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Barcelona star Robert Lewandowski omitted rival striker Karim Benzema from his votes for FIFA's The Best Men's Player award. Lewandowski awarded his votes to Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Luka Modric.
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The initial nominations for each award were chosen by an expert panel, based on the players' performances between 8 August 2021 and 18 December 2022. These nominations were then sent to voting.
The voting process involved inputs from media representatives, national team captains, national team coaches and the general public. These votes narrowed down the nominations from each category to three finalists, and the winners were revealed on 27 February in an award ceremony.
Lionel Messi took home his second FIFA The Best Men's Player award, having previously won in 2019. The Paris Saint-Germain star has had a brilliant season, scoring 17 goals and 16 assists in 28 appearances for Les Parisiens.
He also led Argentina to their third World Cup triumph in 2022, scoring seven goals and setting up three more. He also took home the Golden Ball trophy as the best player in the tournament.
Karim Benzema has had a great calendar year too. Last season, the Frenchman was instrumental as Real Madrid lifted a famous 14th Champions League trophy. Los Blancos also won the La Liga title last year. Benzema finished the season with 44 goals and 15 assists as he and Vinicius Junior formed a deadly partnership.
He has not been able to replicate the numbers from last season but has still been a key player for Carlo Ancelotti. He has 18 goals and five assists this season.
Emiliano Martinez takes home FIFA's The Best Goalkeeper award
Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez won FIFA's The Best Goalkeeper of the Year award in the ceremony conducted on 27 February in Paris. The Argentinian, who shot to fame after his exploits in the World Cup, beat Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid and Yassine Bounou of Sevilla to take home the trophy.
Martinez was instrumental in Argentina's 2021 Copa America triumph as well as the 2022 World Cup victory. He earned a reputation as a strong penalty saver, becoming the team's hero in penalty shootouts on multiple occasions.
Notably, he had a brilliant save late in stoppage time in the World Cup final to deny Randal Kolo Muani and also took home the Golden Glove award.
