The Best FIFA Awards 2023: How to watch, date, time, nominees, venue and voting explained

Awards season is around the corner with FIFA revealing the nominees for The Best 2023 awards.

While this contemporary ceremony doesn’t quite boast the prestige of the Ballon d’Or, which has been crowning the world’s best footballer since 1956, The Best Awards have slowly gained in prominence since its 2016 inception.

This time around, the male nominees have been judged based on their performances between 19 December 2022 and 20 August 2023 which excludes the Qatari World Cup, while 1 August 2022 until 20 August 2023 is the designated time period for the various women’s awards.

Here’s everything you need to know about The Best FIFA Awards 2023.

At this stage, there’s very little information as to when the ceremony will take place. The 2022 Best FIFA Awards took place on 27 February 2023, so the 2023 ceremony could be held at a similar time in 2024.

However, given that voting closes in October and the time period which these awards account for, the ceremony may take place at the end of 2023.

Paris played host to The Best FIFA Awards 2022, with the location for the 2023 ceremony not yet disclosed.

Once again, there’s no streaming information yet regarding The Best FIFA awards 2023. However, the 2022 awards were free to stream on FIFA’s official website and their YouTube channel so that should be the case again for the 2023 ceremony.

Erling Haaland’s goalscoring heroics during Man City’s treble-winning campaign surely render him the favourite given the 2022 World Cup counted towards last year’s award.

Haaland is one of six City players who make the final shortlist, with Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Julian Alvarez all playing leading roles in City’s success.

Declan Rice is the sole English nominee after he captained West Ham to Europa Conference League glory, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen inspired Napoli to their first Serie A title in 30 years.

Marcelo Brozovic is a curious nomination, but Kylian Mbappe stands alongside Lionel Messi and Haaland as one of the favourites following his stellar campaign with PSG.

The Best FIFA Men’s Player winners by year

There will be a new winner of the women’s award this time around with none of the previous winners earning a nomination. A devastating injury to back-to-back The Best victor Alexia Putellas means she has barely featured since claiming the 2022 award.

Putellas’ Barcelona teammate Aitana Bonmati is a strong candidate to win this award with Spain’s World Cup triumph topping off her majestic year. Bonmati was instrumental as Barca lifted their second Champions League crown.

Four Lionesses made the final shortlist, as did superstars Sam Kerr, Jennifer Hermoso and Lindsay Horan.

The Best FIFA Women’s Player winners by year

There’s no standout candidate here, although there’s no denying each goalkeeper enjoyed stellar years.

Thibaut Courtois might have been the favourite had Real Madrid gone on to win the Champions League, but he couldn’t save Los Blancos from a 4-0 rout at the Etihad. Fellow La Liga shot-stopper Marc-Andre ter Stegen was a wall between Barcelona’s sticks as they reclaimed the title off the back of a stout defensive record.

Bono’s work during Sevilla’s Europa League success earned him a nomination, as did Andre Onana’s Champions League campaign with Inter. Ederson’s consistency was too hard to ignore.

The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper winners by year

The 2022 Best Women’s Goalkeeper Mary Earps is defending her crown against an impressive field, although Earps may have done enough to go back-to-back. The Man Utd shot-stopper was superb as England reached the World Cup final down under.

Zecira Musovic and Mackenzie Arnold also starred at the World Cup for their respective nations, while Ann-Katrin Berger and Christiane Endler rarely put any feet wrong at a club level.

The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper winners by year

It’s got to be Pep, right? Remarkably, the great Spanish manager has never won this award, but overseeing City’s treble success means he’s the overwhelming favourite.

Each of the nominees deserve their flowers, particularly the Italian coaches. Simone Inzaghi has evolved Inter into a potent cup outfit and his side were one of very few that looked like they could compete with Pep’s City last season. Luciano Spalletti, meanwhile, was the idealist behind Napoli’s scintillating Scudetto triumph.

The Best FIFA Men’s Coach winners by year

There’s no room for World Cup-winning manager Jorge Vilda given the controversy that surrounded his reign as Spain boss.

Sarina Wiegman is vying for her fourth The Best success, but Barcelona’s Jonatan Giraldez may pip her to the post.

The Best FIFA Women’s Coach winners by year

While a selected panel of experts determine the final nominees in each of the above awards, the voting process is much more inclusive.

Fans, national team coaches, national team captains and 300 media members from the various FIFA member nations are all given 25% of the total vote to determine who wins the awards in each category.

Each voter selects a first, second, and third-place in each category with the player/coach who collects the most points being named the winner of that award. A first place vote is worth five points, second is three, while third is one.

Fan voting for the aforementioned categories started on FIFA’s digital platforms on Thursday 14 September and will close on Friday 6 October. Voting for the FIFA Puskas Award, meanwhile, opened on Thursday 21 September and will close on Tuesday 10 October.

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