The International Football Federation (FIFA) has revealed the list of nominees for its annual awards, including the "Best" (The Best) award, half of whom are Manchester City players, who clinched a historic treble in the 2022-2023 season, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League.
City players competing for the Best Player in the World award include Belgian Kevin De Bruyne, Norwegian Erling Haaland, Argentine Julián Álvarez, Spanish Rodri, Portuguese Bernardo Silva, and German Ilkay Gündoğan, who is currently with Barcelona. They face competition from last year's winner, Argentine Lionel Messi, and his former teammate at Paris Saint-Germain, Frenchman Kylian Mbappé.
Also on the list is Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozović from Al-Nassr, who played last season with Inter Milan, Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and his Nigerian teammate Victor Osimhen from Napoli, and Englishman Declan Rice, who transferred from West Ham United to Arsenal this summer.
Spanish coach Pep Guardiola of City is competing for the Best Coach award, alongside Italians Simone Inzaghi (Inter), Luciano Spalletti (current Italy national team and last season with Napoli), Australian Ange Postecoglou (last season with Celtic and currently with Tottenham Hotspur), and Spaniard Xavi (Barcelona).
The nomination list for the Best Female Coach includes Englishwoman Emma Hayes and Dutchwoman Sarina Wiegman, winners of the award in 2021 and 2022 respectively, along with Swedish Peter Gerhardsson (Sweden national team), Spaniard Jonathan Giráldez (Barcelona), and Swedish Tony Gustavsson (Australia national team).
The list of nominees for Best Female Player features standout performers from the Australia-New Zealand World Cup, including Spanish world champions Aitana Bonmatí, named Best Player of the World Cup, Salma Paralluelo, Englishwoman Alex Greenwood, and Frenchwoman Kadidiatou Diani.
Moroccan international Yassine Bounou, who transferred this summer from Sevilla to Al-Hilal, is competing for the Best Goalkeeper award against Belgian Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Brazilian Ederson (Liverpool), Cameroonian André Onana (Inter Milan then Manchester United), and German Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona).
FIFA also awards the Fan Award and the Puskás Award for the Best Goal of the Year. The federation clarified that the winners of the Best Player, Best Female Player, Best Goalkeeper, Best Coach, and Best Female Coach will be selected by an international committee consisting of current coaches in both categories (one coach from each team), current team captains (one player from each team), a journalist from the football world from each country or region represented by a national team, and fans from around the world registered on the FIFA website.
