Final three nominees for The Best FIFA Women’s Player and The Best FIFA Men’s Player announced

Argentina's Lionel Messi gestures during the closed-door 2022 FIFA World Cup South American qualifier football match against Paraguay at La Bombonera Stadium in Buenos Aires on November 12, 2020. (Photo by Juan Ignacio RONCORONI / POOL / AFP)
Argentina’s Lionel Messi gestures during the closed-door 2022 FIFA World Cup South American qualifier football match against Paraguay at La Bombonera Stadium in Buenos Aires on November 12, 2020. (Photo by Juan Ignacio RONCORONI / POOL / AFP)

FIFA has announced the finalists for The Best FIFA Women’s Player (fifa.fans/3eY3GiH) and The Best FIFA Men’s Player (fifa.fans/3G5VSHE) awards. FIFA Legends Kristine Lilly and Sami Khedira discussed the nominees during a live-streamed announcement event and analysed their chances of winning these prestigious prizes.

The final three nominees for The Best FIFA Women’s Player are (in alphabetical order):

  • Jennifer Hermoso (Spain / FC Barcelona)
  • Sam Kerr (Australia / Chelsea FC Women)
  • Alexia Putellas (Spain / FC Barcelona)

The final three nominees for The Best FIFA Men’s Player are (in alphabetical order):

  • Robert Lewandowski (Poland / FC Bayern München)
  • Lionel Messi (Argentina / FC Barcelona / Paris Saint-Germain)
  • Mohamed Salah (Egypt / Liverpool FC)

These two awards are given to the outstanding players in women’s and men’s football as voted for by an international jury respectively comprising the current coaches of all women’s/men’s national teams (one per team), the current captains of all women’s/men’s national teams (one per team), one specialist journalist from each territory represented by a national team and fans registered on FIFA.com.

The full voting and award process is detailed in the Rules of Allocation (fifa.fans/3zzW1AO).

All the winners of The Best FIFA Football Awards™ 2021, including the recipients of the FIFA Fan Award (fifa.fans/3EX4E9r) and the FIFA Fair Play Award (fifa.fans/33743F9), will be crowned on 17 January during a TV show broadcast live from the Home of FIFA in Zurich.

You can view the final nominees in the other categories by following the links below: