After the Ballon d'Or was discontinued, FIFA opted to have their own award ceremony for the first time since the FIFA world player of the year partnered up with "France Football's Ballon d'Or", back in 2010. It is the second time that "The Best" will be awarded, and last night in London, the candidates for all 7 awards were announced. Here are the nominees, and most likely to win.
Nominees
The nominees for all 7 awards were announced last night, with a few surprises among all the nominees.
The Best FIFA Men's player:
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Lionel Messi
- Neymar da Silva
The competition in this award will be between Messi and C.
Ronaldo after they both had amazing years. While Messi outscored C.Ronaldo 54 goals to 42, and assisted more, with 16 assists to 12, Ronaldo was a crucial player to a Real Madrid squad that won the Champions League and La Liga. Ronaldo scored hat tricks vs Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, and a brace vs Juventus in the final, ending as top scorer of the Champions League. #Neymar was also nominated, after breaking the record for most assists in a single Champions League (8), and ending the campaign with 16 goals and 19 assists. Because of the titles that Cristiano #Ronaldo racked up in the 2016/17 year, he is the favorite to win it.
The Best FIFA Men's Coach
- Zinedine Zidane
- Antonio Conte
- Massimiliano Allegri
Zinedine #Zidane, born in Marseille, is almost as good of a coach as he was a player.
After taking over from the abysmal Real Madrid Squad under Rafael Benítez, he has turned things around for them. Under Zidane, Real Madrid has won the league for the first time in 5 years, and become the only team in history to win the new Champions League back to back. Antonio Conte also had a good first year with Chelsea, winning the Premier League, while being victorious 30 games out of 38, only suffering 5 losses.
Massimiliano Allegri had one of his best years as manager, winning the league with Juventus for a record sixth time, and winning the Coppa Italia for a third consecutive time, the first in history to do so. He also managed Juventus to their second Champions League final in 3 years, although they lost to Real Madrid 4-1. Although the Italian's should be proud of having two coaches in the finalists, it will most likely be Zinedine Zidane who will take the award home, after his successful run in the Champions League.
The Best FIFA Goalkeeper
- Manuel Neuer
- Keylor Navas
- Gianluigi Buffon
One of the most difficult positions on the pitch, these goalkeepers were all crucial to their teams' success. Manuel Neuer helped his team to win yet another Bundesliga title and even has the most saves out of the three in the Champions League, with 37 saves (77.1% save record). Keylor Navas had the most successful year of the three, winning the Champions League and La Liga, and had crucial saves for Real Madrid when needed. He finished the Champions League with 35 saves (70% save record). Buffon, approaching his 40th birthday, won his sixth league, and eighth domestic cup. He went 600 minutes without conceding a goal in the Champions League, reaching the final and ending the season with 22 saves, but the best save record (78.5%).
Buffon also won Goalkeeper in the Team of the Year 2016, as voted per fans. Buffon is a favorite to win, due to his records (Most capped European player of all time), but Keylor Navas still has a strong chance of winning as well.
