FIFA The Best winners all-time: Every player, coach to win in history of football award
FIFA's The Best awards were held for a seventh time in 2023, with some of the most recognizable players in the world in the men's and women's game honored for their contributions to world football.
The ceremony, which took place in Paris, France, saw the best men's and women's player from the previous year crowned, alongside awards for the best goalkeeper and coach for both men's and women's football. In addition, the scorer of the best goal from the calendar year was handed the prestigious Puskas Award.
The Best ceremony, handed out since 2016, now features seven major awards given out at the event, with each detailed below including this year's winners.
What are FIFA The Best awards?
FIFA's The Best awards have been handed out since 2017 (with the 2016 season being the first under consideration), a relatively recent phenomenon.
In the past, FIFA partnered with France Football to hand out the more popular Ballon d'Or award, but that partnership ended in 2016, and FIFA embarked on its own set of awards for the top players in the sport.
The Ballon d'Or has been around since 1956, and FIFA has work to do to establish the prestige of The Best awards in comparison, but they are still considered top-level trophies since they are tied directly to the football governing body.
The Best men's player award
The men's The Best award is the most popular award that FIFA hands out, with much anticipation and speculation over the eventual winner. The award has been won by a forward in each year except one, with Luka Modric also tabbed as the winner in 2018 alongside his Ballon d'Or victory.
2022 finalists: Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi.
The Best men's goalkeeper award
The best goalkeeper award, which wasn't handed out in 2016 but debuted in 2017, identifies the best shot stopper in the world.
2022 finalists: Yassine Bounou, Thibaut Courtois, Emiliano "Dibu" Martinez.
The Best men's coach award
The Best men's coach is handed out every year to the head coach or manager who exemplifies winning and pushes his team to new heights. The inaugural winner, Claudio Ranieri, is a perfect example of what this award is all about, having led Leicester City the previous season to a stunning Premier League title, one of the greatest underdog stories the sport has ever seen.
2022 nominees: Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola, Lionel Scaloni.
The Best women's player award
On the women's side, Alexia Putellas became the first two-time award winner after picking up the honour for 2022.
2022 nominees: Beth Mead, Alex Morgan, Alexia Putellas.
The Best women's goalkeeper award
The women's goalkeeper award started in 2019, a very recent award. Still, there have been some stellar shot-stoppers to be nominated in the past, with 2021 winner Christiane Endler nominated in all four years of the award's existence.
2022 nominees: Ann-Katrin Berger, Mary Earps, Christiane Endler.
The Best women's coach award
The best women's coach award, like the men's, recognizes the top manager or head coach in the game over the previous season. The first winner was Germany boss Silvia Neid, who in 2016 led her country to gold at the Olympics that year.
2022 nominees: Sonia Bompastor, Pia Sundhage, Sarina Wiegman.
Puskas Award — The Best goal award
The Puskas Award is given to the individual, men's or women's, who scored the best goal of the calendar year. Unlike the other The Best awards, the Puskas Award has been handed out since 2009, originally created as its own standalone award given out each year by FIFA before being absorbed into The Best proceedings.
The award is named after Ferenc Puskas, a legendary Hungarian forward who is regarded as one of the greatest goal scorers of all time, scoring 514 goals across his career with Budapest Honved and Real Madrid.
2022 nominees: Mario Balotelli vs. Goztepe, Amadine Henry vs. Barcelona, Theo Hernandez vs. Atalanta, Alou Kuol vs. Iraq U-23, Kylian Mbappe vs. Argentina, Francisco Gonzalez Metilli vs. Rosario Central, Marcin Oleksy vs. Stal Rzeszow, Salma Paralluelo vs. Barcelona, Dimitri Payet vs. PAOK, Richarlison vs. Brazil, Alessia Russo vs. Sweden.
