Karim Benzema criticised for new social media post after Lionel Messi won FIFA The Best award | OneFootball

Karim Benzema clearly isn’t happy that Lionel Messi won FIFA’s The Best award instead of him this week.

Messi (52 points) secured the individual accolade for the second time on Monday evening, beating Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe (44 points) and Real Madrid’s Benzema (34 points) to the award.

The legendary forward was expected to win the prize after lifting the World Cup with Argentina in December.

Benzema uploaded a cryptic post to his Instagram story shortly after it was announced that Messi had won this year’s The Best Men’s Player award.

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This is despite the fact that Messi voted for Benzema in his top three, adding the Frenchman had a “great year”.

Benzema's latest post after Messi wins The Best award

Twenty-four hours later and Benzema, winner of the 2022 Ballon d’Or award, still wasn’t over the result.

He uploaded a screenshot from a Benzema fan account listing all of his achievements from August 2021 until the end of the FIFA nomination period for The Best award.

He then uploaded a black and white photo of himself smiling, alongside the caption: “Good night”.

The 35-year-old has been criticised by many fans on social media for his ‘salty’ Instagram activity.

Is Benzema right to feel unhappy with the result?

FIFA’s The Best award was always heading to Messi after what happened in Qatar.

Benzema, on the other hand, wasn’t even part of the France squad that reached the 2022 World Cup final. The world-class centre-forward was injured on the eve of the tournament.

Yes, he enjoyed an outstanding year with Real Madrid, inspiring the Spanish giants to glory in both the Champions League and La Liga.

But he was rewarded for those exploits with the Ballon d’Or in October.

Messi failed to make the 30-man Ballon d’Or shortlist for the first time since 2005 but is now expected to win the coveted individual accolade for a record-breaking eighth time later this year.

The World Cup is still the biggest trophy in football and Argentina wouldn’t have won it without the inspirational Messi, who showed during the tournament exactly why he’s regarded by many football fans around the world as the greatest player of all time.