SOCCER
Who are the nominees for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022?
Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzema are on the shortlist for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022.
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Nike or Adidas? Beer or wine? Pepsi or Coca-Cola? Ballon d’Or or The Best? Opinion will largely be split on the first three of those questions, although few will probably be able to reel off a list of The Best winners in the same way as they can Ballon d’Or victors.
First introduced in 2017 with the aim of reviving the FIFA World Player Gala, which soccer’s governing body created as competition for the Ballon d’Or after the 1990 World Cup but discontinued in 2009, the 2023 event will be the seventh edition and will see some star names – both old and new – rewarded for their fine displays in the calendar year of 2022. That’s in contrast to the Ballon d’Or, which focuses on player performances between August and May (a European winter season). Or at least it claims to do so.
When will The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 take place?
The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 will take place on 27 February 2023, in Paris (France) and for the first time since January 2020, guests will be able to attend the event in person rather than virtually (due to the covid-19 pandemic, just in case you’d forgotten about that…).
Who are the nominees for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022?
The Best FIFA Men’s Player:
After his World Cup heroics, Lionel Messi must be favourite the pick up the men’s award. Current Ballon d’Or holder Karim Benzema is one of three Real Madrid players who made the original short-list after their Champions League victory.
- Karim Benzema (France / Real Madrid CF)
- Kylian Mbappé (France / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Lionel Messi (Argentina / Paris Saint-Germain)
The Best FIFA Women’s Player:
Ballon d’Or holder Alexia Putellas has been nominated despite having been out since July after suffering an ACL tear. Beth Mead and Alex Morgan also make the three-player short-list.
- Beth Mead (England / Arsenal WFC)
- Alex Morgan (USA / Orlando Pride / San Diego Wave)
- Alexia Putellas (Spain / FC Barcelona)
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach:
Argentina’s World Cup winning coach Lionel Scaloni unsurprisingly makes the list and will be favourite to win the award along with Champions-League winning Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti and City’s Guardiola.
- Carlo Ancelotti (Italy / Real Madrid CF)
- Pep Guardiola (Spain / Manchester City FC)
- Lionel Scaloni (Argentina / Argentinian National Team)
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach:
It’s hard to see past Sonia Bompastor of Champions League winners Lyon or Dutchwoman Sarina Wiegman, who oversaw England’s first ever major tournament victory at the European Championships, for this one.
- Sonia Bompastor (France / Olympique Lyonnais)
- Pia Sundhage (Sweden / Brazilian National Team)
- Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands / English National Team)
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper:
Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois made a record number of saves in a Champions League final as his side defeated Liverpool to win the trophy, while Emiliano Martínez hit the headlines for his penalty shootout antics/heroics in the World Cup final for Argentina.
- Yassine Bounou (Morocco / Sevilla FC)
- Thibaut Courtois (Belgium / Real Madrid CF)
- Emiliano Martínez (Argentina / Aston Villa FC)
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper:
Again, players who have won team trophies also tend to come out on top in individual awards, which means Christine Endler, a Champions League winner with Lyon and Mary Earps, who starred for England in their Euros win, may have the edge here.
- Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany / Chelsea FC Women)
- Mary Earps (England / Manchester United WFC)
- Christiane Endler (Chile / Olympique Lyonnais)
The FIFA Puskás Award (for best goal):
- Marcin Oleksy (Poland): Warta Poznań v. Stal Rzeszów [PZU Amp Futbol Ekstraklasa] (6 November 2022)
- Dimitri Payet (France): Olympique de Marseille v. PAOK Thessaloniki [UEFA Europa Conference League] (7 April 2022)
- Richarlison (Brazil): Brazil v. Serbia [FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022] (24 November 2022)
The Best FIFA Fan Award:
- Abdullah Al Salmi (Saudi Arabia): Saudi Arabia fan Al Salmi hiked across the desert in his home country on his way to support his national team at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where he saw them record a famous group-stage victory over eventual winners Argentina.
- Argentinian National Team fans (Argentina): Argentina fans travelled to Qatar in huge numbers and significantly outnumbered supporters from other nations in every match they played. Millions of fans then lined the streets of Buenos Aires - and other cities - to welcome Argentina home as champions.
- Japanese National Team fans (Japan): Japan national team fans have become well-known around the globe for helping clean stadiums after games and continued that tradition at the World Cup in Qatar.
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How were the nominees for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 selected?
Nominees for The Best players’, goalkeepers’ and coaches’ awards were chosen by two expert panels – one of men’s soccer and another for women’s soccer.
Who votes in The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022?
Media representatives, national team coaches, national team captains and the general public can all vote in each of the The Best FIFA Football Awards categories.
How can I vote in The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022?
The general public were able to vote through to 3/2/2023 on FIFA.com.