Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema lead the way as FIFA announce contenders for The Best award
The Best ceremony is scheduled for February 27th in Paris. To take the World Cup into consideration, FIFA have clarified that the award will include the players' performance between August 8, 2021 and December 18th, 2022. As a result, the entire European 2021/22 season and the first half of 2022/23 will be valid.
Voting is now open until February 3rd. The public can choose their winner on FIFA's website.
Two-time winner of The Best, Robert Lewandowski, is in the running for a third title. The Pole has won the award the most times, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. FIFA created it in 2016 after breaking its partnership with France Football magazine, which began in 2010.
The French publication still awards the Ballon d'Or to the best player in the world. The last winner was Benzema, in reference to the 2021/22 season.
See the list of nominees for The Best award:
Julián Álvarez - Argentina and Manchester City
Jude Bellingham - England and Borussia Dortmund
Karim Benzema - France and Real Madrid
Kevin De Bruyne - Belgium and Manchester City
Erling Haaland - Norway and Manchester City
Achraf Hakimi - Morocco and PSG
Vinícius Júnior - Brazil and Real Madrid
Robert Lewandowski - Poland and Barcelona
Sadio Mané - Senegal and Bayern Munich
Kylian Mbappé - France and PSG
Lionel Messi - Argentina and PSG
Luka Modric - Croatia and Real Madrid
Neymar - Brazil and PSG
Mohamed Salah - Egypt and Liverpool
FIFA also announced the nominees for best goalkeeper and best coach. Among the goalkeepers, two of the five candidates are Brazilians: Alisson and Ederson. They are up against Argentine Emiliano Martinez, Moroccan Yassine Bounou the Belgian Thibaut Courtois.
Nominees for The Best goalkeeper:
Alisson - Brazil and Liverpool
Emiliano Martínez - Argentina and Aston Villa
Ederson - Brazil and Manchester City
Thibaut Courtois - Belgium and Real Madrid
Yassine Bounou - Morocco and Sevilla
With the World Cup title, the Argentine team also have coach, Lionel Scaloni, among the candidates. He is competing against two other coaches who went far in Qatar and two veterans of club football.
Nominees for The Best Coach Award
Carlo Ancelotti - Real Madrid
Didier Deschamps - France
Lionel Scaloni - Argentina
Pep Guardiola - Manchester City
Walid Regragui - Moroccan National Team
