La Pulga managed to win the award after beating players like Luka Modrić, Kevin de Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes. This is the third award given to him by the International Federation of History and Statistics for his performance in 2022.
Lionel Messi probably had the best moments of his career after winning the coveted World Cup in Qatar. The striker was decisive in each of the matches played by the Albiceleste during the tournament, even seeing himself awarded the Ballon d’Or of the tournament.
But the individual accolades for trans-Andeans don’t stop there. Now, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS, for its acronym in English) has revealed the list of the top 10 playmakers in the world in 2022. Once again, Messi found himself in first position in the standings, getting 170 points in total.
Note that this is the third prize awarded by the IFFHS to the seven-time Ballon d’Or. The Argentine had already managed to lead the list of the 10 best players of 2022 beating Kylian Mbappé, Karim Benzema, Luka Modrić and Erling Haaland.
On the other hand, he also won the “best international goalscorer in the world” award, in which the goals scored in matches with the national team and in international cup matches at club level were taken into account. Leo topped the table with 22 goals in total, one more than his PSG teammate Kylian Mbappé.
Winning the award for best game creator in the world, Messi has set a record as the player who has achieved the same accolade the most times, with a total of five times overtaking current Barcelona technical director Xavi Hernández, who ended up with four wins during his midfield career.
Second on the list is Luka Modric the Croatian midfielder who plays for Real Madrid. The midfielder got a total of 115 points for his performance as a key in obtaining the Champions League with the meringues, and for reaching third place in the World Cup with his team.
The podium is completed by Kevin de Bruyne of Manchester City . The Belgian player has always been a key player in the running of Guardiola’s side, and although his team didn’t perform as expected at the World Cup, they did enough to finish in third place in this ranking .
Recently, The Team named the current captain of the Albiceleste Champion of Champions a distinction awarded by the French newspaper to the most outstanding athlete of the year, triumphing even over athletes of the stature of Rafael Nadal, Max Verstappen and Kylian Mbappé himself.
Full List of IFFHS Top 10 Playmakers
- Lionel Messi (Argentina/PSG). 170 dots.
- Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid). 115 points.
- Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City). 40 points.
- Bruno Fernandes (Portugal/Manchester United). 25 points.
- Antoine Griezmann (France / Atletico Madrid). 20 stitches.
- Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City). 20 stitches.
- Christian Eriksen (Denmark/Manchester United). 10 dots.
- Dusan Tadic (Serbia/Ajax). 10 dots.
- Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid). 5 dots.
- Hakim Ziyech (Morocco/Chelsea). 5 dots.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
