The Best FIFA Men's Player Nominees as Lewandowski, Messi Make List

• FIFA has released the 14 finalists for the The Best FIFA Men's Player award
• Two Brazilians made the cut, while World Cup winner Lionel Messi was also on the list
• Robert Lewandowski, who won the award in 2021, also made the final 14

FIFA has released a star-studded list of 14 nominees for The Best FIFA Men's Player.

Paris Saint Germain trio of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar all made the final 14, as well as their teammate Achraf Hakimi.

Manchester City’s Argentine talent Julian Alvarez also made the cut, while Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, who won the 2021 edition of the award, is also on the list.

Despite missing the World Cup through injury, Karim Benzema is also among the nominees, and so are his Real Madrid teammates Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior.

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Here is the comprehensive list of nominees in full:

Julian Alvarez

Jude Bellingham

Karim Benzema

Kevin De Bruyne

Erling Haaland

Achraf Hakimi

Vinicius Junior

Robert Lewandowski

Sadio Mane

Kylian Mbappe

Lionel Messi

Luka Modric

Neymar

Mohammed Salah

Messi vs Mbappe, again

Many fans are adamant the award will go down to a battle between Lionel Messi and Kylian mbappe.

Messi, who has won the award before, captained Argentina to World Cup victory in December 2022 at the expense of Mbappe’s France in the final.

The triumph boosted Messi’s chances of winning an eighth Ballon d’Or, but Mbappe will prove to be a tough opponent.

The Frenchman scored a hat trick in the World Cup final, and he emerged as the Golden Boot winner with eight strikes in the tournament.

Last year’s Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema is also nominated but is unlikely to win it since he did not even participate at the World Cup.

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Notably, Messi’s long-term rival Cristiano Ronaldo, did not make the final 14-man shortlist.

Ronaldo infamously left Manchester United after termination of his contract by mutual consent, and has since joined Saudi Arabia giants Al Nassr.

When will the awards be held?

As reported on GOAL, the awards will take place on February 27.

The start time is yet to be confirmed, but it will likely be in the evening. The 2021 edition of the awards kicked off at 6pm GMT (1pm ET).

FIFA typically streams the awards on their official Youtube channel

Messi snubbed for Puskas nominations

Elsewhere, Sports Brief reported on the nominees for the coveted Puskas award.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar saw some aesthetically pleasing goals. Richarlison's bicycle kick against Serbia was voted as the goal of the tournament. It has once again been nominated for the Puskas award but will face competition from Kylian Mbappe.

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Amandine Henry, Alessio Russo and Salma Paralluelo will be angling to be the first women to win the award since its inception.

Richarlison's goal against Serbia has been nominated weeks after winning World Cup goal of the tournament.