Today, Thursday, the International Football Federation (FIFA) released the final list of candidates for the 2023 World Player of the Year award.

The final shortlist includes Manchester City’s top scorer Norwegian Erling Holland, Frenchman Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain’s top scorer and Inter Miami’s American star Argentine Lionel Messi.

The World’s Best Women’s Player will be announced at the annual FIFA Awards ceremony on January 15, 2024 in London.

The award is given to top performers at the men’s level from December 19, 2022 to August 20, 2023.

12 players were first nominated for the Men’s World Player of the Year award after being selected by a panel of experts. From this shortlist, the finalists were selected by an international jury consisting of: coaches and captains of the men’s national teams, men’s national team, football journalists affiliated with national associations and official Fans who voted via the FIFA website.

According to the official FIFA website, Haaland is considered an unstoppable goal machine with Manchester City, terrorizing defenders in domestic and European competitions, and by winning the Champions League, English achieved the first treble in the club’s history with Spanish coach Pep Guardiola’s side. Premier League, and FA Cup titles. .

At the time of his nomination for the award, Haaland had scored 28 goals in 33 matches across all competitions, proving he was stronger than the best defenders with his combination of pace, strength and ability to finish off attacks. the world Considering the Norway international turns 23 in June 2023, his quiet style of scoring again is even more impressive.

On top of his trophies with City, Holland has won a number of individual accolades, including the European Golden Boot, the Premier League Golden Boot and the rare double of Player of the Year and Premier League Young Player.

Holland’s father, Alf Inge, is often referred to as a former footballer who represented Norway and played at the highest levels, but his mother, Gree Marita Pratt, was known for her prowess in the sport as she won titles in the 1990s. In athletics heptathlon competitions.

For his part, Mbappe continued his brilliant run in which he led his country, France, to the Qatar 2022 World Cup finals before losing to Argentina, with decisive goals for his side Saint-Germain. Competitions.

The speedy Mbappe led his side Saint-Germain to their eighth French league title in the last 11 years thanks to his impressive goalscoring streak, scoring 17 goals in his last 20 league matches, including nine assists. In six matches.

The talented striker bounced back from the disappointment of losing the World Cup final despite scoring a hat-trick in the final to be named player of the year in the French league and top scorer in the local championship.

It should be noted that Mbappe is four goals away from equaling Miroslav Klose’s record for World Cup goals, as the former German scored 16 goals in 24 matches across four editions of the tournament. Mbappe, 24, has scored 12 goals in 14 matches between the 2018 and 2022 editions.

As for Messi, he is a strong contender for the World Player of the Year award despite being thirty-six years old and still delighting fans with his exceptional skills and stunning goals.

Messi won the 2022 Player of the Year award by leading the Argentina national team to the Qatar World Cup, topped the domestic league’s top scorers list and helped Saint-Germain win the French league title. .

Last July, Messi, who has now scored more than 100 goals for his country and is the top scorer in the top five European leagues, faced a new challenge when he moved to Inter Miami. The deal was met with great excitement and a warm welcome that one of the greatest footballers in history deserved.

Messi is the only player with more assists in five World Cups, and his closest rivals Pele, Gregor Lado, Diego Maradona and David Beckham have scored in three editions.