After an eventful 2022 for football in various competitions, FIFA hosted the BEST awards in Paris on Monday. Bayern Munich did enjoy success in 2022, but it was not enough for their players to win multiple awards at this event. The Bavarian club had one representative in FIFA FIFPro World 11.
Joao Cancelo was one of the three defenders that featured in the World 11. The Portuguese full-back was nominated for this award after enjoying a successful 2022 with Manchester City on an individual and collective scale. The Portuguese full-back had three goals and ten assists to his name during the 2021/22 campaign. He had three goal involvements for Man City during the first half of the current season.
Bayern would like to see similar contributions from Joao Cancelo in the next three months. He currently has two assists to his name in the Bavarian shirt across six games in all competitions. Die Roten has the option of signing Joao Cancelo permanently in the summer for €70 million.
Meanwhile, Sadio Mane finished sixth in the race for FIFA’s BEST award in Men’s football. The Senegalese had a productive 2022 with Liverpool and the national team before moving to Bayern in the summer window. Mane was the star man in Senegal’s maiden AFCON win. He also played a crucial role in Liverpool’s League Cup and FA Cup triumphs.
The 2022 FIFPro Men's #World11 is stacked going forward 🥵#TheBest pic.twitter.com/CTwAJb7MfA
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The 30-year-old forward won the DFL Supercup with Die Roten at the start of the season. He has enjoyed a good start to life in Bavaria, scoring 11 goals across all competitions. Mane had a big injury setback in November that kept him out of action for three months. He is now back on the pitch just in time for Die Roten’s second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against Paris Saint-Germain.
Former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski finished 12th in FIFA’s BEST award. The Polish striker scored 50 goals in 46 appearances for Die Roten last season. He played a major role in the Bavarian club’s historic tenth consecutive Bundesliga title win. Lewandowski is currently enjoying a prolific campaign with FC Barcelona.
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Bayern will have to go deep in several competitions to have more players gracing the FIFA BEST awards next season. They endured disappointment in the quarter-final of the Champions League and also failed to win DFB Pokal. More collective achievements from the team this season will eventually have more players in the World XI and more contenders for the BEST award.