Lionel Messi is officially among this year’s best…
The 35-year-old Argentine professional footballer and his fellow Argentina players have made the shortlist for FIFA’s Best awards following the country’s World Cup triumph.
Messi is among the 14 players shortlisted for The Best FIFA Men’s Player award, alongside Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe and Manchester City‘s Erling Haaland and others, the world governing body has announced.
The trio are joined by last year’s winner Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona, Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, Liverpool‘s Mohamed Salah and PSG’s Neymar and Achraf Hakimi.
Real Madrid‘s Karim Benzema, who won the 2022 Ballon d’Or award, is also on the shortlist.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo was left off the list of nominees for the first time.
Ronaldo, who was released by Manchester United and benched by Portugal during the World Cup before signing for Saudi Arabia‘s Al Nassr, won the FIFA award the first two times it was handed out — in 2016 and 2017 — and was among the three finalists the following three years. This was the first time he was not even selected as a contender by a FIFA-appointed expert panel.
Barca and Arsenal dominate the women’s award with three players each, including Alexia Putellas, Keira Walsh and Aitana Bonmati for the Spanish champions. The English side are represented by Leah Williamson, Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead.
Chelsea duo Sam Kerr and Jessie Fleming and Olympique Lyonnais‘ Ada Hegerberg and Wendie Renard also make the cut.
Sarina Wiegman, who led England to Euros success last year, is joined on The Best FIFA Women’s Coach shortlist by Chelsea‘s Emma Hayes and Germany manager Martina Voss-Tecklenburg.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola are nominated for the men’s award, along with Argentina’s Lionel Scaloni, France boss Didier Deschamps and Morocco manager Walid Regragui.
Liverpool’s Alisson, Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois and Aston Villa‘s Emiliano Martinez are among the nominees for The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper award.
FIFA said it will announce the three finalists in each category in early February.
FIFA also announced an 11-player shortlist for this year’s Puskas Award for the “most beautiful” goal of the year, with Mbappe’s spectacular volley against Argentina in the World Cup final among the nominees.
The nominees are listed below in alphabetical order:
The Best FIFA Women’s Player:
Aitana Bonmatí (Spain / FC Barcelona)
Debinha (Brazil / North Carolina Courage)
Jessie Fleming (Canada / Chelsea FC Women)
Ada Hegerberg (Norway / Olympique Lyonnais)
Sam Kerr (Australia / Chelsea FC Women)
Beth Mead (England / Arsenal WFC)
Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands / Arsenal WFC)
Alex Morgan (USA / Orlando Pride / San Diego Wave)
Lena Oberdorf (Germany / VfL Wolfsburg)
Alexandra Popp (Germany / VfL Wolfsburg)
Alexia Putellas (Spain / FC Barcelona)
Wendie Renard (France / Olympique Lyonnais)
Keira Walsh (England / Manchester City WFC / FC Barcelona)
Leah Williamson (England / Arsenal WFC)
The Best FIFA Men’s Player:
Julián Álvarez (Argentina / River Plate / Manchester City FC)
Jude Bellingham (England / BV Borussia 09 Dortmund)
Karim Benzema (France / Real Madrid CF)
Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium / Manchester City FC)
Erling Haaland (Norway / BV Borussia 09 Dortmund / Manchester City FC)
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco / Paris Saint-Germain)
Robert Lewandowski (Poland / FC Bayern München / FC Barcelona)
Sadio Mané (Senegal / Liverpool FC / FC Bayern München)
Kylian Mbappé (France / Paris Saint-Germain)
Lionel Messi (Argentina / Paris Saint-Germain)
Luka Modrić (Croatia / Real Madrid CF)
Neymar (Brazil / Paris Saint-Germain)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt / Liverpool FC)
Vinícius Junior (Brazil / Real Madrid CF)
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach:
Sonia Bompastor (France / Olympique Lyonnais)
Emma Hayes (England / Chelsea FC Women)
Bev Priestman (England / Canadian National Team)
Pia Sundhage (Sweden / Brazilian National Team)
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (Germany / German National Team)
Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands / English National Team)
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach:
Carlo Ancelotti (Italy / Real Madrid CF)
Didier Deschamps (France / French National Team)
Pep Guardiola (Spain / Manchester City FC)
Walid Regragui (Morocco / Wydad AC / Moroccan National Team)
Lionel Scaloni (Argentina / Argentinian National Team)
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper:
Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany / Chelsea FC Women)
Mary Earps (England / Manchester United WFC)
Christiane Endler (Chile / Olympique Lyonnais)
Merle Frohms (Germany / Eintracht Frankfurt / VfL Wolfsburg)
Alyssa Naeher (USA / Chicago Red Stars)
Sandra Paños García-Villamil (Spain / FC Barcelona)
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper:
Álisson Becker (Brazil / Liverpool FC)
Yassine Bounou (Morocco / Sevilla FC)
Thibaut Courtois (Belgium / Real Madrid CF)
Ederson (Brazil / Manchester City FC)
Emiliano Martínez (Argentina / Aston Villa FC)
The FIFA Puskás Award:
Mario Balotelli (Italy): Adana Demirspor v. Göztepe Spor Kulübü [Süper Lig] (22 May 2022)
Amandine Henry (France): FC Barcelona v. Olympique Lyonnais [UEFA Women’s Champions League] (21 May 2022)
Théo Hernández (France): AC Milan v. Atalanta [Serie A] (15 May 2022)
Alou Kuol (Australia): Iraq U23 v. Australia U23 [AFC U23 Asian Cup] (4 June 2022)
Kylian Mbappé (France): Argentina v. France [FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™] (18 December 2022)
Francisco González Metilli (Argentina): Club Atlético Central Córdoba v. Club Atlético Rosario Central [Primera División] (1 August 2022)
Marcin Oleksy (Poland): Warta Poznań v. Stal Rzeszów [PZU Amp Futbol Ekstraklasa] (6 November 2022)
Salma Paralluelo (Spain): FC Barcelona v. Villarreal CF [Liga F] (2 April 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)
Alessia Russo (England): England v. Sweden [UEFA Women’s EURO 2022] (26 July 2022)
The Best FIFA Fan Award:
Abdullah Al Salmi (Saudi Arabia): Abdullah journeyed by foot from his hometown of Jeddah to Qatar, hiking across the Saudi Arabian desert, to support his national team at the FIFA World Cup.
Argentinian National Team fans (Argentina): Argentina fans travelled to Qatar in impressive numbers to provide incredible support for their team’s ultimately victorious FIFA World Cup campaign, and millions of fans then welcomed their heroes home to Buenos Aires and across the country.
Japanese National Team fans (Japan): Japan fans earned worldwide recognition for their tradition of staying behind to help clean the stadium after World Cup games.