The 14 finalists for the men’s category of the FIFA Best Players award has been announced with World Cup-winning duo of Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez making the cut alongside finalist Kylian Mbappe and England’s Jude Bellingham who plays for Borrussia Dortmund with Real Madrid trio of Karim Benzema, Vinicius Jr. and Luka Modric adding extra spice to the list.
Chelsea’s Sam Kerr and Jessie Fleming are nominated for the women’s award, as is last year’s winner Alexia Putellas, Beth Mead and Norwegian Ada Hegerberg.
Arsenal forward Mead’s nomination comes in a year in which she was named player of the tournament at Euro 2022 and shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or.
In some great news for Premier League fans, Liverpool’s Alisson Becker, Manchester City’s Ederson and Aston Villa and Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez are up for the best men’s goalkeeper award alongside Morocco’s Yacine Bonou who features regularly for La Liga side Sevilla.
England and Manchester United number one Mary Earps is on the women’s shortlist, alongside Chelsea’s Ann-Katrin Berger.
Alessia Russo’s backheeled finish in England’s Euro 2022 semi-final win over Sweden is among the contenders for the Fifa Puskas Award for the year’s best goal. She will face competition from Kylian Mbappe’s stunning volley for France, which took the World Cup final to extra time.
Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman, who led the team to their first major tournament trophy at Euro 2022, is joined on the women’s coach list by Canada’s English-born manager Beverly Priestman, as well as Chelsea’s Emma Hayes.
The Chelsea coach, who won the Fifa Best award last year, became the first manager to guide a side to three consecutive WSL titles in May.
Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti, France’s Didier Deschamps and Argentina’s World Cup-winning manager Lionel Scaloni are nominated for best men’s coach alongside Pep Guardiola. Morocco’s Walid Regragui also features on the shortlist after his side became the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final.
Voting closes on 3 February, with the three finalists in each category to be announced later that month.