Polish player Robert Lewandowski, the star of Bayern Munich, is competing to retain the title of "Best Player" at the FIFA awards after being selected on Monday for the final list of 11 players, alongside Frenchman Karim Benzema, Italian Jorginho, and Egyptian Mohamed Salah. Among the candidates for the award, which has been given since 2017, are Argentine Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain) and Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), the perennial contenders, as well as Brazilian Neymar and Frenchman Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain). The final list also includes German Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland, Chelsea's French player N'Golo Kanté, and Manchester City's Belgian star Kevin De Bruyne.
For the Best Coach award, German Thomas Tuchel is the frontrunner after leading Chelsea to victory in the Champions League, competing against Roberto Mancini, who engineered Italy's win at Euro 2020. Other candidates include Germans Hansi Flick, Spaniard Pep Guardiola, Italian Antonio Conte, and Argentinians Diego Simeone and Lionel Scaloni.
Voting will involve national team coaches and captains, as well as fans and a selected group of journalists. Voting starts on November 22 until December 10.
