May 7 – Jamaica’s Khadija Shaw and Canada’s Alphonso Davies have been voted 2022 Concacaf Women’s and Men’s Players of the Year.
Shaw has the distinction of being the first winner of the award who isn’t American and the first Caribbean winner of either men’s or women’s awards. In 2018 Shaw was voted second. The award has been won four times by US striker Alex Morgan since 2013. She has also been runner up once and was nominated again this year.
Davies also won the player of the year award in 2021. Alongside Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas (2014 and 2017) he is the only two-time winner of the men’s award.
Both Shaw and Davies play their club football outside of their home countries, Shaw at Manchester City and Davies at Bayern Munich. They are both key players for their clubs in Europe and have been the decisive factor in the performances of their national teams.
Shaw helped the Reggae Girlz qualify for their second straight Women’s World Cup in 2022 at the 2022 Concacaf Women’s Championship (CWC) in Monterrey, Mexico. She scored three goals, including the crucial goal in Jamaica’s opening 1-0 win against Mexico and a brace in the 4-0 victory over Haiti, which sealed World Cup 2023 Women’s World Cup qualification. She was named in the 2022 CWC Best XI.
For Manchester City her contribution has been similarly significant. During the calendar year 2022, she scored 15 goals in 19 Women’s Super League games, seven goals in eight domestic cup games (Women’s FA Cup and FA Women’s League Cup), and two goals in two UEFA Women’s Champions League games. Shaw’s three goals in the knockout stage helped Manchester City claim the 2021-22 FA Women’s League Cup.
Davies is Canada’s talisman and played a key role in their qualification for World Cup 2022, going on to score the first ever Canada goal at a Senior Men’s World Cup with a first-half header against eventual semi-finalists Croatia.
During the calendar year for Bayern he appeared in 18 league matches, plus two domestic cup games in helping Bayern win the 2021-22 Bundesliga and the 2022 German Super Cup. In the UEFA Champions League he played seven times, the latter five coming in the group stage of the 2022-23 edition.
The voting for the awards was based on national team coaches, media and fan voting.
The nominees for the 2022 awards were:
Men
- Tyler Adams (USA) | Leeds United (ENG) – transferred from RB Leipzig (GER)
- Andre Blake (JAM) | Philadelphia Union (USA)
- Jonathan David (CAN) | LOSC Lille (FRA)
- Alphonso Davies (CAN) | FC Bayern Munich (GER)
- Guillermo Ochoa (MEX) | US Salernitana 1919 (ITA) – transferred from Club America (MEX)
- Christian Pulisic (USA) | Chelsea FC (ENG)
Women
- Alicia Cervantes (MEX) | CD Guadalajara (MEX)
- Melchie Dumornay (HAI) | Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) – transferred from Stade de Reims (FRA)
- Jessie Fleming (CAN) | Chelsea FC (ENG)
- Alex Morgan (USA) | San Diego Wave FC (USA)
- Khadija Shaw (JAM) | Manchester City FC (ENG)
- Sophia Smith (USA) | Portland Thorns FC (USA)
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