Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah are some of the players favoured to win the award.
Every year, sentiments boil over as fans debate the best player in the world. There are several awards to appreciate players for their achievements and contributions to the game. Many have argued that there are no perfect criteria for choosing the best player in the world, yet each year emotions get high with these awards.
The world football governing body FIFA has struggled for relevance in the awards game and temporarily merged with the France Football awards to create the FIFA Ballon d’Or. The merger ended in 1991 with the birth of a new award - The best FIFA Men and Women’s player award.
The nominees for this year are out, and the list consists of the usual suspects, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi topping the list. Bookmakers already have the aforementioned due as their top favorites to win the award.
The nominee's list
As per the FIFA website, an 11-man list is out for the Best FIFA Men's Player award for 2021. The list has the current holder, Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, alongside Italy and France midfielders Jorginho and N’golo Kante.
The list cannot be complete without Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The duo have won the award three times between them. Others are France and Brazil forwards Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, with Liverpool star Mohamed Salah also on the list.
Borussia Dortmund is represented on the list by Erling Haaland, Manchester City have Kevin De Bruyne, while Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema completes the list.
With the votes decided by media representatives, national team coaches, national team captains and the fans, it remains to be seen if the Polish striker will retain his title this year.
Other awards
The other categories are the Best FIFA Men's Coach and the Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper award.
In the award for coaches, there are seven nominees. They include Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. The City boss won the English Premiership and led his team to the UEFA Champions League final. Italy coach Roberto Mancini is also on the list after leading the Azzurri to EURO 2020 glory.
Others on the list are Hansi Flick, for his achievements with Bayern Munich. Chelsea’s manager Thomas Tuchel is a nominee because of his UEFA Champions League triumph, with Diego Simeone of Atletico Madrid, Antonio Conte and Argentina’s Lionel Scaloni completing the list.
The goalkeeper’s award comprises Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker heading the list with Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG), Edouard Mendy (Chelsea), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) and Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City).
The Best FIFA Women's Player has on its shortlist Alexia Putellas, Jennifer Hermoso (Barcelona), Penille Harder (Chelsea), Ellen White, Lucy Bronze (Manchester City) and Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal).
Luis Cortes (Barcelona), Peter Gerhardsson (Sweden), Emma Hayes (Chelsea), Beverly Priestmann (Canada) and Sarina Wiegman (England) will vie for the Best FIFA Women's Coach prize.
The vote by the public will run till 23:59 CET on December 10, which will see the list trimmed to a final three, with winners for each category announced before the ceremony on January 17 2022.
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