with the Livrerpool shirt.
The FIFA gala is scheduled for January 17 in Zurich, Switzerland, the headquarters of world football’s governing body.
In addition to Messi, Lewandowski and Salah, the nominees in the other categories are Donnarumma, Neuer and Mendy, who are nominated for the best goalkeeper award, with Guardiola, Mancini and Thomas Tuchel being the finalist coaches.
???? The final three in the running to be #TheBest FIFA Men’s Player 2021!
???? Who should be crowned #TheBest in the world?
???? @lewy_official | @pzpn_pl
???? Lionel Messi | @Argentina
???? @BrothersDay | @EFA pic.twitter.com/1kVGi5nRZ9— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) January 7, 2022
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