The prize was also claimed by the Argentine striker of the French “Paris Saint-Germain” Lionel Messi and the Egyptian striker of the English “Liverpool” Mohammed Salah. Lewandowski received this award for the second time. Earlier, Messi overtook the Polish striker in the voting for the Golden Ball.
The winner of the FIFA Player of the Year award is determined by a vote of an international pool of journalists, head coaches and captains of the men’s and women’s national teams.
FIFA has been awarding the Footballer of the Year since 1991. The International Football Federation independently approved the winner of the award until 2009. From 2010 to 2015, the prize was awarded jointly with France Football magazine and was called the FIFA Golden Ball. Since 2016, two awards have been presented – according to the edition and according to FIFA. Since then, FIFA, in addition to Lewandowski, has twice recognized Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player of the year, once – Croat Luka Modric and Messi.
Lewandowski, 33, has scored 34 goals in 27 games for Bayern this season. In 2021, Lewandowski broke the German league record for most goals in a single season, held by Gerd Müller, with 41 goals, one more than the former Bayern forward. At the end of the 2020/21 season, Lewandowski received the Golden Boot, becoming the top scorer of the national European leagues, won the championship and the German Super Cup. As part of the Polish national team, the striker took part in the European Championship, where the team might not leave the group.
