Manchester City and England dominated 2023 FIFA Best Awards, whilst Lionel Messi and Aitana Bonmati were crowned as 2023 FIFA Best Players.
Messi scored 28 goals in total for Argentina plus PSG and Inter Miami across 2023 but fought off competition from Man City’s Erling Haaland to be crowned the FIFA Best Men’s Player of 2023.
Both players were tied on 48 accumlated points following votes from coaches, national-team captains, media and fans, but Messi prevailed by virtue of topping the national-team captains’ vote with 677 points to Haaland’s 557 points.
Man City manager, Pep Guardiola was crowned the FIFA Best Men’s Manager after he led the Cityzens to a treble last season, as the club defended their Premier League title and won the FA Cup plus a maiden UEFA Champions League title.
Ederson was crowned the FIFA Best Men’s Goalkeeper ahead of Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois.
Capping a strong night for Man City, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were named in the FIFPRO Men’s World XI alongside; Courtois, Jude Bellingham, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior.
Spain’s Aitana Bonmati meanwhile was crowned 2023 FIFA Best Women’s Player after she scored three goals and contributed two assists, as she helped Spain claim their first FIFA Women’s World Cup title.
England Lionesses’ manager, Sarina Wiegman meanwhile was crowned the FIFA Best Women’s Manager, having guided the reigning UEFA Women’s Euro champions to the Women’s Finalissima title and runner-up at FIFA Women’s World Cup.
England’s Mary Earps, Lucy Bronze, Alex Greenwood, Keira Walsh, Alessio Russio, Lauren James and Ella Toone meanwhile were all named in the FIFPRO Women’s World XI, alongside; Spain’s Olga Carmona plus Aitana Bonmati, USA’s Alex Morgan and Australia’s Sam Kerr.
Earps picked up the FIFA Best Women’s Goalkeeper award for her performances for both Manchester United and England, having finished top of the voting ahead of Spain’s Catalina Coll and Australia’s Mackenzie Arnold.
Elsewhere, Guilherme Madruga won the FIFA Best Puskas award for his 25-yard overhead kick for Botafogo against Novorizontino in June 2023.
Hugo Daniel Iniguez was voted FIFA Best Fan for bottle-feeding his youngest child during a match involving Argentinean club, Colon.
Brazil Men’s National Team were crowned the Best Fair Play winners for their exemplary behaviour across 2023.
Brazil’s Marta received the FIFA Special Award in recognition of her achievements across 23 years in the game, which has seen her become the highest-scoring player in World Cup history across the Men and Women’s tournaments.
FIFA also announced that from next year, women’s footballers will battle for the Marta Award – which will be the female equivalent of the Puskas Award which honours the best goals in men’s football.
List of Winners
FIFA Best Men’s Player – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
FIFA Best Women’s Player – Aitana Bonmati (Spain)
FIFA Best Men’s Goalkeeper – Ederson (Manchester United)
FIFA Best Women’s Goalkeeper – Mary Earps (Manchester United)
FIFA Best Men’s Manager – Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
FIFA Best Women’s Manager – Sarina Wiegman (England)
FIFPRO Men’s World XI – Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Kyle Walker (England), John Stones (England), Ruben Dias (Portugal), Bernardo Silva (Portugal), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Jude Bellingham (England), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Erling Haaland (Norway), Kylian Mbappe (France), Vinicius Junior (Brazil)
FIFPRO Women’s World XI – Mary Earps (England), Olga Carmona (Spain), Lucy Bronze (England), Alex Greenwood (England), Keira Walsh (England), Alessia Russo (England), Lauren James (England), Ella Toone (England), Aitana Bonmati (Spain), Alex Morgan (USA), Sam Kerr (Australia)
FIFA Best Fair Play – Brazil Men’s National Team
FIFA Best Puskas Award – Guilherme Madruga
FIFA Best Fan Award – Hugo Daniel Iniguez
FIFA Special Award – Marta (Brazil)
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