FIFA published on Thursday the list of finalists for the award “The Best”, which is presented to the best football player in 2022.

>>> Team of the Year 2022 – Unexpected appearance in defense

Cristiano Ronaldo is not on the list – the main favorite is Lionel Messi

The award for the best player of 2022 will be awarded by FIFA on February 27, until this date you can vote.

To determine the winner at the continental forum, the following will be taken into account:

– fan voting

– voting of national team captains

– votes of selectors

– voices of journalists

Here is the list of nominees:

Julián Alvarez (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Ahraf Hakimi (PSG), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern and Barcelona), Sadio Mane (Liverpool and Bayern), Lionel Messi (PSG), Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Neymar (PSG), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) and Mohamed Salah (“Liverpool”).

The two-time winner of this award (2016 and 2017) Cristiano Ronaldo did not make it to the list of 14 finalists.

While many expected Benzema to be the top favorite for this individual trophy, given that he won the Ballon d’Or, Lionel Messi’s name is at the top of the fans’ list.

The Argentine was a key man in Lionel Scaloni’s national team that won the World Cup in Qatar.