The Best FIFA Men's Player Award Power Rankings: December 2021
The Best FIFA Men's Player Award is right up there with the Ballon d'Or as one of the most prestigious individual prizes in football. The award is granted to honor the best performing player from across the globe in a calendar year.
This year's the Best FIFA Men's Player Award will be handed out at a ceremony which is scheduled to be held on January 17th.
The Best FIFA Men's Player Award has a unique voting system
One of the key differences between the Ballon d'Or and the Best FIFA Men's Player Award is the voting system. The Ballon d'Or winner is chosen on the basis of an aggregate of votes from journalists, national team captains and coaches.
Meanwhile, the votes for the Best FIFA Men's Player Award are divided into four categories - national team captains, national team coaches, media representatives and fans. Each of the four categories get 25% of the vote share.
Things were rather straightforward in 2020 with Robert Lewandowski being the clear-cut favorite to go on and win the award. But it's very unpredictable this time around. Without further ado, let's take a look at the Best FIFA Men's Player Award Power Rankings for the month of December 2021.
#10 Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City)
Kevin De Bruyne didn't hit the heights of his 2019-20 season in the 2020-21 campaign. He was still extremely effective for Manchester City and his heroics helped propel Pep Guardiola's men to a third Premier League title in four years.
De Bruyne was also picked as the PFA Players' Player of the Year for a second season running. The Belgian international scored 10 goals and provided 18 assists in 40 appearances across all competitions for Manchester City last term.
He also gave a good account of himself at Euro 2020, scoring a goal and providing two assists in four appearances as Belgium crashed out in the quarter-final against Italy. De Bruyne is one of the 11 nominees for the Best FIFA Men's Player Award this time but he is extremely unlikely to win it.
#9 Erling Haaland (Norway/Borussia Dortmund)
Erling Haaland is arguably the most sought-after striker in the world right now. The 21-year-old is an absolute goalscoring machine who is as prolific a striker as any we've seen in recent times. The Norwegian international also won the DFB Pokal with Borussia Dortmund earlier this year.
Haaland scored 41 goals and provided 12 assists in 41 appearances across all competitions for Dortmund last term. Unfortunately for him, Norway failed to qualify for Euro 2020 and he spent the summer without footballing action.
Haaland is in great form this term as well, and has already scored 19 goals and provided five assists in just 16 appearances across all competitions for the Bundesliga outfit. However, it looks like he will need to wait before he gets his hands on the Best FIFA Men's Player Award.
Real Madrid are serious about Erling Haaland 🗣️ https://t.co/OvuGS4fiIz
#8 Kylian Mbappe (France/Paris Saint-Germain)
Kylian Mbappe had a very underwhelming outing at Euro 2020. It was a tournament he was expected to take by storm. But he conjured up just one assist in four appearances as Les Bleus crashed out in the Round of 16 against Switzerland.
But Mbappe made up for it by scoring in the semi-finals and final of France's UEFA Nations League triumph a couple of months back. The 22-year-old scored 42 goals and provided 11 assists in 47 appearances across all competitions for Paris Saint-Germain last term.
However, missing out on the Ligue 1 title has greatly affected Mbappe's chances of winning the Best FIFA Men's Player Award.
Only two players from Europe's top five divisions have scored 50+ goals for club & country in 2021:
◎ Robert Lewandowski (69)
◉ Kylian Mbappé (50)
Mbappé also has 22 assists. 🤩 https://t.co/ihYF6PoOjn