Messi won the award for the second time in his career.
Karim Benzema’s social media activity during the Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony on Monday night raised eyebrows amongst plenty of people.
Lionel Messi was awarded the coveted prize for the second time in his career after a memorable year which included guiding Argentina to their first World Cup win since 1986.
Messi beat Kylian Mbappé, his Paris Saint-Germain teammate, and Benzema to the award and praised his peers for helping him to take home the trophy.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “It’s an honour for me to be here tonight and win this award.
“Without my teammates, I wouldn’t be here. It was an amazing year and I achieved the dream that I’ve been hoping for so long and finally, I managed to achieve it.”
Moments after the speech, Benzema posted to his Instagram story, leading many people to believe that he was less than happy with the decision.
Benzema, who didn’t attend the ceremony, posted a video to his story with the caption: “Liar, yes, you liar.”
He then posted a caption below the video, which said: “Good night.”
Karim Benzema en story Instagram 😭 pic.twitter.com/z58szUh8wO
— France RMCF (@FranceRMCF) February 27, 2023
The Real Madrid forward came third in the rankings, scoring 32 points. Mbappé came second with 44 points while Messi came first with 52 points.
Despite winning the trophy, Messi actually voted for Benzema. He was eligible to cast votes for the award due to his status as captain for Argentina.
Alongside Benzema, the 35-year-old also voted for Neymar (his first pick) and Mbappé as his second. Benzema lifted the La Liga title and Champions League trophy last season.
Related links:
- Karim Benzema’s agent reveals that he could have played at World Cup
- Karim Benzema says Cristiano Ronaldo still hasn’t congratulated him on Ballon d’Or win
- PSG boss reveals Lionel Messi is exempt from certain tasks
