World Best Football Player 2022: Who Won Ballon d’Or and FIFA Best?

There was no single winner. Karim Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d'Or as the best player of the 2021-22 club season. While, Lionel Messi won The Best FIFA Men's Player award for 2022 and the World Cup Golden Ball after leading Argentina to the title in Qatar. Which one was the "world's best football player in 2022" depends on which award you trust.

Few years have produced such a close argument about the best player in the world. In 2022 the sport had a Real Madrid striker who was almost unstoppable for a whole season, and an Argentine captain who finally won the one trophy missing from his career. This guide explains who won each major award, what the numbers say, why the results differed, and how the answer looks today after the latest Ballon d'Or, which was awarded only yesterday. If you are also interested in players closer to home, you can read our guide to the best football players in India.

World Best Football Player 2022: Winners at a Glance

Why Did Two Different Players Win in 2022?

The confusion comes from the way the awards work. The 2022 Ballon d'Or, presented by France Football, judged the 2021-22 season, which ended in the summer before the World Cup. It was voted on by journalists, and the World Cup in Qatar, held from November to December 2022, was not part of the decision. That is why Messi, who had a quieter first year at Paris Saint-Germain, was not even among the nominees that year.

The FIFA award works differently. The Best FIFA Men's Player is chosen by a mix of national team captains, national team coaches, selected journalists from FIFA's member countries and fans voting online. Its calendar included the 2022 World Cup, which finished on 18 December 2022. Messi's World Cup triumph therefore carried a lot of weight, and the ceremony took place in Paris on 27 February 2023.

Karim Benzema: The Best Club Season of 2022

Karim Benzema's 2021-22 campaign was one of the great individual seasons in modern football. He scored 44 goals and provided 15 assists in 46 matches for Real Madrid, according to figures published by the club and by the news agencies that covered the award. In the Champions League alone he scored 15 goals, which made him the competition's top scorer, and ten of those goals came in the knockout rounds.

His best nights came in the knockout stages. He scored a hat-trick against Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 in the space of about 17 minutes, then another hat-trick against Chelsea in the quarter-final, and then three more goals across the two legs of the semi-final against Manchester City, including a decisive extra-time goal in the second leg at the Bernabéu. In La Liga, he finished as the top scorer with 27 goals and won the Pichichi Trophy, while Real Madrid won the league title by a margin of 13 points and the Champions League for a record 14th time.

When he received the Ballon d'Or at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 17 October 2022, he became the first Frenchman to win it since Zinedine Zidane in 1998. At 34, he was also the oldest winner since Stanley Matthews received the very first award in 1956. You can read the club's own summary of his season on Real Madrid's official website.

Ballon d'Or 2022: Top 10 Ranking

The full list and voting details are available on the Wikipedia page for the 2022 Ballon d'Or, and the official awards website is ballondor.com.

Lionel Messi: World Cup Winner and The Best FIFA Player

Messi's 2022 looks very different from Benzema's, but it ended with the biggest prize in the sport. Argentina won the World Cup in Qatar on 18 December 2022, beating France on penalties after a 3-3 draw following extra time. Messi captained the team, scored twice in the final, and took home the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. He finished as the second-highest scorer at the tournament with seven goals.

That run earned him The Best FIFA Men's Player award for the second time, after his first in 2019. He beat Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzema in the final shortlist of three. The same ceremony also gave awards to his Argentina team-mate Emiliano Martínez, who was named best men's goalkeeper, and to the Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni, who was named best men's coach. For a full report of the vote, see this TNT Sports report on the 2022 FIFA Best awards.

For many fans, the World Cup win settled the debate about Messi's legacy. A year later, in October 2023, he won his record eighth Ballon d'Or for the 2022-23 season, which shows how much the Qatar triumph shaped how he was judged.

Kylian Mbappé: The Third Contender

Kylian Mbappé deserves a place in any discussion of the best player of 2022. He finished the World Cup as the top scorer with eight goals, including a hat-trick in the final, which made him only the second player to score three goals in a men's World Cup final. According to match reports, he scored 56 goals in 56 games for club and country during 2022. He finished runner-up to Messi in The Best FIFA vote and was sixth in the Ballon d'Or.

Who Was the World's Best Football Player in 2022?

The honest answer is that it depends on what you value most.

• Best club season: Karim Benzema. His numbers, his Champions League goals and his role in Real Madrid's double make a very strong case.
• Best moment on the biggest stage: Lionel Messi. He led Argentina to the World Cup and was voted the tournament's best player.
• Best goalscoring run at the World Cup: Kylian Mbappé, who won the Golden Boot.

If you are asking about the most official title, the Ballon d'Or for 2022 belongs to Benzema, and The Best FIFA Men's Player for 2022 belongs to Messi. Neither award is wrong, because they measure different periods and use different voters. Many analysts say the fairest way to describe it is that Benzema had the best club season of the year while Messi had the best year overall.

FIFA FIFPRO Men's World XI 2022

FIFA and the players' union FIFPRO also named a Men's World XI for 2022, voted by professional footballers. The team was Thibaut Courtois in goal, with Achraf Hakimi, João Cancelo and Virgil van Dijk in defence, Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modrić and Casemiro in midfield, and Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Karim Benzema and Erling Haaland in attack. It is a useful reference because it shows how many stars were close in quality that year.

Who Is the Best Player in the World Now? Ballon d'Or Winners Since 2021

Since search interest in 2022 often leads readers to ask about the current situation, here is how the Ballon d'Or has changed since. The most recent ceremony took place in London on 26 October 2026, the first time it was held outside Paris. Harry Kane won it for the 2025-26 season, becoming the first Englishman to take the award since Michael Owen in 2001. You can read the match-by-match story in this ESPN report on Kane's win.

The pattern is striking: since 2022 a different player has won every year. For the latest results, always check the official awards website, because the winners list is updated each season. If you want to explore more football greats, browse our Legends section, and if you are curious about the basics of the game, our guide on how many players are in a football team explains the rules clearly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won the Ballon d'Or in 2022?

Karim Benzema of Real Madrid won the men's Ballon d'Or on 17 October 2022. Alexia Putellas won the women's award for the second year in a row.

Who was the best FIFA men's player in 2022?

Lionel Messi won The Best FIFA Men's Player award for 2022, at a ceremony in Paris on 27 February 2023. Kylian Mbappé was second and Karim Benzema was third.

Why did Messi not win the 2022 Ballon d'Or?

The 2022 Ballon d'Or covered the 2021-22 club season, which finished before the World Cup, and Messi had a quieter season at Paris Saint-Germain. He was not nominated that year, though he did win the award in 2021 and again in 2023.

Who won the 2022 World Cup Golden Ball and Golden Boot?

Lionel Messi won the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player, and Kylian Mbappé won the Golden Boot as the top scorer with eight goals.

Who is the best football player in the world today?

There is no official ranking beyond the awards. The latest Ballon d'Or, presented on 26 October 2026, went to Harry Kane, with Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal following behind.

Which Ballon d'Or did Benzema win?

Benzema won one Ballon d'Or, in 2022, which made him the first Frenchman to win it since Zinedine Zidane in 1998.

Conclusion

The world best football player of 2022 was either Karim Benzema or Lionel Messi, depending on which award you count. Benzema produced an extraordinary club season and won the Ballon d'Or, while Messi lifted the World Cup, won the Golden Ball and then took The Best FIFA Men's Player award. Mbappé's World Cup scoring completes a year in which three stars stood above the rest.

The story has moved on, with Messi winning again in 2023 and then Rodri, Dembélé and Kane taking the prize in following years. Football keeps producing new debates, but 2022 remains one of the most memorable because it showed that different kinds of greatness can exist in the same twelve months.