The very best of the football world will congregate in Paris this evening for the annual The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony.
A total of nine awards will be handed out at the glitzy event, including the two marquee awards of The Best FIFA men’s and women’s players.
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema and the Paris Saint-Germain duo of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi have been nominated for the men’s award, while Alex Morgan, Alexia Putellas and England’s Beth Mead are vying for the women’s award.
Here is everything you need to know about tonight’s ceremony, including what time it starts, how to watch and who has been nominated.
When is The Best FIFA Football Awards?
The ceremony will take place tonight (Monday, February 27) at 8pm GMT.
How to watch live
Viewers in the UK will be able to watch the event live and for free on FIFA+ and FIFA’s official YouTube channel.
The BBC will also have live coverage on the BBC Sport website and iPlayer.
What are the awards and who has been nominated?
Full list of awards and nominees
The Best FIFA Men’s Player
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
- Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
The Best FIFA Women’s Player
- Beth Mead (Arsenal)
- Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave)
- Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper
- Yassine Bounou (Sevilla)
- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
- Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper
- Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea)
- Mary Earps (Manchester United)
- Christiane Endler (Lyon)
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach
- Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid)
- Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
- Lionel Scaloni (Argentina)
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach
- Sonia Bompastor (Lyon)
- Pia Sundhage (Brazil)
- Sarina Wiegman (England)
The FIFA Puskas Award
- Marcin Oleksy (vs Stal Rzeszow)
- Dmitri Payet (vs PAOK Thessaloniki)
- Richarlison (vs Serbia)
The FIFA Fan Award
- Abdullah Alsulmi (Saudi Arabia fan who spent 55 days walking across the Arabian desert to watch them play at the World Cup)
The FIFA Fair Play Award
- Argentinian fans
- Japanese fans
How are the winners decided?
The candidates for each category were selected by FIFA based on performances in 2022.
The shortlist was then voted on by media representatives, national team coaches, national team captains and fans to decide the winner.
The votes are weighted equally between the four groups, meaning that each group has a 25 per cent say in the outcome.
This is different to the Ballon d’Or, which is decided by the top football journalists from around the world casting a vote.
What are The Best awards and who are the previous winners?
The Best awards were created by FIFA in 2016 to sit alongside the Ballon d’Or, which is considered the greatest individual prize on offer in the game.
According to FIFA, the awards ‘crown the outstanding figures in world football.’
Robert Lewandowski has won the award for the last two years, adding his name to the list of winners alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Messi.
The women’s award has had six different winners to date, including England’s Lucy Bronze who was victorious in 2020.
The Best FIFA Football Awards previous winners
Best Men’s Player
- 2016 – Cristiano Ronaldo
- 2017 – Cristiano Ronaldo
- 2018 – Luka Modric
- 2019 – Lionel Messi
- 2020 – Robert Lewandowski
- 2021 – Robert Lewandowski
Best Women’s Player
- 2016 – Carli Lloyd
- 2017 – Lieke Martens
- 2018 – Marta
- 2019 – Megan Rapinoe
- 2020 – Lucy Bronze
- 2021 – Alexia Putellas
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