The Best FIFA Football Awards: as it happened, ceremony, categories and winners
The Best FIFA Football Awards: as it happened
The Best FIFA Football Awards: list of winners
The Best FIFA Men’s Player: Lionel Messi
The Best FIFA Women's Player: Aitana Bonmatí
Fan Award: Colón fan from Argentina
Puskas Award: Guilherme Madruga
Fairplay Award: Brazil's senior men's team
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper: Ederson
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper: Mary Earps
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Sarina Wiegman
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach: Pep Guardiola
We know the winners, we know the overall vote count... but now we want to know how each coach, captain and journalist picked their top three.
So here's the full list.
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FIFA has revealed that Messi and Haaland received the same number of votes. The Argentine veteran and Norwegian marksman were tied on 48, ahead of Mbappé, who amassed 35.
But it was Messi who ultimately came out on top after receiving “the highest number of ‘five-point’ scores from the votes cast by men’s national team captains, as per Article 12 of the Rules of Allocation”.
“It’s been an incredible year that I will remember for the rest of my life. I owe this to the teams that I play with: Barcelona and the national team. Without my team-mates I would not be here picking up these awards. I will always be thankful to those who have not failed me: my family and my friends.
“I want to congratulate all the nominees and say that I am proud of being part of a powerful generation of women who are changing the rules of the game.”
Barcelona congratulate Bonmatí
Aitana was a key part of Spain's World Cup success in 2023. A deserved winner.
And that's it from London. Bonmatí has picked up the final award of the night.
Bonmatí is The Best FIFA Women’s Player
The Best FIFA Women’s Player is Aitana Bonmatí!
She wins ahead of Jenni Hermoso and Colombia's extremely talented Linda Caicedo.
There was no video message from Lionel Messi despite his latest achievement. He may be watching on from Miami. I doubt Erling Haaland will be watching though.
Messi wins again
Haaland was the favourite but it's the Inter Miami and Argentina forward who collects The Best Award once again.
Co-host Thierry Henry is taking the trophy on behalf of Messi!
Erling Haaland will be pretty disappointed after also missing out on the Ballon d'Or.
Messi wins the award again, but he is not here tonight to accept his trophy!
The Best FIFA Men’s Player is Lionel Messi!
The Best FIFA Men’s Player
Here are today's nominees:
Erling Haaland
Kylian Mbappé
Lionel Messi
Why isn’t Messi at the Best FIFA Football Awards?
It was revealed that two-time winner Leo Messi, the current holder of the award, wouldn’t be flying across the Atlantic for the gala in London as he prioritised training with MLS club Inter Miami, who have just begun pre-season and will play their first warm-up game against the El Salvador national team in San Salvador on Friday (19 January).
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First it was Lionel Messi, now it’s Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker is seen by many as the favourite to be named the Best Men’s Player at the 2023 Best FIFA Football Award ceremony in London, but the Manchester City striker won’t pick up the prize himself should he win for the first time.
The Best FIFA Fan Award
Club Atlético Colón fan Hugo Miguel Iniguez wins The Best FIFA Fan Award, having been spotted feeding his newborn baby in the stands during a Colón match in Argentina!
The FIFA Puskas Award
The FIFA Puskas Award goes to Guilherme Madruga for his goal for Botafogo vs Novorizontino. And what a strike it was!
The FIFA Fair Play Award
The FIFA Fair Play Award goes to the Brazil national team after they wore an all-black kit against Guinea in support of Vinícius Júnior, who was the victim of racial abuse in Spain.
Ederson / ANDREW BOYERS / REUTERS
Ederson picks up the award!
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper is Ederson!
He beats fellow goalkeepers Yassine Bounou (Morocco / Sevilla-Al Hilal) and Thibaut Courtois (Belgium / Real Madrid).
Mary Earps: "I want to say thank you so much to my team-mates. I feel incredibly privileged to get to share the pitch with you. Thank you to all my coaches - I'm just blown away!"
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper
The winner of The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper is Mary Earps!
Mackenzie Arnold (Australia / West Ham) and Catalina Coll (Spain / FC Barcelona) were the other nominees but it's the English shot-stopper who comes out on top.
The 2023 FIFA FIFPRO Women's World 11
Aitana Bonmatí takes her place in the team after helping Spain win the 2023 World Cup.
Olga Carmona also makes the XI.
Wiegman: "I feel very privileged to be here again. Thank you to the FA and all the staff for the great achievement we made. And of course thanks to all the players, who performed so well. I'm so proud of everyone who has been involved."
The Best FIFA Women's Coach
The Best FIFA Women's Coach is Sarina Wiegman!
The England coach beats Jonatan Giraldez (FC Barcelona) and Emma Hayes (Chelsea) to the award.
The 2023 FIFA FIFPRO Men's World 11
Jude Bellingham makes the XI after an incredible start to the season with Real Madrid.
Lionel Messi also joins a very attacking lineup.
Ruben Dias on Pep Guardiola:
"I would start by saying, he's intense. He makes you see football in a way that not everyone is able to. He gets the best out of everyone."
The 2023 FIFA FIFPRO Men's World 11
The 2023 FIFA FIFPRO Men's World 11, voted for exclusively by players.
Guardiola: "It's a dream come true. It is really special for all of us."
Guardiola has beaten Simone Inzaghi and Luciano Spalletti to the award. The Catalan coach guided Manchester City to a historic treble in 2023.
The Best FIFA Men's Coach
The Best FIFA Men's Coach is Pep Guardiola!
There will be 11 awards this evening!
A montage of the best football in 2023 is being played after a brief introduction by the hosts.
"It's an exceptional evening," says Henry.
"This edition is dedicated to women and women's football," adds Chowdhury.
Reshmin Chowdhury and Thierry Henry take to the stage as the hosts of The Best FIFA Football Awards.
The guests have made their way through the front doors and are now taking their seats just before the ceremony in London begins.
The show is about to start!
Ian Wright is here, and, as usual, he is donning a very nice hat.
All the stars are here in London and there are some legends of the game here too, including Ronaldo Nazário.
This year marks the seventh time in eight years that Lionel Messi has been named in the top three for the award. Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski have each won the award twice, with Luka Modric also scooping the gong in 2018. This time around Ronaldo was not nominated for FIFA’s top individual prize.
Haaland the favourite
Lionel Messi finds himself on the three-man shortlist alongside Erling Haaland and former team-mate Kylian Mbappé. Haaland is, however, the favourite to win the award after firing Manchester City to a historic treble in 2023.
The hosts
British sports broadcaster and presenter Reshmin Chowdhury and World Cup winner Thierry Henry will present The Best FIFA Football Awards in London.
The Best FIFA Women's Coach
The award for best Women’s coach will be interesting with all three shortlisted names worthy of the award.
Giraldez oversaw FC Barcelona’s Champions League, while Wiegman oversaw England’s journey to the 2023 World Cup final, falling short to Spain. Hayes secured another domestic league win for Chelsea and sealed a move Stateside as the new USWNT head coach.
Jonatan Giraldez (FC Barcelona)
Emma Hayes (Chelsea)
Sarina Wiegman (England national team)
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Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are now in the twilight of their incredible careers. They have lifted nearly every trophy imaginable but their excellence is just as defined by their longevity as it is by the astonishing peaks they reached.
In 2007 Brazilian star Kaka won the Ballon d’Or, with Ronaldo finishing second and Messi in third. Incredibly, that would be more than a decade until another player won the award.
In December 2008, a 23-year-old Ronaldo lifted the first of his five Ballon d’Or awards. The following year Messi, then just 22, won the award for the first time.
The FIFA Puskas Award
Which goal was the best?
Julio Enciso (for Brighton vs Manchester City)
Guilherme Madruga (for Botafogo vs Novorizontino)
Nuno Santos (for Sporting CP vs Boavista)
Can captains and coaches vote for themselves?
National team captains can vote for coaches from the national team they represent, while national team captains and coaches can also vote for players from the national team they represent.
National team captains and coaches are, however, not permitted to vote for themselves.
Fans have their say
Fan voting for the award categories opened on September 14, 2023 and closed on October 6, 2023. Over one million fan votes were received from around the world.
As well as top players and coaches, there is also an award for the best goal over the period in question. The Puskás Award - named after that genius with the ball Hungary’s Ferenc Puskás - is quite the accolade, and it often involves less household names.
Messi The Best
A year ago, Lionel Messi won the 2022 FIFA’s Best Men’s Player award, beating off then PSG team-mate Kylian Mbappé, who he also edged past in a more collective manner a few months earlier when Argentina overcame France in the World Cup final.
That was Messi’s seventh top award win in 14 years, breaking the record he tied with six-time Best Women’s Player, Marta from Brazil.
Mbappé was looking to get his first FIFA Best Player award and was on the three-man shortlist alongside Messi and fellow Frenchman Karim Benzema.
Even when he played with France when they won the World Cup in 2018, Mbappé came in fourth in voting. In the end, Messi had 52 total points, Mbappé had 44, and Benzema had 34.
For the third year running, there is no place for the man who finished 2023 as the top goalscorer worldwide, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese icon won the first two Best FIFA Men’s Player awards in 2016 and 2017, pipping Leo Messi to the prize on both occasions. However, he has missed out on the final shortlist for a third time in succession and wasn’t even on the initial list of nominees for the second year in a row.
Who featured on the expert panels?
Women’s awards: Mercy Akide (Nigeria), Shirley Cruz (Costa Rica), Amy Duggan (Australia), Isabella Echeverri (Colombia), Mia Hamm (USA), Jessica Houara (France), Mana Iwabuchi (Japan), Manon Melis (Netherlands), Patrizia Panico (Italy), Clémentine Touré (Côte d’Ivoire) and Kirsty Yallop (New Zealand).
Men’s awards: Petr Čech (Czechia), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Brett Emerton (Australia), Rio Ferdinand (England), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Kaká (Brazil), Mario Kempes (Argentina), Alexi Lalas (USA), Jon Obi Mikel (Nigeria), Park Ji-sung (Korea Republic) and Ivan Vicelich (New Zealand).
How have the shortlists been drawn up?
Nominations for the awards have been compiled by FIFA in collaboration with football stakeholders. Shortlists were then determined by two separate panels of experts in both men's and women's football, with these panels comprising of former players and coaches.
The Best FIFA Women’s Player
Following their win at the 2023 Women’s World Cup Down Under, Spain have two nominations on the shortlist in the shape of Aitana Bonmatí and Jenni Hermoso.
The Spanish pair are joined by Colombia's extremely talented Linda Caicedo.
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper
Here are the three nominees for the Women's goalkeeper award:
Mackenzie Arnold (Australia / West Ham)
Catalina Coll (Spain / FC Barcelona)
Mary Earps (England / Man United)
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper
Despite being out of action this season, Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois has been outstanding for Los Blancos as has been Bounou for Morocco, Sevilla and now Al Hilal, but the favourite is Ederson for his role in securing Manchester City’s treble.
Yassine Bounou (Morocco / Sevilla-Al Hilal)
Thibaut Courtois (Belgium / Real Madrid)
Ederson (Brazil / Manchester City)
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According to DirecTV Sports Argentina, Lionel Messi will not attend the award ceremony as he has stayed in Miami to train with Inter Miami as they continue with their preseason ahead of Friday's friendly in El Salvador.
What time does The Best FIFA Football Awards start?
The Best Awards will get underway in London at 2:30 p.m. (ET), 11:30 a.m. (PT).
Messi, last year's winner
Inter Miami and Argentina forward Lionel Messi won The Best Award last year and has been nominated again this year, alongside fellow forwards Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé.
The Best FIFA Women’s Player
The three female players hoping to win The Best for 2023:
Aitana Bonmatí
Linda Caicedo
Jennifer Hermoso
The Best FIFA Men’s Player
Here are today's nominees:
Erling Haaland
Kylian Mbappé
Lionel Messi
Henry co-hosting The Best
Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry is co-hosting today's awards in London.
The Best FIFA Football Awards: welcome!
Hello and welcome to AS USA's coverage of The Best FIFA Football Awards live from London.
I'm Kieran Quaile and I'll be taking you through all the coverage and, of course, the winners.