Lionel Messi has been named as L’Équipe’s “Champion des Champions”, the best male athlete of the year for the second time.
Messi is still winning awards at the age of 35. L’Équipe in France has recognized the Argentine as the year’s top male athlete.
Rafael Nadal of tennis had 285 points, while Kylian Mbappe of football finished in second position with 808 points.
Lionel Messi has been named as L’Équipe’s “Champion des Champions”, the best male athlete of the year. pic.twitter.com/PDVmi5rVji
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) January 6, 2023
This is the second time Messi has won the award, having previously won it in 2011 and is the only footballer to have won it twice, excluding the award which is specifically for French athletes. For football players, prior to him was Zinedine Zidane in 1998, Romario in 1994, Diego Maradona in 1986 and Paolo Rossi in 1982.
Also read: An ode to Lionel Messi who completes football
Moreover, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) superstar Lionel Messi has been crowned the ‘World’s Best Player’ for 2022 by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). The Argentine has emerged victorious after enjoying an exceptional year with both club and country.
The Argentina captain ran away with it in the end, topping the IFFHS’ rankings with 275 points, well ahead of second-placed Kylian Mbappe’s 35.
Completing the top five were Karim Benzema (30 points), Luka Modric (15) and Erling Haaland (5).
It’s fair to say that 2022 will be a year forever associated with Messi’s name thanks to his World Cup glory in Qatar. However, he was in excellent form all year for club and country.
In 51 official games for Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina, Messi scored 35 goals and laid on 30 assists.
That’s a goal every 69 minutes and it helped PSG lift the Ligue 1 title and the Albiceleste win their third World Cup.
The World Cup was the crowning moment not just in Messi’s year but his career. It was the one major trophy that had evaded him, having won the Copa America in 2021.
