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The Best FIFA Men's Player Award is one of the most prestigious individual prizes in football. It's right up there with the Ballon d'Or in terms of value. Like the Ballon d'Or, the Best FIFA Men's Player Award is given to the best performing footballer of the year.
The much coveted award will be presented to the winner at a ceremony scheduled to be held on 17th January.
The Best FIFA Men's Player Award has a unique voting system
The Ballon d'Or winner is decided on the basis of an aggregate of votes from journalists, national team captains and coaches. Things are a little different when it comes to the Best FIFA Men's Player Award. The voters are divided into four categories: national team captains, national team coaches, media representatives and fans.
Each category of voters get 25% of the vote share. The Best FIFA Men's Player Award 2021 is much awaited as there are multiple candidates who are in with a chance of winning it.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five of the favourites to win the Best FIFA Men's Player Award 2021.
#5 Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool)
Mohamed Salah is one of the most in-form players in the world right now. He has been in scintillating form for Liverpool since the start of the 2021-22 season. The Egyptian international was a bright spot in an otherwise dull 2020-21 campaign for the Merseysiders.
Jurgen Klopp's side was plagued with injuries but Salah made sure his side qualified for the UEFA Champions League at the very least last term. He scored 31 goals and provided six assists in 51 appearances across all competitions in the 2020-21 season.
He has been unstoppable this season and has looked even sharper than he did in the first half of the year. Salah has been scoring goals for fun. He has scored 22 goals and racked up nine assists in just 25 appearances across all competitions for Liverpool this term.
Salah's highlight reel for the ongoing season already includes a collection of wonderful solo goals. He is one of the best attackers in Europe and deserves a place in the top five in the race for the Best FIFA Men's Player Award 2021.
#4 Jorginho (Italy/Chelsea)
Right after Euro 2020 had ended and Chelsea had won the UEFA Super Cup, it looked like Jorginho might pip his competition to the most prestigious individual awards in football. However, the Italian international is very likely to stop short of winning.
Jorginho is the midfield metronome for Chelsea and Italy. He is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world thanks to his immaculate technique and game-reading abilities. Jorginho was a key performer for Chelsea as they won the UEFA Champions League title in the 2020-21 season. He went on to win the 'UEFA Men's Player of the Year' award for his performances.
He turned in several stellar performances for Italy in their triumphant run at Euro 2020 as well. The Italian midfielder deserves a lot of praise for his heroics. However, there is an argument that these mighty triumphs cannot be chalked up to his individual brilliance alone.
As a result, Jorginho might not make the podium for the Best FIFA Men's Player Award this year despite all his achievements.
#3 Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid)
Karim Benzema has had a great year at an individual level. He has been in sublime form for club and country. Benzema scored 30 goals and provided nine assists in 46 appearances across all competitions for Los Blancos last term.
This helped the 34-year-old earn a call-up to the national side after a gap of almost six years. Benzema made the most of it as well. He scored four goals in four appearances for France at Euro 2020.
The Real Madrid striker would then score crucial goals in the semi-finals and finals of the UEFA Nations League during France's triumphant run. He has also been in spectacular form for Real Madrid this term.
Benzema is one player who has improved his credentials in the race for the Best FIFA Men's Player Award 2021 in the second half of the year. He has scored 20 goals and provided eight assists in 23 appearances across all competitions so far this term.
Also take a look into Karim Benzema's Net Worth in 2021, his investments and charity donations.
#2 Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain)
Fresh from winning a record seventh Ballon d'Or, Lionel Messi is one of the frontrunners for the Best FIFA Men's Player Award as well. Messi has had a rather incredible year. He was a one-man army for Barcelona in the first half of 2021.
Messi schlepped the Catalans back into the La Liga title race but they ultimately finished third after squandering their chances in the final few gameweeks. Messi scored 38 goals and provided 14 assists in 47 appearances across all competitions for Barcelona in 2020-21.
The 34-year-old then went onto win the 2021 Copa America with Argentina. Not only was he the top goalscorer and assist provider at the competition but he was also chosen as the 'Best Player of the Tournament'.
He did not exactly hit the ground running at PSG but has been in great form in the Champions League. Messi has six goals and five assists to his name in 16 appearances across all competitions for the Ligue 1 outfit so far this season.
#1 Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich)
Robert Lewandowski won the Best FIFA Men's Player Award in 2020. He was the clear-cut winner. After the 2021 Ballon d'Or was awarded to Lionel Messi, a large section of football fans were of the opinion that Lewandowski had been robbed again.
It's hard to argue against the sheer numbers Lewandowski has stacked up. In the 2020-21 season, he scored 48 goals and provided nine assists in 40 appearances across all competitions for the Bavarians. He was a standout performer for them as they won the Bundesliga.
Lewandowski has already scored 30 goals in 25 appearances for Bayern Munich in the 2021-22 season. He has been a goalscoring machine for club and country. Lewandowski also won the European Golden Shoe in the 2020-21 season.
He also broke Gerd Muller's long-standing record for the most goals scored in a single Bundesliga season (40) by netting 41 in 29 appearances last term.
