Lionesses & Messi Lead Nominees For Fifa Awards

England trio Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Keira Walsh join Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi as nominees for the 2022 Fifa Best Awards.

Borussia Dortmund’s England midfielder Jude Bellingham is also named on the men’s shortlist, with Real Madrid pair Luka Modric and Karim Benzema.

Chelsea’s Sam Kerr and Jessie Fleming are nominated for the women’s award, as is last year’s winner Alexia Putellas.  Sarina Wiegman, Emma Hayes and Pep Guardiola are up for best coach.

Arsenal forward Mead’s nomination comes in a year in which she was named player of the tournament at Euro 2022, shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or and won BBC Sport’s Personality of the Year.

Lionesses manager Wiegman, who led the team to their first major tournament trophy at Euro 2022, is joined on the women’s coach list by Canada’s English-born manager Beverly Priestman, as well as Chelsea’s Hayes.  The Chelsea coach, who won the Fifa Best award last year, became the first manager to guide a side to three consecutive WSL titles in May.

Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti, France’s Didier Deschamps and Argentina’s World Cup-winning manager Lionel Scaloni are nominated for best men’s coach.

Morocco’s Walid Regragui also features on the shortlist after his side became the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final.  Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne and Julian Alvarez are all nominated for best men’s player, as is Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.

Liverpool’s Alisson Becker, Manchester City’s Ederson and Aston Villa and Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez are up for the best men’s goalkeeper award.  England and Manchester United number one Mary Earps is on the women’s shortlist, alongside Chelsea’s Ann-Katrin Berger.  Alessia Russo’s backheeled finish in England’s Euro 2022 semi-final win over Sweden is among the contenders for the Fifa Puskas Award for the year’s best goal.

She will face competition from Kylian Mbappe’s stunning volley for France, which took the World Cup final to extra time.  Voting closes on 3 February, with the three finalists in each category to be announced later that month.

Best Women’s Player

Aitana Bonmati (Spain/Barcelona)     Debinha (Brazil/North Carolina Courage)  Jessie Fleming (Canada/Chelsea)            Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Lyon)                  Sam Kerr (Australia/Chelsea)                   Beth Mead (England/Arsenal)            Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal)  Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride/San Diego Wave)                                                  Lena Oberdorf (Germany/Wolfsburg)  Alexandra Popp (Germany/Wolfsburg)  Alexia Putellas (Spain/Barcelona)         Wendie Renard (France/Lyon)  Keira Walsh (England/Manchester City/Barcelona)  Leah Williamson (England/Arsenal)

Best Men’s Player                                      Julian Alvarez (Argentina/Club Atletico River Plate/Manchester City)        c           Jude Bellingham (England/Borussia Dortmund)                                                  Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid)  Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City)    Erling Haaland (Norway/Borussia Dortmund/Manchester City)                 Achraf Hakimi (Spain/Paris Saint-Germain)  Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich/Barcelona)                                    Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool/Bayern Munich)                                                      Kylian Mbappe (France/Paris Saint-Germain)                                                    Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain)                                                      Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid)    Neymar (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain)  Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool)    Vinicius Junior (Brazil/Real Madrid)

Best Women’s Coach                                Sonia Bompastor (France/Olympique Lyonnais)                                                    Emma Hayes (England/Chelsea FC Women)                                                          Bev Priestman (England/Canadian national team)                                                               Pia Sundhage (Sweden/Brazilian national team)                                                       Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (Germany/German national team)        Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands/English national team)

Best Men’s Coach                                      Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid)        Didier Deschamps (France/French national team)                                                             Pep Guardiola (Spain/Manchester City)  Walid Regragui (Morocco/ Wydad AC/ Moroccan national team)                         Lionel Scaloni (Argentina/ Argentinian national team)

Best Women’s Goalkeeper.                        Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany/Chelsea)  Mary Earps (England/Manchester United)  Christiane Endler (Chile/Olympique Lyonnais)                                                      Merle Frohms (Germany/Eintracht Frankfurt/VfL Wolfsburg)                       Alyssa Naeher (USA/Chicago Red Stars)  Sandra Panos Garcia-Villamil (Spain/Barcelona)

Best Men’s Goalkeeper.                         Alisson Becker (Brazil/Liverpool)       Yassine Bounou (Morocco/ Sevilla)  Thibaut Courtois (Belgium/Real Madrid)  Ederson (Brazil/Manchester City)      Emiliano Martinez (Argentina/Aston Villa)