Messi's World Cup triumph to Ronaldo's fall: Football's journey in 2022

Lionel Messi and Argentina won the World Cup for the first time since 1986. Kylian Mbappe reached 12 World Cups goals in his second Fifa World cup. Sunil Chhetri won Durand Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo was benched by his national team coach Fernando Santos. In 2022, football will be played in a new format.

Argentina won the World Cup after a penalty shoot-out against France. Messi won his first World cup. He had previously failed to win a trophy. Emiliano Martinez saved two shots in the penalty shootout.

Cristiano Ronaldo had a difficult year. He played only 10 games for Manchester United and scored only three goals. The club wanted to split him up after he gave an interview to Piers Morgan. Ronaldo was benched for the World Cup and against Morocco. Coach Santos does not regret the decision.

2022 was the year of the underdogs. Morocco became the first African nation to make it to the semi-final of a World Cup. Croatia beat Belgium and Canada to move to Round of 16. They beat Japan on penalties and Brazil on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals. Argentina stopped their winning streak.

Sunil Chhetri's team won the Durand Cup. It was his first win in the tournament. His father served in Indian Army. Fifa released a three-episode web series on his career and life.

Karim Benzema has won the Ballon d'Or. He is the first French player to win it since 1998. The award was not given in 2020 due to the Covid outbreak.

Real Madrid won its record 14th Champions League title with a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in Paris. Vinicius Junior scored the only goal of the game.

England women's team won the Women's Euro at Wembley Stadium. It was the same venue where the men's side lost to Italy a year ago. Chloe Kelly scored the winner in the extra time.

Manisha Kalyan is the first player from India to play in the Champions League. She came on as a substitute for Marilena Georgious of Apollon Ladies FC in a qualifying game of the UEFA Women’s Champions league. It was also the year in which the All India Football Federation was banned by Fifa but later got restored and hosted the Women's U-17 World Cup.