FIFA The Best 2022: Lewandowski beats Messi, Ronaldo gets trophy, Puskas top goal named

Simon Borg

FIFA The Best 2022: Lewandowski beats Messi, Ronaldo gets trophy, Puskas top goal named image

The final installment of the football awards season took place at FIFA headquarters in Zurich on Monday with FIFA's The Best awards. The other major awards — Ballon d'Or, the Globe Soccer awards and the UEFA player awards — all took place in recent months.

And Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski finally won an award in recognition for his standout 2021 campaign after missing out on both the Ballon d'Or to Lionel Messi and the Globe Soccer Award to Kylian Mbappe. For Barcelona's Alexia Putellas, it was a clean sweep of all the major awards as women's player of the year.

MORE: Ballon d'Or final voting results

Lewandowski definitely had a better shot at this award since the main FIFA awards are voted on by: 1) current national team coaches; 2) the current captain of every national team; 3) one specialist journalist from each territory; and 4) fans registered on FIFA.com. Each of the four groups of votes carries the same weight (25 percent each). The Puskas Award for the best goal in the world, the Fair Play award and the Fan Award had different voting rules.

The event kicked off with a special recognition for Canadian star and the world's all-time leading international goal scorer, Christine Sinclair, who won the FIFA Lifetime Achievement Award. It ended with a special award for Cristiano Ronaldo for setting the all-time scoring record in men's international football.

MORE: Globe Soccer awards final results

FIFA Player of the Year (Men's)

  • Winner: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich / Poland)

Robert Lewandowski finally came away with his trophy after missing out on the Ballon d'Or (Lionel Messi) and the Globe Soccer award (Kylian Mbappe) for the title of best player of the year.

The fans had Lewandowski in third place, giving Messi double the votes, nearly putting him even with the Bayern star. 

Rank Player Points Coaches Captains Media Fans
1. Robert Lewandowski
Bayern Munich
48 535 555 589 353,714
2. Lionel Messi
PSG
44 254 344 409 708,206
3. Mohamed Salah
Liverpool
39 271 176 184 528,245

Check out how every captain, coach and media member voted in this detailed table broken out by name.

FIFA Player of the Year (Women's)

  • Winner: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona / Spain)

Make it a clean sweep for Alexia Putellas who previously won the Ballon d'Or, the Globe Soccer player of the year, and the UEFA Women's Player of the Year awards.

Rank Player Points Coaches Captains Media Fans
1. Alexia Putellas
Barcelona
52 337 450 430 70,966
2. Sam Kerr
Chelsea
38 220 201 164 30,233
3. Jennifer Hermoso
Barcelona
33 149 75 206 46,901

Check out how every captain, coach and media member voted in this detailed table broken out by name.

FIFPro World XI

The Best XI of the season for both men and women were voted on by players around the world in collaboration with FIFPro (detailed voting rules for the men and women).

Incredibly, Alexia Putellas didn't end up among the midfielders for the women's team and not a single Barcelona women's player was named.

FIFPro Women's XI

Goalkeeper: Christiane Endler (Lyon / Chile)

Defenders: Lucy Bronze (Man City / England), Wendie Renard (Lyon / France), Millie Bright (Chelsea / England), Magdalena Eriksson (Chelsea / Sweden)

Midfielders (3): Estefania Banini (Atletico Madrid / Argentina), Carli Lloyd (USA), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus / Italy)

Forwards (3): Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal / Netherlands), Marta (Orlando Pride / Brazil), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave / USA)

Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi made it on the men's Best XI with four forwards named. This formation is frankly unprecedented when it comes to Best XI sides.

FIFPro Men's XI

Goalkeeper (1): Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG / Italy)

Defenders (3): David Alaba (Real Madrid / Austria), Ruben Dias (Man City / Portugal), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus / Italy)

Midfielders (3): Jorginho (Chelsea / Italy), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea / France), Kevin De Bruyne (Man City / Belgium)

Forwards (4): Cristiano Ronaldo (Man United / Portugal), Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund / Norway), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich / Poland), Lionel Messi (PSG / Argentina)

FIFA Puskas Award

  • Winner: Erik Lamela (Tottenham Hotspur / currently Sevilla FC)

The rabona goal by Argentina attacker Erik Lamela (watch it here) won out as the winner of the prestigious Puskas Award for the best goal scored anywhere in the world in 2021. But it was a tight vote, with Mehdi Taremi's bicycle kick earning top spot among fans.

The Puskas Award has been around since 2009, awarded for the most "aesthetically pleasing goal, regardless of competition" and "without the result of luck or a mistake." It's named after the Hungarian player Ferenc Puskas, who was known for his spectacular tallies at Real Madrid. 

A list of 11 candidates was drawn up by an expert panel and the winner was voted on by FIFA legends and fans around the world via FIFA.com. Votes from the two groups (legends and fans) carried the same weight: 50 percent each.

Rank Player Total
Points
Panelist
Points
Fan
Points
1. Erik Lamela
vs. Arsenal
March 14, 2021
22 13 9
2. Mehdi Taremi
vs. Chelsea
April 13, 2021
21 8 13
3. Patrik Schick
vs. Scotland
June 14, 2021
21 13 8

FIFA Goalkeeper of the Year (Men's)

  • Winner: Edouard Mendy (Chelsea / Senegal)

This could be considered an upset win for Edouard Mendy over Gigi Donnarumma, and it came down to a tiebreaker: The winner was determined based on votes by national team captains per the award rules.

Donnarumma previously won both the Yashin Trophy for goalkeeper of the year at the Ballon d'Or and the Globe Soccer top goalkeeper honor. Meanwhile, Chelsea's Mendy captured Europe's UEFA Champions League goalkeeper of the season honor for helping Chelsea win the continental club title.

Rank Player Points Coaches Captains Media Fans
1. Edouard Mendy
(Chelsea)
24 452 598 590 208,754
2. Gianluigi Donnarumma
(PSG)
24 571 565 690 201,957
3. Manuel Neuer
(Bayern Munich)
12 372 280 189 115,229

Check out how every captain, coach and media member voted in this detailed table broken out by name.

FIFA Goalkeeper of the Year (Women's)

  • Winner: Christiane Endler (Olympique Lyon / Chile)

Christiane Endler won the award for the first time in three tries, beating out Canada's Stephanie Labbe who played a huge part in helping Canada to Olympic gold.

"I'm the first one in Latin America to win this prize and it's an honor for me," Endler said. "It's the third time I'm here. I was awaiting all the time to win it, and finally it's the right time. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I cannot be more proud."

There was no Goalkeeper of the Year award for women as part of the Ballon d'Or or the Globe Soccer awards in Dubai, so this will be the primary global recognition for 2021. Barcelona's Sandra Panos, who is not a finalist for the FIFA award, won the UEFA Women's Goalkeeper of the Year award for European football.

Rank Player Points Coaches Captains Media Fans
1. Christiane Endler
(Lyon)
26 443 486 440 54,663
2. Stephanie Labbe
(PSG)
20 389 372 479 49,354
3. Ann Katrin-Berger
(Chelsea)
14 404 325 319 45,458

Check out how every captain, coach and media member voted in this detailed table broken out by name.

FIFA Coach of the Year (Men's)

  • Winner: Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea)

After winning the UEFA men's coach of the year in Europe, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel won the FIFA The Best award, beating out the others in all four voting categories. Italy's Roberto Mancini previously won the Globe Soccer men's coach award, leaving Manchester City's Pep Guardiola out in the cold during award season. 

"It was a normal day so far. I've just come from training because we have a game tomorrow," Tuchel said via video conference. "But you [Arsene Wenger] opened the envelope and said my name which is pretty surreal. I'm overwhelmed and I feel uncomfortable, actually. 

"We lost a bit track to Manchester City in the [Premier] league, but in other competitions we follow our goals still, and we try to be the best versions of ourselves and try to perform at the highest level." 

Rank Coach Points Coaches Captains Media Fans 2021 Honors
1. Thomas Tuchel
(Chelsea)
28 589 647 573 204,380 UEFA Champions League winner
UEFA Super Cup winner
FA Cup finalist
2. Roberto Mancini
(Italy)
15 450 359 555 91,911 UEFA Euro 2021 winner
UEFA Nations League semifinalist
37-match record unbeaten streak
3. Pep Guardiola
(Man City)
14 392 408 247 132,134 English Premier League champion
English League Cup winner
UEFA Champions League finalist
FA Cup semi-finalist

Check out how every captain, coach and media member voted in this detailed table broken out by name.

FIFA Coach of the Year (Women's)

  • Winner: Emma Hayes (Chelsea)

This was thought to be a formality after Lluis Cortes won the three major trophies in the 2021 season with FC Barcelona and also won the UEFA Women's Coach of the Year. But Chelsea coach Emma Hayes came away with the honor and she was speechless at the news.

"Wow. Honest, I'm not usually stunned, but I am. I'm completely shocked," Hayes said on a video conference. "I put it down to the players and the fantastic people that represent my work. And ultimately, the coach is only as good as the people around them and I've got briliant people at Chelsea that have helped support the team to get to where we're at. I'm absolutely shocked right now."

There clearly was a difference in how the media viewed Cortes, and how he's perceived inside the game with coaches and captains who him in third place.

Rank Coach Points Coaches Captains Media Fans 2021 Honors
1. Emma Hayes
(Chelsea)
22 398 534 325 54,151 Women's Super League champions
Women's FA Cup winner
Women's League Cup winner
Women's Community Shield winner
UEFA Champions League finalist
2. Lluis Cortes
(Barcelona)
19 363 326 585 55,869 Primera Division champions
Copa de la Reina winner
UEFA Champions League winner
Supercopa Femenina semi-finalist
3. Sarina Wiegman
(Netherlands)
14 373 329 154 32,248 6W-2L-2D with Netherlands in 2021
2021 Olympic quarterfinals
43 goals scored in 11 matches

Check out how every captain, coach and media member voted in this detailed table broken out by name.

FIFA Fan Award

  • Winner: Denmark and Finland fans

This FIFA award has been around since 2016 and as the name suggests, it recognizes fans for an exceptional moment or gesture. This honor for the fans was voted on by the fans. 

Rank Player Total
Vote %
Fan
Points
Fan
Points
1. Denmark &
Finland fans
42.07% 107,565 9
2. Imogen
Papworth-Heidel
30.46% 77,887 13
3. German football
fans
27.47% 70,229 8

Here's a bit of an explanation as to why each candidate was a finalist to begin with:

Denmark and Finland fans at Parken Stadium: For their shows of support in the wake of Christian Eriksen's cardiac arrest episode at Euro 2021.

German football supporters: Supporters groups around Germany mobilized to help local communities after devastating floods that claimed more than 170 lives. Borussia Dortmund and FC Koln fans were among the fans that stepped up to collect money and other donations.

Imogen Papworth-Heidel: The 11-year-old girl who created a keepy-uppy challenge to raise money for essential workers in the UK during the pandemic. She did over a million of them herself.

FIFA Fair Play Award

  • Winner: Denmark national team (players and staff)

It was a foregone conclusion that Denmark's national team would win this award. "I think this award is for the whole of Denmark, which was standing shoulder by shoulder and standing by us as a team."

This award annually recognizes gestures of sportsmanship, fairness and other good deeds around the sport. Here's how it's voted for. The list of three finalists follows below: 

Scott Brown: The Aberdeen player/coach was a captain of Celtic Glasgow when before a rivalry match against Rangers, he went out of his way to shake Glen Kamara's hand in the wake of a racist incident that Kamara experienced a few days earlier in European competition.

Denmark national team (players and staff): The Danish men's team is up for the award for its collective response to the Christian Eriksen cardiac arrest at Euro 2021.

Claudio Ranieri: The current Watford coach is a candidate for having his Sampdoria team give Inter Milan a guard of honor in recognition of their clinching the Italian Serie A title.

Simon Borg

Simon Borg Photo

Simon Borg is a senior editor at The Sporting News who has covered football/soccer for over a decade. A supporter of Italian club Parma Calcio from his years growing up in Europe, he was previously a long-time member of Major League Soccer's digital media team, as a multimedia content producer, on-air personality, and Editor-in-Chief. Based in New York City, Borg is multilingual and has covered the domestic and global scene for TSN since 2021.