THE BEST FIFA FOOTBALL AWARDS 2017: NOMINEES, VOTING & EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Cristiano Ronaldo is the hot favourite to defend his Men's Player of the Year crown at FIFA's annual awards on October 23

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FIFA will hold its annual The Best FIFA Football Awards event on Monday in London.

Now in its second year, the ceremony recognises the best of men’s and women’s football over the previous season.

Cristiano Ronaldo looks set to successfully defend his crown in the Men’s Player of the Year category but the Women’s field could be more open, with last year’s winner Carli Lloyd once again in the running.

Ahead of the ceremony in the English capital, Goal has all the information you need to know about the event.


WHAT ARE THE BEST AWARDS?


Cristiano Ronaldo FIFA Awards

The Best FIFA Football Awards are annual awards presented by FIFA to the game’s top players and coaches.

The awards were launched in 2016 to replace the Ballon d’Or. The Ballon d’Or will still be presented by the magazine France Football but it will no longer be in partnership with FIFA, who will instead hand out their own prizes.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Carli Lloyd were the first recipients of the main men’s and women’s awards respectively.


WHEN ARE THE BEST AWARDS?


This year’s awards ceremony will take place on Monday, October 23, 2017 at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London, with coverage beginning at 16:30 BST.

The ceremony will be hosted by actor Idris Elba and Studs Up presenter Layla-Anna Lee, and will also feature a performance by the band Kasabian.

Current and former footballers Roberto Di Matteo, Jay-Jay Okocha, Alex Scott, Andriy Shevchenko and Peter Shilton revealed the final three candidates for each of the main individual awards – as well as the shortlist of 10 for the Puskas Award – on September 22.


WHAT ARE THE AWARD CATEGORIES?


Claudio Ranieri FIFA Awards

The main individual award categories are: Men’s Player, Women’s Player, Men’s Coach, Women’s Coach and Goalkeeper.

In addition, there are the Fair Play, Fan and Puskas – for the best goal of the year – awards, as well as the FIFPro World XI.


HOW CAN I WATCH THE AWARDS?


You can watch a live stream of both the ceremony itself and the green carpet on the FIFA TV YouTube channel. Coverage of the ceremony starts at 16:30 BST, while the stars will be arriving on the green carpet from 15:00.

No television broadcast details have been announced yet in the UK or the US.


MEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR


Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid

On September 22, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Lionel Messi were revealed as the final three contenders for the Men’s Player of the Year award.

Player Team
Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid / Portugal
Lionel Messi Barcelona / Argentina
Neymar Barcelona & PSG / Brazil

The Men’s Player of the Year award started with a 24-man shortlist drawn by a group of ‘FIFA legends’ that includes Diego Maradona, Cafu and Carles Puyol.

The shortlist was then voted on between August 21 and September 7 by national team coaches, national team captains, selected media and fans, with each of the four voting categories weighted evenly.

The top three was revealed on September 22, with the winner set to be announced at the ceremony on October 23.

The initial 24 nominees were:

Player Team
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Borussia Dortmund / Gabon
Leonardo Bonucci Milan / Italy
Gianluigi Buffon Juventus / Italy
Dani Carvajal Real Madrid / Spain
Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid / Portugal
Paulo Dybala Juventus / Argentina
Antoine Griezmann Atletico Madrid / France
Eden Hazard Chelsea / Belgium
Zlatan Ibrahimovic Manchester United / Sweden
Andres Iniesta Barcelona / Spain
Harry Kane Tottenham / England
N’Golo Kante Chelsea / France
Toni Kroos Real Madrid / Germany
Robert Lewandowski Bayern Munich / Poland
Marcelo Real Madrid / Brazil
Lionel Messi Barcelona / Argentina
Luka Modric Real Madrid / Croatia
Keylor Navas Real Madrid / Costa Rica
Manuel Neuer Bayern Munich / Germany
Neymar Barcelona / Brazil
Sergio Ramos Real Madrid / Spain
Alexis Sanchez Arsenal / Chile
Luis Suarez Barcelona / Uruguay
Arturo Vidal Bayern Munich / Chile

WOMEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR


Lieke Martens Netherlands

The final three nominees for the Women’s Player of the Year are United States international Carli Lloyd, Venezuela’s Deyna Castellanos and Barcelona star Lieke Martens.

Player Team
Carli Lloyd Houston Dash / USA
Deyna Castellanos Florida State / Venezuela
Lieke Martens Barcelona / Netherlands

The Women’s Player of the Year award had a 10-woman shortlist that was finalised by legends of the female game including Mia Hamm and Nadine Kessler.

After that, the voting process is the same as the men’s award: national team coaches, national team captains, selected media and fans account for a quarter of the vote each, with the top three announced on September 22.

The initial 10 nominees were:

Player Team
Lucy Bronze Lyon / England
Deyna Castellanos Florida State / Venezuela
Pernille Harder Wolfsburg / Denmark
Samantha Kerr Sky Blue / Australia
Carli Lloyd Houston Dash / USA
Dzsenifer Marozsan Lyon / Germany
Lieke Martens Barcelona / Netherlands
Vivianne Miedema Arsenal / Netherlands
Wendie Renard Lyon / France
Jodie Taylor Arsenal / England

MEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR


Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid

Back-to-back Champions League winner Zinedine Zidane is joined on the final Men’s Coach of the Year shortlist by Chelsea boss Antonio Conte and Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri.

Coach Team
Antonio Conte Chelsea
Massimiliano Allegri Juventus
Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid

The Men’s Coach of the Year award had a 12-person shortlist selected by the same group of experts that decide on the Men’s Player of the Year field.

The voting process is the same as the two main player awards: national team coaches, national team captains, selected media and fans account for a quarter of the vote each, with the top three announced on September 22.

The initial 12 nominees were:

Coach Team
Massimiliano Allegri Juventus
Carlo Ancelotti Bayern Munich
Antonio Conte Chelsea
Luis Enrique Unattached
Pep Guardiola Manchester City
Leonardo Jardim Monaco
Joachim Low Germany
Jose Mourinho Manchester United
Mauricio Pochettino Tottenham
Diego Simeone Atletico Madrid
Tite Brazil
Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid

WOMEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR


Sarina Wiegman Netherlands

Netherlands manager Sarina Wiegman, Lyon boss Gerard Precheur and former Denmark coach Nils Nielsen made it through to the final three for the Women’s Coach of the Year.

Coach Team
Gerard Precheur Lyon
Nils Nielsen Denmark / Unattached
Sarina Wiegman Netherlands

The Women’s Coach of the Year award had a 10-person shortlist selected by the same group of experts that decide on the Women’s Player of the Year field.

The voting process is the same as the two main player awards: national team coaches, national team captains, selected media and fans account for a quarter of the vote each, with the top three announced on September 22.

The initial 10 nominees were:

Coach Team
Olivier Echouafni France
Emma Hayes Chelsea
Ralf Kellermann Wolfsburg
Xavier Llorens Unattached
Nils Nielsen Unattached
Florence Omagbemi Nigeria
Gerard Precheur Lyon
Dominik Thalhammer Austria
Sarina Wiegman Netherlands
Hwang Yong-Bong North Korea Youth

GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR


Buffon Juventus Cagliari

The Goalkeeper of the Year award is voted for by a panel of experts, which is comprised of 11 former goalkeepers and forwards including the likes of Peter Schmeichel and Patrick Kluivert.

The three-man shortlist was announced on September 22 and is as follows:

Player Team
Gianluigi Buffon Juventus / Italy
Keylor Navas Real Madrid / Costa Rica
Manuel Neuer Bayern Munich / Germany

FIFPRO WORLD XI


FIFPro World XI

As well as individual awards, the FIFPro World XI will be announced at the ceremony, identifying the 11 best players in the world for the last year.

FIFPro polled around 25,000 professional footballers, asking for their best goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards for the 2016-17 season. A longlist of 55 players was announced on September 20, with Real Madrid boasting a record 13 players in that group.

In total, there were five goalkeepers, 20 defenders, 15 midfielders and 15 forwards on the longlist.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianluigi Buffon are the only two players who have featured on every 55-man longlist since its establishment in 2004-05.

BEST FIFA FAN AWARD


Celtic fans v PSG Champions League

The panel of experts who drew up the shortlist for The Best FIFA Fan Award included the likes of Jay-Jay Okocha, Carlos Valderrama and Jorge Campos.

The three groups of supporters who made the final list of nominees are the fans of Borussia DortmundCeltic and Copenhagen, who have been recognised for their particularly enthusiastic backing of their clubs over the past year.

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