England's Beth Mead, American Alex Morgan and Spain's Alexia Putellas named on three-player shortlist to be crowned The Best FIFA Women's Player for 2022; Mead was named the best player at Euro 2022 and was the tournament's top scorer
Friday 10 February 2023 15:29, UK
England's Euro hero Beth Mead has been named on the three-player shortlist to be crowned The Best FIFA Women's Player for 2022.
Mead, who top scored at last year's European Championships and was named the tournament's best player as England lifted the trophy on home soil, is joined by Alex Morgan and Alexia Putellas on the shortlist.
She also netted 11 times in the WSL 2021/22 season for club side Arsenal, who were pipped to the title by a single point by Chelsea. Mead has already become the first women's footballer to lift the BBC Sports Personality of the Year trophy.
The 27-year-old has not played a competitive game since rupturing her ACL in November - and England boss Sarina Wiegman said earlier this week it was too soon to speculate whether she will be fit to play for the Lionesses in the World Cup this summer.
FIFA's 'The Best' awards take into account any games played between August 7, 2021 to July 31, 2022 - the day of the European Championships final.
The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Paris on February 27. A total of 14 players were initially nominated, before being whittled down to the final three.
The awards are nominated by captains, managers and assigned journalists from each country across the world. Putellas is the current holder of the Women's Player of the Year, with England's Lucy Bronze the winner in 2020.
