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#2 Robert Lewandowski
Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski, who finished as runner-up to Lionel Messi for the 2021 Ballon d'Or, is the current holder of the Best FIFA Men's Player of the Year award. The Polish striker had a year to remember in 2020 as he led Bayern to a treble with his incredible goalscoring record.
2021 was not much of the same for him as he could not help Bayern Munich defend their treble. He, however, won the Bundesliga with his Bayern Munich teammates and finished as the league's highest goalscorer, capping off a brilliant individual campaign.
Lewandowski has been one of the most consistent performers in the world as he has scored an outrageous amount of goals. In the part of the year under review, Lewandowski found the net 51 times in 44 matches and assisted eight more goals. He won his team 33 points and was named man-of-the-match on 16 occasions.
The prolific Pole also broke Gerd Muller's longstanding record of scoring 40 goals in a single Bundesliga campaign. He scored an incredible 41 goals in just 29 games. Lewandowski won the Bundesliga and DFL Supercup, and scored the most goals of the finalists, making him a strong candidate for FIFA's The Best Men's Player of the Year award.
#1 Lionel Messi
Seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi is the favorite for this year's the Best FIFA Men's Player of the Year award after a splendid year for club and country. He has only ever missed out on a place in the top three of the Best FIFA Men's Player of the Year award once, in 2018.
Messi won the award in 2019 ahead of Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo, and will be looking to go level with his Portuguese rival. Ronaldo has won the award twice, one more than every other winner of the award.
Messi won the Copa del Rey with Barcelona and the Copa America over the summer with Argentina, his first major international trophy. The 34-year-old leads the three finalists in all individual stats apart from goals, putting him in prime position to win the The Best FIFA Men's Player of the Year award.
The Argentina captain scored 43 goals and made 17 assists in 57 appearances for club and country in the period under review. He also made 150 key passes and created 34 big chances for his teammates. He won 43 points for his side and was named man-of-the-match on 33 occasions.
Based on his statistics, Messi is the deserved winner of the Best FIFA Men's Player of the Year award as it excludes his struggles since moving to PSG.
