Alex Morgan was named one of three finalists for the Best FIFA Women’s Player for 2022. This is the first time in three years that an American has been a finalist.
The finalists for best women’s players of 2022 are Morgan, Alexia Putellas and Beth Mead.
The finalists for #TheBest FIFA Women's Player Award are...
— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) February 10, 2023
I have a serious problem with this list.
In 2022 USWNT and Portland Thorns star Sophia Smith won NWSL MVP, NWSL Championship Game MVP, NWSL Best XI and U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year. SHE DIDN’T EVEN MAKE THE 14-PLAYER SHORTLIST.
Apparently, the award is supposed to be for the 2021-22 season from Aug. 7, 2021, through July 31, 2022. Nothing like giving awards to players for actions that happened 19 months ago.
The part that’s also confusing fans is that on FIFA’s nominee profiles page they discuss stats for players that happened AFTER the July 31 deadline. For Sam Kerr’s profile they literally used a highlight from December.
On the profiles page for Morgan, they mentioned her 2022 NWSL Golden Boot award and how she made her 200th appearance for the USWNT in November. ALL THINGS THAT HAPPENED AFTER JULY 31.
Every year FIFA loves to show off how obvious it is that they don’t pay any attention to women’s soccer. For the 2021 FIFA Best Awards those geniuses decided that not a single Barcelona player was worthy of the Women’s World XI.
Go figure.
Morgan had a stellar year after winning the NWSL Golden Boot, leading the San Diego Wave to the semifinals and playing a major role in the USWNT’s Concacaf W Championship triumph.
Alex Morgan this past season:
NWSL Golden Boot winner
NWSL MVP nominee
USWNT POTY nominee
Joint CONCACAF top-scorer
CONCACAF Golden Ball winner
CONCACAF Best XI
Led San Diego to an NWSL semi-final in their inaugural seasonDeserved #TheBest nomination? pic.twitter.com/FGdeRgpmYz
— Womens Transfer News (@womenstransfer) February 10, 2023
This is Morgan’s second time being chosen as a finalist for the award as she finished runner-up behind Megan Rapinoe in 2019. If she wins, she will become the third American to win it since the award’s creation in 2016. Carli Lloyd won the first edition.
Beth Mead’s dominance at Euro 2022 certainly earned her a finalist spot. Mead was an unstoppable force on her quest to bring football home for England as she won the Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament.
Mead suffered an ACL injury in November 2022 and has been sidelined since.
Putellas’ inclusion is for her 2021-22 season as she has also been out with an ACL injury since last summer. Putellas won the 2021 edition of the award and could become the first woman to win the award in back-to-back years.
In the 2021-22 season she scored 34 goals in all competitions, swept the domestic trophies with Barcelona and scored in the UWCL final. She was also the top scorer in the Champions League that season with 11 goals and won player of the tournament.
