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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Felix Keith

Mario Balotelli, Kylian Mbappe and Richarlison go head to head for Puskas Award

Kylian Mbappe may not have won the 2022 World Cup, but his exceptional performance in the final against Argentina could be honoured in another way after he was nominated for the Puskas Award.

Mbappe became just the second player in history to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final by bringing France back from the brink to take the game to extra-time in Qatar. His team then fell short in the shoot-out as Argentina prevailed 4-2 to win the trophy in a drama-filled game.

The Paris Saint-Germain superstar took home a runners-up medal and the Golden Boot, for his eight goals across the tournament. And he has a chance at adding another award to his burgeoning collection, after FIFA announced the shortlist for the Puskas Award.

The Puskas Award, which is named after Hungary legend Ferenc Puskas, is given to the player deemed to have scored the best goal of the calendar year. FIFA have released the shortlist for 2022, with Mbappe up against well-known names like Mario Balotelli, Richarlison and Dimitri Payet – and some more obscure players.

Mbappe is nominated for his second goal in the final, which brought the score to 2-2 in the 81st minute. Having netted a penalty to cut Argentina’s lead in half, he combined perfectly with Marcus Thuram nodding the ball back to his teammate before instinctively volleying the return pass into the bottom corner past Emiliano Martinez.

It was a fabulous piece of skill, performed on the biggest of all stages at an absolutely crucial time – a fact which may count in his favour among voters.

Kylian Mbappe's stunning volley has been nominated (Mike Hewitt/FIFA via Getty Images)

He is up against another stunning goal from the World Cup. Richarlison is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Son Heung-min (2020) and Erik Lamela (2021) and become the third successive player from Tottenham to win the award.

His acrobatic overhead kick against Serbia is up for the award, alongside a dazzling piece of skill from Balotelli, who bamboozled a defender with seven step-overs before scoring with a Rabona into the bottom corner while playing for Adana Demirspor against Goztepe in Turkey.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Which goal should win the Puskas Award? Comment below.

Richarlison's acrobatic finish is nominated for the Puskas Award (Michael Steele/Getty Images)

England’s win at the European Championship gets a nod in the form of Alessia Russo’s cheeky backheel against Sweden, while an extremely aesthetically pleasing strike from Dimiti Payet for Marseille is also up for the award.

There’s a unique acrobatic finish from Australia’s Under-23s player Alou Kuol against Iraq, a remarkable length-of-the-pitch run and finish from Theo Hernandez in AC Milan vs Atalanta and a long-ranger from Amandine Henry for Lyon against Barcelona in there as well for good measure.

Mario Balotelli is nominated for his skilful goal for Adana Demirspor (Ivan Romano/Getty Images)

Full list of the nominated goals

Mario Balotelli goal vs Goztepe

Amandine Henry goal vs Barcelona

Theo Hernandez goal vs Atalanta

Alou Kuol goal vs Iraq under-23

Kylian Mbappe goal vs Argentina

Francisco Gonzalez Metilli goal vs Rosario Central

Marcin Oleksy goal vs Stal Rzeszow

Salma Paralluelo goal vs Barcelona

Dimitri Payet goal vs PAOK Thessaloniki

Richarlison goal vs Serbia

Alessia Russo goal vs Sweden

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