The international football federation, FIFA has revealed the nominees for the Best FIFA Football Awards 2022.
The awards include categories of Best Women’s Player, Men’s Player, Best Women’s Coach, Best Men’s Coach, Best Women’s Goalkeeper, Best Men’s Goalkeeper, Puskás Award and Best Fan Award.
Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi is among the nominees for the 2022 Fifa Best Mens player alongside his teammates Kylian Mbappe and Neymar along with the current award holder, Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski.
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.
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.
List of nominees:
Best FIFA Men’s Player nominees: Julian Alvarez (Argentina /River Plate/Manchester City); Jude Bellingham (England/Borussia Dortmund); Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid); Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City); Erling Haaland (Norway/Borussia Dortmund /Manchester City); Achraf Hakimi (Morocco/Paris Saint-Germain); Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern München/Barcelona); Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool/Bayern München); Kylian Mbappe (France/Paris Saint-Germain); Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain); Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid); Neymar (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain); Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool); Vinicius Junior (Brazil/Real Madrid).
Best FIFA Women’s Player nominees: Aitana Bonmati (Spain/Barcelona); Debinha (Brazil /North Carolina Courage); Jessie Fleming (Canada/Chelsea Women); Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Olympique Lyonnais); Sam Kerr (Australia/Chelsea Women); Beth Mead (England/Arsenal WFC); Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal WFC); Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride/San Diego Wave); Lena Oberdorf (Germany/Wolfsburg); Alexandra Popp (Germany/Wolfsburg); Alexia Putellas (Spain/Barcelona); Wendie Renard (France/Olympique Lyonnais); Keira Walsh (England/Manchester City WFC/Barcelona); Leah Williamson (England/Arsenal WFC).
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach nominees: Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid); Didier Deschamps (France/France); Pep Guardiola (Spain/Manchester City); Walid Regragui (Morocco/Morocco); Lionel Scaloni (Argentina/Argentina).
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach nominees: Sonia Bompastor (France/Olympique Lyonnais); Emma Hayes (England/Chelsea Women); Bev Priestman (England/Canada); Pia Sundhage (Sweden/Brazil); Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (Germany/Germany); Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands/England).
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper nominees: Alisson Becker (Brazil/Liverpool); Yassine Bounou (Morocco/Sevilla); Thibaut Courtois (Belgium/Real Madrid); Ederson (Brazil/Manchester City); Emiliano Martinez (Argentina/Aston Villa).
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper nominees: Christiane Endler (Chile/Olympique Lyonnais); Ann-Katrin Berger (German/Chelsea); Mary Earps (England/Manchester United); Merle Frohms (German/Wolfsburg); Alyssa Naeher (US/Chicago Red Stars); Sandra Panos Garcia-Villamil (Spain /Barcelona).
FIFA Puskas Award nominees: Mario Balotelli; Amandine Henry; Theo Hernandez; Alou Kuol; Kylian Mbappe; Francisco Gonzalez Metilli; Marcin Oleksy; Salma Paralluelo; Richarlison; Alessia Russo; Dimitri Payet.
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.
