Leo Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema have been shortlisted for FIFA Men's Best Player award.
Despite Messi's glorious World Cup campaign, there is no guarantee that he will win the prize this time – the players' performances from August 2021 to December 2022 will be taken into account.
Let's compare the nominees' club + country stats for the selected period.
Goals. Mbappe's advantage here is truly impressive – 77 against Benzema's 56 and Messi's 45. He averages more goals per game than his opponents while his xG (expected goals) stat proves that he scores more than he actually should.
Playmaking. Messi is deservedly the best with 34; Mbappe, however, follows him closely with 32 and an impressive number of big chances created. Quite solid figures for a player who usually plays an advanced forward.
Overall impact. Leo has won more Man of the Match awards than the other two competitors. Thanks to his current style of play - dropping deep to start attacks or create big chances - he impacts the game action quite often and his influence doesn't go unnoticed.
Trophies and awards won. With plenty of domestic and European accolades, including individual ones, Benzema is standing out here. Messi's World Cup glory would be a big bonus in his chances to claim the prize, though. Mbappe only achieved something in Ligue 1 and the Nations League.
Left - Benzema, middle - Messi, right - Mbappe
Conclusion. While Karim Benzema was arguably the most successful player among the three during that period, Kylian Mbappe and Leo Messi had a bigger impact individually, with the former having the edge over his opponents in goalscoring stats. We expect most voters to rank Messi above the others, though – mostly due to his fabulous career that has recently added the World Cup glory to its history.
The winner will be announced on February 27.
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