Nike or Adidas? beer or wine? Pepsi or Coca Cola? Ballon d’Or or the best? However, opinions will be largely divided on the first three of these questions only a few will likely be able to unwind a list of winners of The Best just like Ballon d’Or winners.
First introduced in 2017 with the aim of reviving the FIFA World Player Gala, which the Football Association created as a Ballon d’Or competition 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 good performance in the 2022 calendar year. This is in contrast to the Ballon d’Or, which focuses on player performance between August and May (a European winter season). Or at least claims so.
When does The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 take place?
The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 will take place on February 27, 2023, in Paris (France) and for For the first time since January 2020, guests will be able to attend the event in person and not virtually (due to the Covid-19 pandemic, just in case you forgot…).
Who are the nominees for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022?
Best FIFA Men’s Player:
After his World Cup exploits Lionel Messi must be favorite picking up the men’s award. Current Ballon d’Or holder Karim Benzema is one of three Real Madrid players who made it onto the original shortlist after their Champions League win.
- Karim Benzema (France / Real Madrid CF)
- Kylian Mbappé (France / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Lionel Messi (Argentina / Paris Saint-Germain)
The best FIFA player:
Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas was nominated, although he was nominated out since July after a cruciate ligament tear. Beth Met and Alex Morgan are also on the three-man shortlist.
- Beth Mead (England/Arsenal WFC)
- Alex Morgan (USA / Orlando Pride / San Diego Wave)
- Alexia Putellas (Spain / FC Barcelona)
Best FIFA Men’s Coach:
Argentina’s world champion coach Lionel Scaloni Unsurprisingly, it makes the list and along with it will be the favorite to win the award Real Madrid’s Champions League winner boss Carlo Ancelotti and City’s Guardiola.
- Carlo Ancelotti (Italy / Real Madrid CF)
- Pep Guardiola (Spain / Manchester City FC)
- Lionel Scaloni (Argentina / Argentina National Team)
Best FIFA Women’s Coach:
It’s hard to see past Sonja Bompastor from Champions League winner Lyon or from the Netherlands Sarina Wiegmanwhich gave England’s first-ever win in a major tournament at the European Championships, for this one.
- Sonia Bompastor (France / Olympique Lyon)
- Pia Sundhage (Sweden / Brazil national team)
- Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands / England national team)
The Best FIFA Goalkeeper Men:
Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois made a record number of saves in a Champions League final as his side beat Liverpool to lift the trophy while Emiliano Martinez made headlines for his Penalty shootout / exploits in the World Cup final for Argentina.
- Yassine Bounou (Morocco / Sevilla FC)
- Thibaut Courtois (Belgium / Real Madrid CF)
- Emiliano Martinez (Argentina / Aston Villa FC)
Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper:
Again, players who have won team trophies tend to come out on top in individual prizes, which means Christine Endler, a Champions League winner with Lyon and Maria Earps, who starred in their European Championship victory for England, can come out on top here.
- Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany / Chelsea FC Women)
- Mary Earps (England / Manchester United WFC)
- Christiane Endler (Chile / Olympique Lyon)
The FIFA Puskás Award (for best goal):
- Marcin Oleksi (Poland): Warta Posen v. Stal Rzeszow [PZU Amp Futbol Ekstraklasa] (November 6, 2022)
- Dimitri Payet (France): Olympique de Marseille v. PAOK Thessaloniki [UEFA Europa Conference League] (April 7, 2022)
- Richardson (Brazil): Brazil v. Serbia [FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022] (11/24/2022)
Best FIFA Fan Award:
- Abdullah Al Salmi (Saudi Arabia): Saudi Arabia fan Al Salmi hiked through the desert in his home country en route to supporting his national team at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where he watched them celebrate a famous group win over eventual winners Argentina.
- Argentina national team fans (Argentina): Argentina fans traveled to Qatar in large numbers and significantly outnumbered fans from other nations in every game they played. Millions of fans then lined the streets from Buenos Aires – and other cities – to welcome Argentina home as champions.
- Japan National Team Fans (Japan): Japan national team fans are known around the world for keeping stadiums clean after matches and continued this tradition at the World Cup in Qatar.
How were the nominees for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 selected?
The nominees for the Best Player, Goalkeeper and Coach awards were selected by two expert panels – one for men’s soccer and one for women’s soccer.
Who will vote at The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022?
Media, national team coaches, national team captains and the general public can vote in any of The Best FIFA Football Awards categories.
How can I vote at The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022?
The general public had until 02/03/2023 to vote on FIFA.com.