🔝 The five best players of 2022 | OneFootball

In what seems like a flash, the year of 2022 has come and gone.

But who were the standout performers of the last 12 months?

5. Thibaut Courtois

The Real Madrid goalkeeper rallied earlier this year against a perceived lack of respect from the media for his abilities.

There will be none of that here though following a stellar year from the Belgium international, he deserves recognition.

His phenomenal form for Los Blancos steered them to another LaLiga title but his greatest exploits were saved for the Champions League campaign.

And it was in the final of that competition that he saved one of his finest performances to secure the biggest trophy in club football by constantly keeping Liverpool at bay.

His statistics for 2022 across club and country, in addition to the trophies, make for impressive reading – conceding just 40 times from a 52 post-shot xG in 48 games.

4. Erling Haaland

It seemed that not a week went by this year that the unstoppable striker didn’t break another goalscoring record.

He has been relentless in pursuit of goals throughout 2022, whether that be with Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City or Norway.

His tally for 2022, as things stand, is staggering. He has started 41 games for both clubs and country and in that time has registered 47 goals and nine assists.

And the history books have been constantly rewritten as a result. He was the fastest player ever to 15 Premier League goals (nine games) and took Kylian Mbappé’s record of becoming the youngest to hit 25 Champions League goals.

There were plenty more too. The £51 million fee City paid to sign him already looks like a steal.

3. Kylian Mbappé

This was perhaps the year where the prodigious Frenchman really took his game to the next level.

Turning 23 towards the end of 2021 meant he was coming into his peak and it showed with some stunning performances for club and country over the past 12 months.

There was of course his stunning World Cup final one-man rescue mission, in which he became only the second man to notch a hat-trick in that game, as well as his single-handed attempt to eliminate Real Madrid from the Champions League.

In the biggest games he has come alive, often saving such performances for when the lights are shining brightest, but that isn’t to say he hasn’t been prolific and productive at the Parc des Princes week in, week out (as one perfect performance against Lorient proved when he scored two and set up three in a 5-1 win).

His 2022 statistics between PSG and France read like something from a Football Manager simulation set to easy mode. In his 58 games, he found the net 56 times and provided 17 assists. Frighteningly, he may only get better.

2. Lionel Messi

Whatever else he did in 2022, much of the year comes down to the last month.

It was in Qatar in December that one of the game’s all time greats finally got his hands on the World Cup trophy that had eluded him for 16 years.

And what a part he played in it too, ending the tournament by becoming only the second player to win the Golden Ball at two different editions by leading Argentina to their third title.

Not the rest of his year was bad either.

After some first season struggles at PSG (though he help them reclaim the Ligue 1 title) Messi has been unstoppable in 2022/23 so far.

1. Karim Benzema

The newly-crowned Ballon d’Or winner enjoyed the finest year of his glittering career to date.

Despite turning 35 last week, Benzema is not only not slowing down but actually hitting incredible numbers, as evidenced by getting his hands on the game’s biggest individual prize.

Although injuries hampered his progress in the second half of the year and deprived him of appearing at the World Cup, he still ended his 2022 with 33 goals and nine assists across club and country.

And without that impact, Real Madrid wouldn’t have enjoyed another stunning season last year.

He is quite simply the best centre-forward in world football right now.