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The Best FIFA Men's Player Award is one of the most prestigious individual honours in the world of football alongside the Ballon d'Or. Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski was the recipient of the award in 2020.
He was a well-deserved winner too and was well clear of the competition in terms of his achievements last year.
The Best FIFA Men's Player Award's voting system is unique
The Ballon d'Or winner is chosen on the basis of an aggregate of votes from journalists, national team captains and coaches. The Best FIFA Men's Player Award's voting system is a bit different. The voters are categorized into four.
National Team coaches, National Team captains, Media representatives from each country, and fans from across the world all have 25% vote share each.
As opposed to last year where we had a clear cut winner, the race for the prestigious award is quite unpredictable this time around. There are several top contenders and it's difficult to predict which way this one is going to go.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the top five favourites to win the Best FIFA Men's Player Award this year.
#5 N'Golo Kante (France/Chelsea)
Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante is one of the most admired footballers in the world. The Frenchman is usually seen with a smile on his face but that is not a fair reflection of the marauding ball-winning midfielder he is.
The 30-year-old was inarguably Chelsea's best player in the closing stages of the 2020-21 season. Kante incredibly bagged four back-to-back man-of-the-match awards in the Champions League, including both legs of the semi-final and the final.
However, France's exit in the Round of 16 would have done no favours to Kante as far as the race for the Best Fifa Men's Player Award is concerned. But his workrate, game-reading and ability to carry the ball are all definitely worthy of praise. He was recently chosen as the UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Year.
#4 Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid)
Karim Benzema has been on fire this new season. He has seriously improved his credentials in the race for the Best FIFA Men's Player Award over the course of the summer. He justified his call-up to the France national team for Euro 2020, after a six-year absence, by scoring four goals in four appearances at the tournament.
Benzema would have definitely added more goals to his kitty but France's early exit in the tournament was rather unceremonious. The 33-year-old's chances of winning the Best FIFA Men's Player Award also suffer from a lack of major trophies. Unfortunately for the veteran striker, Real Madrid went trophyless for the first time in 11 years in the 2020-21 season.
Benzema scored 30 goals and provided nine assists in 46 appearances across all competitions for Los Blancos last term and was arguably their best player.
#3 Jorginho (Italy/Chelsea)
Jorginho has been absolutely feasting this summer. After winning the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea, he played a crucial role in Italy's triumphant run at Euro 2020. He also won the UEFA Super Cup at the start of the season with the Blues.
While top players can get sidelined in the race for the award owing to a lack of major trophies, Jorginho's case is an anomaly. Don't get us wrong. The Italian international has performed at a high level but it would be odd to suggest that it's his individual brilliance that inspired his teams to glory.
That has definitely been a factor but the jury is still out on whether it was the decisive one. National team coaches and captains are expected to give a lot of weight to major trophies won. While he might lose out on the fans' share of votes, Jorginho remains a serious contender to win the prestigious award this year.
#2 Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich)
Winner of last year's award, Robert Lewandowski has stacked up incredible numbers to make a push for it this time around as well. He broke Gerd Muller's record (40 goals) for the most goals scored in a 38-game Bundesliga season by scoring 41 in 29 appearances.
Lewandowski managed to score three goals at Euro 2020 but Poland's group stage exit will severely hamper his chances. In fact, the 33-year-old only has the Bundesliga as a major trophy.
Although Lewandowski might just stop short of retaining the Best FIFA Men's Player Award, he deserves to be in the top 3.
#1 Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain)
The lack of a major international trophy has been used as an argument by detractors to deny Lionel Messi the GOAT status. But this summer, he took things into his own hands and propelled Argentina to continental glory in the Copa America.
Messi was chosen as the Best Player of the tournament. He scored four goals and provided five assists for La Albiceleste as Argentina won the tournament after a span of 28 years.
The 34-year-old has been in sensational form in 2021 and had also won the La Liga Golden Boot with Barcelona. He scored 38 goals and provided 14 assists in 47 appearances for the Catalans last term and also won the Copa Del Rey.
