Who will succeed Karim Benzema as the best UEFA player for the 2022-2023 season? Not Kylian Mbappe…
UEFA lifted the veil this Thursday on the finalists for the honorary trophy for best player of the 2022-2023 season – a sort of Ballon d’Or or Fifa The Best award before the hour. While the verdict will be given on August 31, the lucky winners are Lionel Messi, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland.
The Argentine world champion is accompanied by two of the great architects of Manchester City’s hat-trick during the past financial year. The famous triptych Premier League-FA Cup-Champions League. It is quickly forgetting, however, the leading role of Kylian Mbappé with the Blues during the World Cup disputed in Qatar this winter.
A forgotten World Cup
Indeed, the elements playing in a European team compete for this title of best UEFA player “on the basis of their performances during the 2022-23 season in club and national team”. Top scorer of the 2022 World Cup, the PSG striker is therefore the big forgotten of this trio of finalists.
At the scale of this edition, Kylian Mbappé even finds himself relegated to sixth place, still ahead of Ilkay Gündogan and Rodri, two more Cityzens. A hierarchy that challenges. If Kevin De Bruyne remains on three podiums in a row in the exercise, Lionel Messi has already received this distinction twice, in 2011, during the very first edition, and in 2015. This final is a great first on the other hand. for Erling Haaland.
