The world football governing body, FIFA, has announced the nominees for The Best FIFA award 2021. Public voting has opened on FIFA’s official website.
There are seven categories for this year’s edition of the award – The Best FIFA Women’s Player, The Best FIFA Men’s Player, The Best FIFA Women’s Coach, The Best FIFA Men’s Coach, The Best FIFA Female’s goalkeeper, The Best FIFA Male’s goalkeeper, and the FIFA Puskas Award.
The winner of the last edition of the men’s player category, Robert Lewandowski, is contending for The Best FIFA award 2021. In this year’s edition, the Bayern Munich and Poland’s striker will battle with the European Championship and European Champions League winner: Jorginho of Chelsea and Italy.
Another major contender for the category of the award is N’Golo Kanté of Chelsea and France who helped Chelsea to win the Champions League and helped France to win the UEFA Nations League.
However, the regular winners of the awards like Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Manchester United, and Lionel Messi of Argentina and Paris Saint Germain might earn the prestigious football award ahead of Kante and Jorginho if it becomes a popularity contest.
A category of The Best FIFA award 2021 that might interest a lot of people is the men’s goalkeeper category. Most people would want to see whether Édouard Mendy of Chelsea and Senegal would be able to win the award ahead of Alisson Becker of Brazil and Liverpool, Gianluigi Donnarumma of Italy and Paris Saint Germain; and Manuel Neuer of Bayern Munich and Germany.
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach category of the award is another aspect of the award that would interest a lot of football enthusiasts. The best coaches in Europe are in the category but from all indications, the battle will be between, Roberto Mancini of the Italian national team, Lionel Sebastián Scaloni of the Argentinian national team, Thomas Tuchel of Chelsea, and Hansi Flick of the German national team.
The nominees for the FIFA Puskas Award, a category of The Best FIFA award 2021 that awards the best goal of the year, will be announced at a later date.
Below is how to vote for the nominees for The Best FIFA award and important dates
You can vote for the nominees for The Best FIFA award 2021 by visiting FIFA.com. Any member of the public who has an account on the website can vote for the nominees of his choice.
The public voting is on and it will last until 23:59 CET on 10 December 2021.
Afterward, FIFA will announce the three finalists in each of the seven categories in early January according to the football governing body.
On January 17, 2021, FIFA will announce the winners of The Best FIFA award at an online ceremony.
Below are all the nominees under seven categories for The Best FIFA award 2021
The Best FIFA Women’s Player:
Stina Blackstenius (Sweden / BK Häcken)
Aitana Bonmati (Spain / FC Barcelona)
Lucy Bronze (England / Manchester City WFC)
Magdalena Eriksson (Sweden / Chelsea FC Women)
Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway / FC Barcelona)
Pernille Harder (Denmark / Chelsea FC Women)
Jennifer Hermoso (Spain / FC Barcelona)
Ji So-yun (Korea Repuiblic / Chelsea FC Women)
Sam Kerr (Australia / Chelsea FC Women)
Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands / Arsenal WFC)
Ellen White (England / Manchester City WFC)
Alexia Putellas (Spain / FC Barcelona)
Christine Sinclair (Canada / Portland Thorns FC)
The Best FIFA Men’s Player:
Karim Benzema (France / Real Madrid CF)
Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium / Manchester City FC)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal / Juventus FC / Manchester United FC)
Robert Lewandowski (Poland / FC Bayern München)
Lionel Messi (Argentina / FC Barcelona / Paris Saint-Germain)
Neymar (Brazil / Paris Saint-Germain)
Erling Haaland (Norway / BV Borussia 09 Dortmund)
Jorginho (Italy / Chelsea FC)
N’Golo Kanté (France / Chelsea FC)
Kylian Mbappé (France / Paris Saint-Germain)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt / Liverpool FC)
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach:
Lluís Cortés (Spain / FC Barcelona)
Peter Gerhardsson (Sweden / Swedish national team)
Emma Hayes (England / Chelsea FC Women)
Beverly Priestman (England / Canadian national team)
Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands / Dutch national team / English national team)
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach:
Antonio Conte (Italy / FC Internazionale Milano / Tottenham Hotspur FC)
Hansi Flick (Germany / FC Bayern München / German national team)
Pep Guardiola (Spain / Manchester City FC)
Roberto Mancini (Italy / Italian national team)
Lionel Sebastián Scaloni (Argentina / Argentinian national team)
Diego Simeone (Argentina / Atlético de Madrid)
Thomas Tuchel (Germany / Chelsea FC)
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper:
Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany / Chelsea FC Women)
Christiane Endler (Chile / Paris Saint-Germain / Olympique Lyonnais)
Stephanie Lynn Marie Labbé (Canada / FC Rosengård / Paris Saint-Germain)
Hedvig Lindahl (Sweden / Atlético de Madrid Femenino)
Alyssa Naeher (USA / Chicago Red Stars)
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper:
Alisson Becker (Brazil / Liverpool FC)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy / AC Milan / Paris Saint-Germain)
Édouard Mendy (Senegal / Chelsea FC)
Manuel Neuer (Germany / FC Bayern München)
Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark / Leicester City FC)
