FIFA The Best Awards
To avoid no-shows, FIFA to hold ‘The Best’ award ceremony online
The ceremony will be held next Tuesday (17 December) given the lack of free dates in the packed calendar.
The ninth edition of FIFA’s ‘The Best’ awards will be held next Tuesday with the ceremony itself set to be an online event.
Twelve awards will be distributed during the event that has been confirmed for Tuesday, 17 December. The global governing body has cited the congested calendar.
To avoid the embarrassment of the previous edition in which none of the three men’s finalists were at the gala, FIFA has decided to hold it online, although not without controversy since there are many teams involved in key games next week.
Non-stop football
Thursday night sees the final round of games in the 2024-25 Conference League. Ahead of that, on Tuesday, the final round of group stage matches will also be held in the Women’s Champions League. The night after the ceremony also sees the final of the 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup being staged in Doha as Real Madrid face Pachuca.
In England, many teams are involved in League Cup action with Coppa Italia games going ahead in Italy along with a high profile Monaco-PSG Ligue 1 match...
Voting closed
The eleven awards will be decided by a combined vote featuring: 211 captains of all the national teams affiliated to FIFA, 211 national coaches, a specialist journalist representing each country and the popular vote which closed on 10 December.
The Best FIFA Male candidates
Dani Carvajal (Spain), Real Madrid
Erling Haaland (Norway), Manchester City
Federico Valverde (Uruguay), Real Madrid
Florian Wirtz (Germany), Bayer Leverkusen
Jude Bellingham (England), Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappé (France), Paris Saint-Germain/Real Madrid
Lamine Yamal (Spain), Barcelona
Lionel Messi (Argentina), Inter Miami
Rodri (Spain), Manchester City
Toni Kroos (Germany), Real Madrid (retired)
Vinícius Jr. (Brazil), Real Madrid
The Best FIFA Female candidates
Aitana Bonmatí (Spain), Barcelona
Barbra Banda (Zambia), Shanghai Shengli/Orlando Pride
Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway), Barcelona
Keira Walsh (England), Barcelona
Khadija Shaw (Jamaica), Manchester City
Lauren Hemp (England), Manchester City
Lindsey Horan (USA), Olympique Lyon
Lucy Bronze (England), Barcelona/Chelsea
Mallory Swanson (USA), Chicago Red Stars
Mariona Caldentey (Spain), Barcelona/Arsenal
Naomi Girma (USA), San Diego Wave
Ona Batlle (Spain), Barcelona
Salma Paralluelo (Spain), Barcelona
Sophia Smith (USA), Portland Thorns
Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi), Paris Saint-Germain/Olympique Lyon
Trinity Rodman (United States), Washington Spirit
Other awards that will be distributed on Tuesday include:
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper
FIFA Fan Award
FIFA Fair Play Award
FIFA Marta Award (most ‘beautiful’ goal)
FIFA Puskás Award (best goal)
The Best FIFA Men’s 11
The Best FIFA Women’s 11
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