Brussels: World Cup-winner Lionel Messi, runner-up Kylian Mbappe, and Erling Haaland are the three finalists for the FIFA 2023 Best Men’s Player award, as the world football announced the finalists for The Best FIFA Women’s Player, The Best FIFA Men’s Player, and FIFA Puskás Award.
Alexia Putellas, Lionel Messi, and Marcin Oleksy are the current holders of the respective awards.
Manchester City’s Norwegian striker Haaland helped his club win the Champions League, English Premier League and FA Cup last season. Messi won it in 2022 after helping Argentina win the World Cup. He then won the Ligue 1 title with Paris St Germain – with Mbappe – before moving to the Major League Soccer team Inter Miami.
Twelve players were initially nominated for The Best FIFA Men’s Player award, based on their performances from December 19, 2022, to August 20, 2023. The three finalists have been selected by an international jury comprising men’s national team coaches, men’s national team captains, football journalists, and fans registered on FIFA.com.
The shortlist for the Women’s Best Player includes two 2023 World Cup champions – Aitana Bonmati and Jennifer Hermoso from Spain, who play for Barcelona and Pachuca Femenil respectively – and Colombia’s Linda Caicedo. Sixteen players were initially nominated for the award by a panel of experts, based on their performances from August 1, 2022, to August 20, 2023. The three finalists were selected by an international jury comprising women’s national team coaches, women’s national team captains, football journalists, and fans who voted on FIFA’s official website.
FIFA also announced the three finalists for FIFA Puskás Award: Julio Enciso (Paraguay/Brighton & Hove Albion FC), Guilherme Madruga (Brazil/Botafogo Futebol Clube), and Nuno Santos (Portugal/Sporting CP). The prize is named after legendary Hungarian striker Ferenc Puskás and was last won by Polish amputee footballer Oleksy’s bicycle kick.
A total of 11 goals were initially nominated for this edition of the FIFA Puskás Award. From this shortlist, the three finalists have been selected by fans who voted on FIFA’s official website, as well as expert panellists. Enciso’s goal was a thunderbolt right-foot strike from 25 yards. Madruga executed a superb overhead kick from outside the area, while Santos makes the final three for his audacious left-foot rabona.
The winners will be announced on January 15, 2024, in London.