Less than a month after the final whistle blew at the ninth FIFA Women’s World Cup™ final, the nominations have been announced for the eighth edition of The Best FIFA Football Awards™. The nominees were shortlisted by a panel of football experts who reviewed longer lists compiled by FIFA based on the candidates’ achievements during the respective award eligibility periods (see below). Voting is now open across the various categories, with the international jury being comprised of national team captains and coaches, journalists, and fans from all over the world.

Performances at the record-breaking FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ are reflected in The Best FIFA Women’s Player nominees. Adidas Golden Ball winner Aitana Bonmatí leads a quartet of Spanish nominees. Four players from tournament runners-up England and a trio of Matildas – who were a victory away from reaching the final on home soil – are also part of a 16-player shortlist. Half of the candidates for The Best FIFA Men’s Player were part of Manchester City’s 2022-23 treble-winning squad, while coach Pep Guardiola, is nominated for The Best FIFA Men’s Coach alongside four of his peers. Meanwhile, the 2021 and 2022 winners of The Best FIFA Women’s Coach – Emma Hayes and Sarina Wiegman – feature among the quintet nominated in this category. Between the sticks, nominations for The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper are heavily dominated by custodians who shone in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand during July and August. Adidas Golden Glove winner Mary Earps is joined by gold medallist Catalina Coll in a seven-strong list of candidates. In the corresponding men’s category, the five nominees hail from three different continents.

The FIFA Puskás Award is guaranteed to generate hundreds of thousands of votes each year, with the prize recognising the player ‘judged to have scored the most aesthetically significant goal, regardless of championship, gender or nationality and scored without the result of luck or a mistake and in support of fair play.’ The nominees will be announced on 21 September. The nominees for the FIFA Fan Award offer an eclectic combination of fandom and special achievements, and this year’s edition is no different. Fran Hurndall dribbled a football over 1000km for 32 days to raise money for charity while a fan of Club Atlético Colón de Santa Fe was captured on camera imbuing a sense of club loyalty as he cradled his baby son in his arms in the stands, and Miguel Ángel, a young fan of Colombian club Millonarios fulfilled his final wish to meet his heroes before passing away.

The winners of The Best FIFA Women’s Player, The Best FIFA Women’s Coach and The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper will be selected by an international jury comprising the current coaches of all women’s national teams (one per team), the current captains of all women’s national teams (one per team), one specialist journalist from each territory represented by a national team and fans from all over the world registered on FIFA.com. The winners of The Best FIFA Men’s Player, The Best FIFA Men’s Coach and The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper will be selected by an international jury comprising the current coaches of all men’s national teams (one per team), the current captains of all men’s national teams (one per team), one specialist journalist from each territory represented by a national team and fans from all over the world registered on FIFA.com.

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