The fifth iteration of FIFA's The Best awards takes place this winter as football's supreme governing body pays tribute to those who have excelled over the season by handing out individual accolades.
Past players, journalists and fans are all consulted in the process of identifying the best players, with panels convened and online polls established to canvass for opinions.
Past winners include Megan Rapinoe, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and, despite the unusual circumstances of the past year, there have been plenty of stand-out individual displays, so it will be competitive.
The longlists of nominees were confirmed on November 25 and they were narrowed down to shortlists on December 11 ahead of the event.
Here is everything you need to know about the 2020 awards, including the nominees in each category, voting and when it takes place.
On this page
- When does The Best awards ceremony take place?
- How can I watch The Best 2020 awards?
- The Best Men's Player of the Year 2020 nominees
- The Best Men's Goalkeeper of the Year 2020 nominees
- The Best Men's Coach of the Year 2020 nominees
- The Best Women's Player of the Year 2020 nominees
- The Best Women's Goalkeeper of the Year 2020 nominees
- The Best Women's Coach of the Year 2020 nominees
- Puskas Award 2020 nominees
When does The Best 2020 awards ceremony take place?
This year's FIFA's The Best awards ceremony will be held on Thursday December 17, 2020.
The event begins at 6pm GMT (1pm ET). It will be a virtual event only, due to the public health measures that are in place across the world to suppress the spread of Covid-19.
As well as The Best Men's and Women's player and coach awards, the winner of the Puskas Award for best goal will also be crowned.
The FIFPro World 11 (Men's and Women's) will be revealed too, as will the winners of the FIFA Fair Play Award and the FIFA Fan Award.
How can I watch The Best 2020 awards?
The Best 2020 awards ceremony can be watched live online through FIFA's various broadcast channels - its website, YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Journalist Reshmin Chowdhury will host the awards event along with former AC Milan and Netherlands star Ruud Gullit.
Click here to watch if video does not load.
The nominees for The Best 2020 categories can be seen below.
The Best Men's Player of the Year 2020 nominees
| Player | Club(s) | National team |
|---|---|---|
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Juventus | Portugal |
| Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | Poland |
| Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Argentina |
OFFICIAL: Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi are the finalists for The Best FIFA Men's Player 2020 ✨ pic.twitter.com/k6voCcFMQ6
— Goal (@goal) December 11, 2020
Robert Lewandowski joins Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the final three nominees for this year's Best Men's Player of the Year award.
You can see the players who made the initial longlist below.
Longlist for The Best Men's Player of the Year:
| Player | Club(s) | National team |
|---|---|---|
| Thiago Alcantara | Bayern Munich / Liverpool | Spain |
| Kevin De Bruyne | Manchester City | Belgium |
| Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | Poland |
| Sadio Mane | Liverpool | Senegal |
| Kylian Mbappe | PSG | France |
| Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Argentina |
| Neymar | PSG | Brazil |
| Sergio Ramos | Real Madrid | Spain |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Juventus | Portugal |
| Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | Egypt |
| Virgil van Dijk | Liverpool | Netherlands |
The Best Men's Goalkeeper of the Year 2020 nominees
| Player | Club(s) | National team |
|---|---|---|
| Alisson | Liverpool | Brazil |
| Manuel Neuer | Bayern Munich | Germany |
| Jan Oblak | Atletico Madrid | Slovenia |
Bayern Munich stalwart Manuel Neuer, Liverpool shotstopper Alisson and Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak are the final nominees for the Goalkeeper of the Year award.
You can see the players who made the initial longlist below.
Longlist for The Best Men's Goalkeeper of the Year:
| Player | Club(s) | National team |
|---|---|---|
| Alisson | Liverpool | Brazil |
| Thibaut Courtois | Real Madrid | Belgium |
| Keylor Navas | PSG | Costa Rica |
| Manuel Neuer | Bayern Munich | Germany |
| Jan Oblak | Atletico Madrid | Slovenia |
| Marc-Andre ter Stegen | Barcelona | Germany |
The Best Men's Coach of the Year 2020 nominees
| Coach | Club(s) | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Marcelo Bielsa | Leeds United | Argentina |
| Hans-Dieter Flick | Bayern Munich | Germany |
| Jurgen Klopp | Liverpool | Germany |
Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa has made the final three shortlist for the Men's Coach of the Year award, along with Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp and Bayern Munich head coach Hans-Dieter Flick.
You can see the coaches who made the initial longlist below.
Longlist for The Best Men's Coach of the Year:
| Coach | Team(s) | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Marcelo Bielsa | Leeds United | Argentina |
| Hans-Dieter Flick | Bayern Munich | Germany |
| Jurgen Klopp | Liverpool | Germany |
| Julen Lopetegui | Sevilla | Spain |
| Zinedine Zidane | Real Madrid | France |
The Best Women's Player of the Year 2020 nominees
| Player | Club(s) | National team |
|---|---|---|
| Lucy Bronze | Lyon / Manchester City | England |
| Pernille Harder | Wolfsburg / Chelsea | Denmark |
| Wendie Renard | Lyon | France |
England international Lucy Bronze is one of the final three in this year's Women's Player of the Year award, along with Pernille Harder and Wendie Renard.
You can see the players who made the initial longlist below.
Longlist for The Best Women's Player of the Year:
| Player | Club(s) | National team |
|---|---|---|
| Lucy Bronze | Lyon / Manchester City | England |
| Delphine Cascarino | Lyon | France |
| Caroline Graham Hansen | Barcelona | Norway |
| Pernille Harder | Wolfsburg / Chelsea | Denmark |
| Jennifer Hermoso | Barcelona | Spain |
| So-yun Ji | Chelsea | South Korea |
| Sam Kerr | Chelsea | Australia |
| Saki Kumagai | Lyon | Japan |
| Dszenifer Maroszan | Lyon | Germany |
| Vivianne Miedema | Arsenal | Netherlands |
| Wendie Renard | Lyon | France |
The Best Women's Goalkeeper of the Year 2020 nominees
| Player | Club(s) | National team |
|---|---|---|
| Sarah Bouhaddi | Lyon | France |
| Christiane Endler | PSG | Chile |
| Alyssa Naeher | Chicago Red Stars | USA |
The three-player shortlist for the Women's Goalkeeper of the Year award is made up of Lyon's Sarah Bouhaddi, Paris Saint-Germain's Christiane Endler and Chicago Red Stars' Alyssa Naeher.
You can see the players who made the initial longlist below.
Longlist for The Best Women's Goalkeeper of the Year:
| Player | Club(s) | National team |
|---|---|---|
| Ann-Katrin Berger | Chelsea | Germany |
| Sarah Bouhaddi | Lyon | France |
| Christiane Endler | PSG | Chile |
| Hedvig Lindahl | Wolfsburg / Atletico Madrid | Sweden |
| Alyssa Naeher | Chicago Red Stars | USA |
| Ellie Roebuck | Manchester City | England |
The Best Women's Coach of the Year 2020 nominees
| Coach | Club(s) | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Emma Hayes | Chelsea | England |
| Jean-Luc Vasseur | Lyon | France |
| Sarina Wiegman | Netherlands | Netherlands |
The final Best Women's Coach of the Year nominees are Chelsea boss Emma Hayes, Lyon manager Jean-Luc Vasseur and Netherlands head coach Sarina Wiegman.
You can see the players who made the initial longlist below.
Longlist for The Best Women's Coach of the Year:
| Coach | Team(s) | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Lluis Cortes | Barcelona | Spain |
| Rita Guarino | Juventus | Italy |
| Emma Hayes | Chelsea | England |
| Stephan Lerch | Wolfsburg | Germany |
| Hege Riise | Kvinner | Norway |
| Jean-Luc Vasseur | Lyon | France |
| Sarina Wiegman | Netherlands | Netherlands |
Puskas Award 2020 nominees
| Nominee | Goal | Video link |
|---|---|---|
| Giorgian De Arrascaeta | for Flamengo vs Ceara (Aug 25, 2019 | Click here to watch |
| Heung-min Son | for Tottenham vs Burnley (Dec 7, 2019) | Click here to watch |
| Luis Suarez | for Barcelona vs Mallorca (Dec 7, 2019) | Click here to watch |
The mazy solo run and goal of Heung-min Son for Tottenham against Burnley last December is up against Luis Suarez's cheeky back-heel and Giorgian De Arrascaeta's wonderstrike.
The three goals were whittled down from a longlist of 11 goals. You can see the goals that made the initial longlist below.
Longlist for Puskas Award:
| Nominee | Goal | Video link |
|---|---|---|
| Shirley Cruz | for Costa Rica vs Panama (Jan 28, 2020) | Click here to watch |
| Giorgian De Arrascaeta | for Flamengo vs Ceara (Aug 25, 2019 | Click here to watch |
| Jordan Flores | for Dundalk vs Shamrock Rovers (Feb 28, 2020) | Click here to watch |
| Andre-Pierre Gignac | for Tigres vs Pumas (Mar 1, 2020) | Click here to watch |
| Sophie Ingle | for Chelsea vs Arsenal (Jan 19, 2020) | Click here to watch |
| Zlatko Junuzovic | for Red Bull Salzburg vs Rapid Wien (Jun 24, 2020) | Click here to watch |
| Hlompho Kekana | for Mamelodi Sundowns vs Cape Town City (Aug 20, 2019) | Click here to watch |
| Leonel Quinonez | for Macara vs Universidad Catolica (Aug 19, 2019) | Click here to watch |
| Heung-min Son | for Tottenham vs Burnley (Dec 7, 2019) | Click here to watch |
| Luis Suarez | for Barcelona vs Mallorca (Dec 7, 2019) | Click here to watch |
| Caroline Weir | for Man City vs Man Utd (Sep 7, 2019 | Click here to watch |