Football News

    ‘The Best’ Fifa Awards: Full list of 2019 winners as Messi secures top prize

    By Mohamed Moallim

    Published: 22:30, 23 September 2019

    Lionel Messi beat off stiff competition from Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo to claim a first Best Fifa Men’s Player award.

    The 32-year-old Argentine forward had previously finished runner-up to Cristiano Ronaldo in 2016 and 2017 before not making the final three a year ago.

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    He wasn’t the only winner in Milan. Read on to find out the other recipients…

    The Best FIFA Men’s Player

    Before the world governing body merged with France Football to create the now defunct Fifa Ballon d’Or, which he won four times, Messi only claimed one Fifa World Player of the Year award.

    Since Fifa went solo in 2016 he finished behind Ronaldo in the first two years of its existence before failing to make the top three as Luka Modric took home the prize in 2018.

    Having won Uefa’s equivalent prize many expected another Van Dijk triumph but it wasn’t to be, although he himself voted for Messi. However, the Barça captain didn’t reciprocate those feelings as Sadio Mane got his vote.

    Ronaldo, the third man in this conversation, picked his new Juventus teammate Matthijs de Ligt whose stunning header for Ajax eliminated The Old Lady from last season’s Champions League.

    Runner-up: Virgil van Dijk

    The Best Fifa Women’s Player

    No one stood out more on and off the pitch at this summer’s Fifa Women’s World Cup than Megan Rapinoe who finished as the competition’s joint top scorer, but also used her platform to push for change in the sport and society as a whole.

    Runner-up: Alex Morgan

    The Best Fifa Men’s Goalkeeper

    Alisson joined Liverpool as the world’s most expensive goalkeeper and his subsequent performances as the Reds kept the meanest Premier League defence were priceless. He stood tall in Europe as Jurgen Klopp’s men brought home the club’s sixth European crown.

    Runner-up: Marc-André ter Stegen

    The Best Fifa Men’s Coach

    And speaking of Klopp, the affable German tactician was crowned as the world’s best manager. His masterminding of Liverpool’s success in the Champions League was enough to put him above Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino, who took a much unfancied Tottenham to the Champions League final.

    Runner-up: Pep Guardiola

    The Best Fifa Women’s Coach

    There could only be one winner here.

    No one got the better of United States women’s national team coach Jill Ellis at the World Cup just gone. Having successfully defended the crown they won in Canada four years ago she called it a day and rode into the sunset.

    Runner-up: Sarina Wiegman

    Fifa Fair Play Award

    Marcelo Bielsea enjoyed a topsy-turvy first season in English football with ‘spygate’ being a rather low point. On the opposite end of the spectrum was his decision to advice his players to allow Aston Villa to score an unopposed equaliser in a Championship game earlier this year. This earned him and Leeds United the Fair Play award.

    Fifa Puskás Award

    18-year-old Hungarian forward Dániel Zsóri had a debut to remember when he netted a stunning 90th minute overhead kick against Ferencváros in February and this remarkable effort clearly won over the judges.

    Fifa FIFPro World11

    This year’s team raised a few eyebrows, as per usual. Alisson, Van Dijk and Frenkie de Jong are first-time recipients with Ronaldo and Messi expectantly there. However, the presence of Real Madrid left-back Marcelo and his teammates Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos has been met with bemusement. It’s worth remembering this prize is voted by the players.

    So, it stands to reason they’ll pick a well-known name regardless of how they’ve performed in the last year. As some might not know, this award has nothing to do with the main Fifa accolade so, for example, Mane and Mohamed Salah earned more votes than Kylian Mbappe for the Best Fifa Men’s Player award, but that doesn’t count here as it’s exclusively voted for by their peers.

    FIFpro World XI: Alisson; Ramos, Van Dijk, De Ligt, Marcelo; Modric, De Jong, Hazard; Mbappe, Ronaldo, Messi

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