Where to watch The Best FIFA Football Awards in USA and India? Nominees and categories revealed ahead of mega event
FIFA are set to organize their premier award ceremony, The Best FIFA Football Awards. The event is set to take place on 27 February 2023 in Paris, scheduled to begin around 3 PM ET. This will be the first edition of The Best to feature offline guests since the 2020 edition.
Nominations for various categories have been revealed. The nominations have been chosen by one expert panel for men's football and another for women's football. These choices are based on the performance of the players between 8 August 2021 and 18 December 2022.
A very special night ahead in Paris 🤩
Join us this evening for #TheBest FIFA Football Awards, as we celebrate the leading players, coaches, goals and fans across a range of illustrious categories!
The voting was open to media representatives, national team coaches, national team captains, and the public. Voting for the fans closed on 3 February. This voting process helped in narrowing down the nominations into three finalists for each category, and the winners will be announced in the ceremony.
The Best FIFA Football Awards is being streamed live on FIFA's official YouTube channel, where viewers from the USA can find out who took home the awards. In India, the ceremony can be viewed on JioCinema, Sports18, or on FIFA's channel.
Here are the categories and the nominees:
The Best FIFA Men’s Player finalists
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/France)
Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain/France)
Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain/Argentina)
The Best FIFA Women’s Player finalists
Beth Mead (Arsenal/England)
Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride/San Diego Wave/USWNT)
Alexia Putellas (Barcelona/Spain)
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach finalists
Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid)
Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
Lionel Scaloni (Argentina)
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach finalists
Sonia Bompastor (Lyon)
Pia Sundhage (Brazil)
Sarina Wiegman (England)
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper finalists
Yassine Bounou (Sevilla/Morocco)
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid/Belgium)
Emiliano MartÃnez (Aston Villa/Argentina)
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper finalists
Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea/Germany)
Mary Earps (Manchester United/England)
Christiane Endler (Lyon/Chile)
The FIFA Puskás Award finalists
Marcin Oleksy (Poland)
Dimitri Payet (France)
Richarlison (Brazil)
The Best FIFA Fan Award contenders
Abdullah Al Salmi (Saudi Arabia)
Argentinian National Team fans (Argentina)
Japanese National Team fans (Japan)
Real Madrid stars set to miss The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema and Carlo Ancelotti, who have been nominated for The Best FIFA Football Awards, have decided to skip the ceremony. According to The Athletic, the decision was taken by the club management, keeping in mind the team's preparations ahead of El Clasico.
| Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti & his players will skip tonight’s The Best FIFA Awards in Paris to focus on Thursday’s match against Barcelona. @MarioCortegana🚨🌕| Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti & his players will skip tonight’s The Best FIFA Awards in Paris to focus on Thursday’s match against Barcelona. @MarioCortegana
Benzema has been nominated alongside fellow countryman Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi in the Best Men's Player category. Ancelotti, on the other hand, has been nominated for the Best Men's Coach category, with Pep Guardiola and Lionel Scaloni the other nominees.