July 25 – FIFA has named its 10 shortlisted nominees for Best Men’s and Women’s players for the year. The men’s award – usually a run-off between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – for the first time in many years looks wide open.
While Messi and Ronaldo both make the shortlist, the other names on the list are all credible challengers and arguably bigger winners over the past year.
Five players from LaLiga make the shortlist, including World Cup player of the tournament Luca Modric. They are joined by four players from the Premier League, including World Cup Golden Boot winner Harry Kane. Liverpool and Egypt striker Mo Salah is the only non-European on the list.
The women’s shortlist seems even more polarised at first glance with six of the 10 players shortlisted all playing for France’s Olympique Lyonnais. But all six players come from different countries. The shortlist has six players from Europe, two from Asia and two from the US.
The public voting on the shortlist is open now and closes August 10 and FIFA will announce the final lists of the three nominees for each of the award categories in early September. The fan ballot accounts for 25% of the vote alongside 25% going to national team coaches, 25% to national team captains and 25% to international media.
FIFA has named ten candidates in the following four award categories:
The Best FIFA Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid CF/Juventus FC); Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City FC); Antoine Griezmann (France/ Atlético Madrid); Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea FC); Harry Kane (England/Tottenham Hotspur FC); Kylian Mbappé (France/Paris Saint-Germain FC); Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona); Luka Modrić (Croatia/Real Madrid CF); Mohammed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool FC); Raphaël Varane (France/Real Madrid CF).
The Best FIFA Women’s Player: Lucy Bronze (England/Olympique Lyonnais); Pernille Harder (Denmark/VfL Wolfsburg); Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Olympique Lyonnais); Amandine Henry (France/Olympique Lyonnais); Samantha Kerr (Australia/Sky Blue FC/Perth Glory FC/Chicago Red Stars); Saki Kumagai (Japan/Olympique Lyonnais); Dzsenifer Marozsán (Germany/ Olympique Lyonnais); Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride); Megan Rapinoe (USA/Seattle Reign FC); Wendie Renard (France/Olympique Lyonnais).
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach: Massimiliano Allegri (Italy/Juventus FC); Stanislav Cherchesov (Russia/Russia national team); Zlatko Dalić (Croatia/Croatia national team); Didier Deschamps (France/France national team); Pep Guardiola (Spain/Manchester City FC); Jürgen Klopp (Germany/Liverpool FC); Roberto Martínez (Spain/Belgium national team); Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atlético Madrid); Gareth Southgate (England/England national team); Ernesto Valverde (Spain/FC Barcelona); Zinédine Zidane (France/Real Madrid CF).
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Emma Hayes (England/Chelsea Ladies FC); Stephan Lerch (Germany/VfL Wolfsburg); Mark Parsons (England/Portland Thorns FC); Reynald Pedros (France/Olympique Lyonnais); Alen Stajcic (Australia/Australia national team); Asako Takakura (Japan/Japan national team); Vadão (Brazil/Brazil national team); Jorge Vilda (Spain/Spain national team); Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (Germany/Switzerland national team); Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands/The Netherlands national team).
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