Since their inception in 2016, The Best FIFA Football Awards have recognized the standout performers and teams in the men’s and women’s game over the preceding season. Voted for by national team coaches, captains, selected media members and fans, the annual ceremony in Zurich honors players, coaches and goals representing the pinnacle of excellence across every major competition.
The crowned Best Men’s Player, Women’s Player, Men’s Coach and Women’s Coach encapsulate visionary leadership driving teams to glory. Meanwhile, the Puskas Award immortalizes acts of impossible technical genius. Several altruistic individuals and groups have also received the Fair Play honor for exemplary integrity and selflessness befitting core sporting ideals.
As women’s football continues rapid global ascension, female trailblazers rightly share the spotlight with their male counterparts after years of previous FIFA award neglect. Since 2019, voters also select the annual FIFA FIFPro Men’s and Women’s World XI – elevens recognizing standout performers at Europe’s elite club level.
The dominant forces across this six-year span highlights the sustained excellence necessary to repeatedly earn acclaim ahead of the world’s finest talent. Let’s dive deeper into The Best FIFA Football Awards roll of honor to date, revisiting historic individual seasons.
Men’s Player of the Year
A Ronaldo-Messi stranglehold has unsurprisingly transcended from the former Ballon d’Or era, although their standing is increasingly challenged by a new generation of attacking phenoms like Robert Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappe.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s stunning debut Manchester United term earned him consecutive player of the year crowns in 2016-17 during a career-best goalscoring period at Real Madrid. Further reinforcing all-time great status, the relentless Portuguese later featured in every edition’s top three barring 2021.
Eternal rival Lionel Messi equaled Ronaldo’s twice successful defence by clinching FIFA’s new ultimate individual prize in 2019 and 2020, also recording four straight top-three finishes. Despite entering his mid-30s, Messi’s mesmerizing consistency for Barcelona and debut Paris Saint-Germain campaign maintains his dominance. Many consider the Argentine football’s greatest ever on raw ability alone.
Among pioneering Champions League winners, Luka Modric broke the Ronaldo-Messi hold in 2018 thanks to driving Croatia to the World Cup final alongside Real Madrid continental three-peat. Meanwhile Robert Lewandowski’s back-to-back success in 2020 and 2021 pays testament to arguably the sport’s most ruthless attacking force. The Polish legend’s freakish scoring rates show no signs of slowing for Bayern Munich.
Women’s Player of the Year
Much like the men’s edition, Best Women’s Player recipients clearly reflect which individuals elevated their national teams and clubs to the highest honour over a given stretch.
Early winners like USA offensive weapons Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan formed integral parts of an American outfit dominating the female game at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups plus Olympic level. Morgan’s heroics during the national team’s 2022 continental conquest warrants a unique three top-three finishes. Compatriot Megan Rapinoe claimed the 2019 award thanks to Golden Boot and Ball winning displays during their exhilarating France 2019 triumph.
However The Best FIFA Women’s Player results have particularly highlighted Alexia Putellas’ phenomenal influence spearheading Barcelona Femeni’s glossy trophy monopoly at home and abroad. Her unprecedented 2021 clean sweep of team and individual accolades rightly earned a succesful defence 12 months later before an ACL tear cruelly ruled Putellas out of Euro 2022.
Putellas spotlights Spain’s visible growth reshaping women’s football hierarchy evidenced by runners-up Pedri and Aitana Bonmati also thriving internationally. Meanwhile, Dutch trailblazers Lieke Martens and Vivienne Miedema also underline the Oranje’s similar emergence guided by innovative coaching visionary Sarina Wiegman.
With England capturing European glory this past summer, their array of stars like Beth Mead, Leah Williamson and Millie Bright appear set to continue strengthening their individual cases for future Best FIFA Women’s Player candidacy.
Men’s Coach of the Year
Managerial masterminds driving teams to major continental or global honours have rightly received coaching recognition since 2016. Premier League miracle worker Claudio Ranieri first received the award after guiding unfancied Leicester City to an impossible 2015-16 title. Replaced by Zinedine Zidane’s successive Champions League three-peat at Real Madrid, France’s 1998 World Cup hero again edged the gong in 2018 off their third cycling feat.
However, Liverpool chief Jurgen Klopp decisively ended that run after the Reds claimed their sixth European crown in 2018-19 to launch English football’s new dominant domestic force under the German’s heavy-metal blueprint. Player man-management expertise and tactical mastery repeats European success to earn back-to-back Men’s Coach acclaim. Protege Thomas Tuchel copied his mentor’s Champions League palms by steering Chelsea to glory within five months at the helm.
Blockbuster results also translate to international football with Euro 2016 and 2018 World Cup winning managers Fernando Santos of Portugal and Didier Deschamps rewarded accordingly. Most recently, 2022 witnessed Argentina’s long-awaited global glory at Qatar 2022 thanks to the steady leadership of Lionel Scaloni – earning their composed head coach FIFA’s newest coaching prize.
Women’s Coach of the Year
National team success equally signifies among Best Women’s Coach victors, especially regarding the USWNT. Jill Ellis scooped consecutive awards masterminding their dominant 2015 Women’s World Cup and 2016 Olympics double. Replaced by the Netherlands’ Sarina Wiegman after her 2017 European triumph over Ellis’ pre-tournament favourites, the Dutch pioneer scooped 2017 and 2020 honours thanks to implementing her nation’s sprinkling of raw talent into world beaters punching well above their population weight. But unable to inspire trophy success at Euro 2022 before departing for pastures new with England, Wiegman yielded to Chelsea’s Emma Hayes and maiden Euro 2022 winning England manager Sarina Wiegman as the women’s game shifts balance of powers.
Domestic league dominators are also recognized like trailblazing Lyon chief Reynald Pedros alongside Barcelona Femeni’s Lluís Cortés and current head coach Sonia Bompastor for crafting an all-conquering Blaugrana dynasty boasting intimate Cruyffian principles in the Catalan region. Female coaches had scarce major honours representation pre-2010. But investment spurring professionalization sees prominent delicately figures like Hayes and Beompastor now afforded opportunities to thrive in roles traditionally occupied by men.
Goal of the Year
As the centerpiece of FIFA’s annual ceremony, the Puskas Award honours extraordinary acts of physics-defying brilliance. Early instalments recognized Asian standouts like Malaysian Faiz Subri along with South American starlets revamping the women’s game. Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo earned back-to-back nominations thanks to physics manipulating strikes against Merseyside rivals.
But recent winners as Son Heung-min underlines the now truly global breadth of nominations with Korean and Polish league strikes represented. The award encapsulates football’s increased worldwide participation and accessibility unearthing hidden talents like 2019 winner Daniel Zsori launching his fledling career in the Hungarian top-flight thereafter. 2022’s addition of a fan poll also gives supporters direct input honoring the best goal among ten monthly finalists.
As a whole, the Puskas Award elevates legendary moments of individual magic for eternity. Strikes like Olivier Giroud’s physics defying European scorpion kick or Erik Lamela’s Rabona during the North London derby joins footballers like Diego Maradona by producing era-defining pieces of skill cemented in the game’s very fabric.
World XI
Voted for by professional players, the annual FIFPro World 11s showcase standout performers from club football’s foremost competitions. Serial winners underline the undeniable brilliance to remain Europe’s gold standard year after year.
No outfield player has appeared more times than seven-time champion Sergio Ramos – underlining the towering Spaniard’s world class durability until departing Real Madrid with a glut of honours. Cristiano Ronaldo (2016-18) and Lionel Messi (2016-21) unsurprisingly featured every year across the award’s inception. Luka Modric (2016, 2018, 2019, 2022) illustrates similar blueprint in midfield driving Los Blancos’ rich continental dynasty.
While Spanish and British giants overwhelmingly dominate, Bayern Munich lynchpin Manuel Neuer’s goalkeeping cameos plus Robert Lewandowski’s recent emergence as attacker highlights intermittent Bundesliga cameo roles. Neuer and Lewandowski underline the German machine’s domestic monopoly spearheading Die Mannschaft’s 2014 World Cup glory. Women’s club football still trails far behind the men’s edition but signs of progress emanates through growing NWSL and WSL visibility like FIFA World Player of the Year Alex Morgan and Sam Kerr appearances since 2020.
Fair Play Award: Integrity in action
Supporting founder Sir Stanley Rous’ belief that “fair play is at the heart of the game,” FIFA introduced its Fair Play award in 1987. In the modern era, Turkish footballer Francis Kone earned continental plaudits after saving an opponent’s life on-field. Denmark’s heroic medical staff also received universal praise for their swift response resuscitating Christian Eriksen during Euro 2020.
The award spotlights integrity upholding the game’s ethical spirit – like Mattia Agnese displaying maturity well beyond his teenage years to save a helpless opponent’s life after a shocking on-pitch cardiac arrest. Atlético Nacional’s request to award continental glory to ill-fated opponents Chapecoense following the air disaster tragedy shocked the world in 2016 with Brazilian football globally uniting amidst unspeakable grief.
Moments like these justify football’s ‘beautiful game’ moniker evidence every level faces regular crossroads upholding virtue. Regardless of background, education or environment, Agnese and Atlético Nacional’s honorable acts following unthinkable scenarios shows integrity and humanity ultimately prevails.
Awards befitting constantly evolving eras
From legendary playing careers to pioneering coaches reshaping tactical approaches, The Best FIFA Football Awards captures six years of historic excellence alongside integrity personifying football’s higher ideals. Ronaldo and Messi’s enduring stronghold highlight their everlasting imprints, footballers like Alexia Putellas spotlight the women’s rapid year-on-year evolution while managers like Emma Hayes lead female coaching barriers shattered as part of the sport’s increasing visibility and investment.
The annual ceremony chronologically archives landmark team and individual seasons befitting constantly evolving eras in the world’s most watched sport. Much like former governing bodies of yesteryear awards, The Best FIFA Football Awards will retrospectively gauge defining achievements across future generations. So their considerable role memorializing pioneering World Cup, continental and domestic success stories remains vital documenting football’s rich, nuanced history.
