FIFA THE BEST AWARDS
Who has won the most Best FIFA Football Awards? The winners year by year
Rodri, Vinicius and Erling Haaland are among the favorites for this year’s men’s award, while Aitana Bonmatí could repeat last year’s success.
This evening in Doha, the world’s best soccer players, coaches, fans and goals of the past 12 months will be recognized at FIFA’s ‘The Best’ gala in Doha.
The Best is a relatively new award which runs in tandem with the prestigious Ballon d’Or which was first awarded in 1956 by France Football magazine. In 1991, FIFA created its own award, the FIFA World Player of the Year which for 19 years also ran in parallel with the Ballon d’Or, until 2010 when the two awards were merged.
That arrangement lasted until 2016. FIFA decided to break away from their partnership with France Football and create their own individual award.
The first ‘The Best’ ceremony was held in January 2017 in Zurich, Switzerland, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Carli Lloyd picking up the first main awards. The voting for this award is carried out by an international jury which is made up of national team managers and captains, and a pool of journalists, while a percentage of the vote is also made by fans who vote through the FIFA website.
When are the 2024 The Best FIFA Football Awards?
The 2024 The Best FIFA Football Awards, the ninth edition of FIFA’s annual gala, will be held at Aspire Academy in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday 17 December 2024. The event is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. ET / 09:00 a.m. PT.
Inter Miami captain Lionel Messi picked up the men’s award for the last two years although he isn’t among the favorites this time. Champions League winners Real Madrid have six players among the nominees with Toni Kroos, Vinicius and Jude Bellingham among those who stood out last season.
Manchester City have contenders of their own in Erling Haaland, who won the Premier League’s Golden Boot with 27 goals, and Rodri, who played a key role as Spain were crowned European champions at Euro 2024.
Barcelona Femení captain Aitana Bonmatí received the women’s award 12 months ago after reaping success domestically and internationally - including Spain’s first Women’s World Cup. The playmaker had enjoyed another productive year, with Barça clinching the quadruple, including the Champions League - plus the Nations League with La Roja - all of which makes her one of the big favorites this year.
Among the other frontrunners are: Caroline Graham Hansen, Keira Walsh, Lauren Hemp and Salma Paralluelo.
FIFA The Best: past winners
The Best FIFA Men’s Player
- 2016: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid)
- 2017: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid)
- 2018: Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid)
- 2019: Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona)
- 2020: Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich)
- 2021: Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich)
- 2022: Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain)
- 2023: Lionel Messi (Argentina/Inter Miami)
The Best FIFA Women’s Player
- 2016: Carli Lloyd (USA/Houston Dash)
- 2017: Lieke Martens (Netherlands/FC Barcelona)
- 2018: Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride)
- 2019: Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC)
- 2020: Lucy Bronze (England/Manchester City)
- 2021: Alexia Putellas (Spain/Barcelona)
- 2022: Alexia Putellas (Spain/Barcelona)
- 2023: Aitana Bonmatí (Spain/Barcelona)
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper
- 2016: not awarded
- 2017: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/Juventus)
- 2018: Thibaut Courtois (Belgium/Chelsea/Real Madrid)
- 2019: Alisson (Brazil/Liverpool)
- 2020: Manuel Neuer (Germany/Bayern Munich)
- 2021: Édouard Mendy (Senegal/Chelsea)
- 2022: Emiliano Martínez (Argentina/Aston Villa
- 2023: Ederson (Brazil/Manchester City)
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper
- 2016: not awarded
- 2017: not awarded
- 2018: not awarded
- 2019: Sari van Veenendaal (Netherlands/Arsenal/Atlético Madrid)
- 2020: Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon)
- 2021: Christiane Endler (Chile/PSG/Lyon)
- 2022: Mary Earps (England/Manchester United)
- 2023: Mary Earps (England/Manchester United)
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach
- 2016: Claudio Ranieri (Leicester City)
- 2017: Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)
- 2018: Didier Deschamps (France)
- 2019: Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool)
- 2020: Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool)
- 2021: Thomas Tüchel (Chelsea)
- 2022: Lionel Scaloni (Argentina)
- 2023: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach
- 2016: Silvia Neid (Germany)
- 2017: Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands)
- 2018: Reynold Pedros (Lyon)
- 2019: Jill Ellis (USWNT)
- 2020: Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands)
- 2021: Emma Hayes (Chelsea)
- 2022: Sarina Wiegman (England)
- 2023: Sarina Wiegman (England)
Who has won the most FIFA The Best awards?
Given the award has only been going since 2017 (rewarding players for their 2016 performances), it is it perhaps not too much of a surprise that there have been few multiple winners.
Messi edges Cristiano to the most Best Men’s Player awards
Lionel Messi leads the men’s ranking with three wins (2019, 2022 and 2023), ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, won the first two Best Men’s awards, an achievement that has since been matched by Polish striker Robert Lewandowski (2020 and 2021).
Four for England coach Sarina Wiegman
However, the most decorated Best recipient is Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman, who in 2022 become the first person to win three awards. Having won Best Women’s Coach with the Netherlands in 2017 and 2020, she won the gong for a third time after leading England to the European Championship in the summer of 2022. She had also won the same tournament with her home nation five years earlier.
After guiding the Lionesses to the Women’s World Cup final in August 2023, Wiegman was voted the Best Women’s Coach at last year’s gala - the fourth time she has won the award.
However, the 55-year-old won’t be in line for a fifth award, at least this time around as she is not among the nominees.