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 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 nominees for the eighth The Best FIFA Football Awards were announced on September 14, 2023, and FIFA confirmed the final nominees for each category in December. The awards ceremony will be held on January 15, 2024 in London, UK.
The Best awards series, handed out since 2016, now features seven major prizes given out at the event, with each detailed below including the most recent winners.
MORE: Ballon d'Or 2022 winners, rankings and full results
What are FIFA The Best awards?
The Best FIFA Football Awards have been handed out since 2017 (with the 2016 season being the first under consideration), making them 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 and coaches 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 FIFA Men's Player Award
The men's The Best award is the most popular 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.
2023 finalists: Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi
Previous winners
| Year | Player | Club | Nation |
| 2022 | Lionel Messi | PSG | Argentina |
| 2021 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | Poland |
| 2020 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | Poland |
| 2019 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Argentina |
| 2018 | Luka Modric | Real Madrid | Croatia |
| 2017 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | Portugal |
| 2016 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | Portugal |
The Best FIFA 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.
2023 finalists: Yassine Bounou, Thibaut Courtois, Ederson.
Previous winners
| Year | Player | Club | Nation |
| 2022 | Emiliano Martinez | Aston Villa | Argentina |
| 2021 | Edouard Mendy | Chelsea | Senegal |
| 2020 | Manuel Neuer | Bayern Munich | Germany |
| 2019 | Alisson | Liverpool | Brazil |
| 2018 | Thibaut Courtois | Chelsea/Real Madrid | Belgium |
| 2017 | Gianluigi Buffon | Juventus | Italy |
The Best FIFA Men's Coach Award
The Best men's coach prize 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.
2023 nominees: Pep Guardiola, Simone Inzaghi, Luciano Spalletti
Previous winners
| Year | Player | Team | Nationality |
| 2022 | Lionel Scaloni | Argentina | Argentina |
| 2021 | Thomas Tuchel | Chelsea | Germany |
| 2020 | Jurgen Klopp | Liverpool | Germany |
| 2019 | Jurgen Klopp | Liverpool | Germany |
| 2018 | Didier Deschamps | France | France |
| 2017 | Zinedine Zidane | Real Madrid | France |
| 2016 | Claudio Ranieri | Leicester City | Italy |
The Best FIFA 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.
2023 nominees: Aitana Bonmati, Linda Caceido, Jenni Hermoso
Previous winners
| Year | Player | Club | Nation |
| 2022 | Alexia Putellas | Barcelona | Spain |
| 2021 | Alexia Putellas | Barcelona | Spain |
| 2020 | Lucy Bronze | Lyon/Man City | England |
| 2019 | Megan Rapinoe | Reign FC | USA |
| 2018 | Marta | Orlando Pride | Brazil |
| 2017 | Lieke Martens | Rosengard/Barcelona | Netherlands |
| 2016 | Carli Lloyd | Houston Dash | USA |
The Best FIFA 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 the first four years of the award's existence.
2023 nominees: Mackenzie Arnold, Cata Coll, Mary Earps
Previous winners:
| Year | Player | Club | Nation |
| 2022 | Mary Earps | Manchester United | England |
| 2021 | Christiane Endler | PSG | Chile |
| 2020 | Sarah Bouhaddi | Lyon | France |
| 2019 | Sari van Veenendaal | Arsenal/Atletico Madrid | Netherlands |
The Best FIFA 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.
2023 nominees: Jonatan Giraldez, Emma Hayes, Sarina Wiegman
| Year | Player | Team | Nationality |
| 2022 | Sarina Wiegman | England | Netherlands |
| 2021 | Emma Hayes | Chelsea | England |
| 2020 | Sarina Weigman | Netherlands | Netherlands |
| 2019 | Jill Ellis | England | USA |
| 2018 | Reynald Pedros | Lyon | France |
| 2017 | Sarina Wiegman | Netherlands | Netherlands |
| 2016 | Silvia Neid | Germany | Germany |
FIFA Puskas Award — the prize for the best goal
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 goalscorers of all time, scoring 514 goals across his career with Budapest Honved and Real Madrid.
2023 nominees: Alvaro Barreal vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Linda Caicedo vs. Germany, Julion Enciso vs. Manchester City, Kang Seong-jin vs. Jordan U-20, Sam Kerr vs. England, Brian Lozano vs. America, Guilherme Madruga vs. Novorizontino, Ivan Morante vs. Burgos, Nuno Santos vs. Boavista, Askhat Tagybergen vs. Denmark, Bia Zaneratto vs. Panama.
Previous winners
| Year | Player | Team | Match / Goal |
| 2022 | Marcin Oleksy | Warta Poznan | vs. Stal Rzeszow |
| 2021 | Erik Lamela | Tottenham | vs. Arsenal (1-0) |
| 2020 | Son Heung-Min | Tottenham | vs. Burnley (3-0) |
| 2019 | Daniel Zsori | Debrecen | vs. Ferencvaros (2-1) |
| 2018 | Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | vs. Everton (1-0) |
| 2017 | Oliver Giroud | Arsenal | vs. Crystal Palace (1-0) |
| 2016 | Mohd Faiz Subri | Penang | vs. Pahang (4-1) |
| 2015 | Wendell Lira | Goianesia | vs. Atletico Goianiense (1-0) |
| 2014 | James Rodriguez | Colombia | vs. Uruguay (1-0) |
| 2013 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Sweden | vs. England (4-2) |
| 2012 | Miroslav Stoch | Fenerbahce | vs. Genclerbirligi (6-1) |
| 2011 | Neymar | Santos | vs. Flamengo (4-5) |
| 2010 | Hamit Altintop | Turkey | vs. Kazakhstan (2-0) |
| 2009 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Man United | vs. Porto (1-0) |
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— Amp Futbol Polska (@AmpFutbolPolska) November 7, 2022
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To jest właśnie PZU Amp Futbol Ekstraklasa 🏆 pic.twitter.com/P65gUCeoJT
FIFA Fan Award
The FIFA Fan Award, which is chosen by a panel of governing-body experts, is given as a celebration of the best moments or gestures by supporters.
In 2022, the winner was a Colon fan who was seen cradling and bottle-feeding his infant son during a match against Barracas Central. The year before, Fran HUrndall was recognised for a charity run in which she dribbled a football for an average of 32 kilometres a day for 32 days from the Gold Coast to Sydney, Australia.
The inaugural winner was Millonarios fan Miguel Angel, who realised his final wish of meeting members of the first-team squad before he passed away following an illness.
