Stats prove who deserves to win The Best FIFA Men's Player Award | OneFootball

We are exactly one month away from the annual Best FIFA awards, with the ceremony commencing in London on Monday 15h January. There are plenty of awards up for grabs, including the Puskas award which we have already predicted the winner of.

Among the chief headliners is the award to crown the men's and women's player of the year. For the latter, Aitana Bonmati seems to be the front-runner. The Spaniard has already claimed the Liga F and Champions League titles for Barcelona; the World Cup with her country; alongside the UEFA Player of the Year, World Cup Player of the Tournament; and the Ballon d'Or.

On the men's side, the top three in the Ballon d'Or standings will be battling once again to be recognised as FIFA's number one for the 2022-2023 season. Lionel Messi took home the prestigious Ballon d'Or, but he faces stiff opposition from Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé to achieve the double.

Ahead of next month, a graphic has been created comparing the three stars to one another, giving insight as to who is most deserving of being named the FIFA Player of the Year.

The favourites to win The Best FIFA Men's Player 2023

Erling Haaland just about looking the strongest

Ahead of January 15th, the Daily Mail has compiled a list of key statistics to see who out of the top three is in pole position for the award. The infographic uses different pieces of data to analyse which player has had the strongest 2023.

Whilst on paper it looks as though it's the Norwegian striker who has had the most efficient 2023, a deeper look at the statistics shows that might not be the case. Although Haaland tops the combined goals and assists charts with 55, his average of goals and assists per game is lower than that of Mbappé, who stands tall with 45 goals and assists in 42 appearances. Messi, on the other hand, is the only one who has not seen their goal contributions surpass the amount of games they featured in.

A similar story is told when it comes to minutes per goal. Mbappé finishes first with one goal every 89 minutes, with Haaland managing a goal every ten minutes more. Meanwhile, Messi is much further back, averaging a goal every 151 minutes.

It is not all doom and gloom for the Argentina legend. The 36-year-old comes top of the pile when it comes to shot conversion rate and outperforming his xG. The Inter Miami man has scored 4.1 goals more than what his xG suggests, with Mbappé closely following with 3.8. For Manchester City’s talisman, it is a very different story. He is ever so slightly below his expected goals, making him slightly less efficient than his competition.

When it comes to creating chances, it’s Haaland who has perhaps exceeded expectations. His 11 assists in 2023 come despite the fact he has a much lower passing success rate than the other two and has played a third of the amount of passes of the Frenchman and roughly a fifth of the amount as the multi-time Ballon d’Or winner.

It seems as though the individual statistics make it difficult to decide a clear winner. However, it is important to remember that what players achieve as part of a team is also considered when deciding these awards.

On a collective front, 2023 belonged to Erling Haaland and Manchester City. The former Dortmund man was instrumental as Manchester City completed a historic treble, becoming only the second English team to achieve the feat. Haaland top scored in both the Premier League and Champions League as Pep Guardiola’s men dominated the entire landscape.

Both Mbappé and Messi came away with domestic glory too, with the pair both winning Ligue 1 with PSG. They also managed to get their hands on the French Super Cup, but that was where success ended for the Parisians in what would be considered an underwhelming 2022/23 season.

The Barcelona legend was able to add to his extensive trophy cabinet before the end of the year though. Having made the move to David Beckham’s Inter Miami, Messi steered the club to their first-ever trophy, as they lifted the MLS Leagues Cup, with the little magician scoring in the final as his side won on penalties.

It is important to note that whilst Messi was part of the Argentina side that won the World Cup in December 2022, this in theory should not be taken into account for this award. Messi received 2022’s edition of this award in February, where his efforts at the tournament would’ve been taken into consideration.

The history of the FIFA player of the year award

Since its resurrection in 2016, the FIFA Player of the Year award has been won by four different players. Cristiano Ronaldo stamped his authority on the trophy early, winning both the 2016 and 2017 editions. The latter of which saw the Portuguese star win with almost half of the total votes.

It would be another Real Madrid star who would take the glory in 2018, as Luka Modrić’s efforts in guiding Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final saw him be recognised as the year's top man. Messi would swoop in to win a year later, claiming his first of the renewed awards.

This was followed by back-to-back wins for Poland’s Robert Lewandowski. This would ultimately act as a consolation prize for the former Bayern Munich striker, as he was robbed of a deserved Ballon d’Or after it was announced the competition had been cancelled due to the pandemic.

Messi was the recipient of 2022’s award, reclaiming the title for the first time in three years. He joins Lewandowski and rival Ronaldo on two awards each. Should Messi secure the title in 2023, he would be the first player since the award was reintroduced to make it a hat-trick of triumphs.