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Lionel Messi FIFA the Best award win prompts Karim Benzema to post his 2022 achievements for Real Madrid & France online

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema posted a series of messages on social media after seeing Lionel Messi win the best male player at the FIFA awards.

Messi wins the FIFA Best male player award
Beats Mbappe and Benzema to top spot
Benzema reacts on social media

WHAT HAPPENED? Ballon d'Or winner Benzema was beaten to the FIFA the Best award by Messi, with the Paris Saint-Germain star clinching the trophy after captaining Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar in 2022. The decision to hand the award to Messi does not appear to have gone down well with Benzema, who posted a list of his achievements for club and country on Instagram and then added a photo of himself with the caption "Good night."

Karim Benzema Instagram Benzema

Karim Benzema

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Benzema won a host of titles in 2022 including La Liga, the Champions League, the Club World Cup, the Nations League and the Ballon d'Or, but still finished third at The Best awards behind Paris Saint-Germain duo Messi and Kylian Mbappe. Real Madrid team-mate David Alaba was even revealed to have voted for Messi over Benzema, and was then forced to explain the decision after receiving abuse from Los Blancos' supporters.

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WHAT NEXT FOR BENZEMA? The striker will be back in action on Thursday when Real Madrid face bitter rivals Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie.