The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025: Best Men’s Player, FIFPro World XI, winner and date

Cameron Smith

• 1 Oct 2024 09:00 CDT
• 10 min read

The Best FIFA Football Awards 2024 has now concluded and attention has already turned to the 2025 edition of the ceremony.

FIFA no longer runs the prestigious Ballon d’Or prize, but it does oversee its own in-house 'The Best FIFA Football Awards'; an event that is still a landmark ceremony every year.

The biggest prize on offer is the Best Men’s Player of the Year award, but there are also several other big honours handed out every year, including the FIFPro World XI, the Puskas Award for the best goal scored and the Best Women’s Player.

READ MORE: Who will win Ballon d’Or 2025? Shortlist, favourites, latest odds, date and past winners

Furthermore, recognition is also given to the top coaches in the men’s and women’s games.

Here at FootballTransfers, we have compiled everything you need to know ahead of The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025.

What is the shortlist for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025?

The shortlist of potential winners will not be revealed until 2025.

Who are the favourites for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025?

Superstars such as Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Rodri, Harry Kane, Cole Palmer, Mohamed Salah and Lamine Yamal are expected to compete for The FIFA Best Men’s Player award in 2025.

Aitana Bonmati is likely to be the favourite to win The Best FIFA Women’s Player in 2025 as she continues to dominate the women’s game.

What are The Best FIFA Football Awards?

Following the 1990 World Cup in Italy, FIFA decided to launch its own ceremony to celebrate the best player in the world every year. It slowly gained traction, incorporating a women’s award in 2001, alongside several other trophies.

There are now nine awards, as well as a FIFPro Men’s and Women’s World XI. Those nine awards are: The Best FIFA Men’s Player, The Best FIFA Women’s Player, The Best FIFA Men’s Coach, The Best FIFA Women’s Coach, FIFA Fair Play Award, FIFA Puskas Award, FIFA Fan Award, The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper and the Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper.

How are The Best FIFA Football Awards decided and who votes?

The Best FIFA Football Awards include fans in the voting process, giving the people a voice.

The voting for the FIFA Puskas Award, for example, sees fans vote online for one of the 11 finalists drawn up by a panel of experts, with a final trio then decided.

Fans are responsible for 50% of the votes cast, with a panel of football experts providing the other 50% to decide the eventual winner.

The FIFA Fan Award is entirely decided by fans, with no input from journalists, coaches or players when it comes to determining the winner. Three moments are chosen and fans vote online to ultimately decide the winner.

Fans also have the chance to cast their votes for The Best FIFA Men’s and Women’s Player, The Best FIFA Men’s and Women’s Coach and The Best FIFA Men’s and Women’s Goalkeeper awards.

Fans can vote for their top three favourites per category, with first choice generating five points, second choice three points, and third choice one point.

Fans make up 25% of the vote, with the other 75% coming from national coaches of FIFA Member Associations, their team captains, and a select group of media from those countries.

The voting window is usually over a two-week period around a month before the awards ceremony.

When is The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025 ceremony?

The exact date of The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025 ceremony has not been revealed yet. However, it is likely to take place in January 2026.

The Best FIFA Football Awards are given based on performances over the calendar year of January to December, rather than the standard football season of August to May.

Thus, the ceremony takes place early in the new year every year.

Where is The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025 ceremony?

The location for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025 has not been announced yet. The 2023 awards ceremony took place in London, while the 2022 edition was hosted in Paris.

What is The Best FIFA Men’s Player award?

The Best FIFA Men’s Player award is exactly that - the award given to the best men’s player of the given year.

It is voted on by a number of different groups of people within the football world and the winner is decided from an original shortlist.

Lionel Messi won the 2023 award.

What is The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper award?

Similar to The Best FIFA Men’s Player but solely for goalkeepers, The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper award celebrates the best player in between the sticks each calendar year, to give more recognition to a position that seldom wins individual prizes. The first award was handed out in 2017.

Ederson won the award in 2023.

What is The Best FIFA Men’s Coach award?

This award celebrates the work of the best coaches in world football, and it ultimately decides which manager is considered to have been the best over the past 12 months.

The 2023 award went to Pep Guardiola.

What is The Best FIFA Women’s Player award?

Just as with The FIFA Best Men’s Player, there is an award for the best female player each calendar year as well. It started in 2001, 10 years after the men’s award was introduced, and brings more recognition and attention to women’s football.

Aitana Bonmati is the reigning champion after winning the award in 2023.

There are also female awards for The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper, The Best FIFA Women’s Coach and a FIFA FIFPro Women’s World XI.

What is the FIFA FIFPro Men’s World 11?

Since 2005, the world players’ union FIFPRO has asked professional footballers worldwide to select the best players in the game each calendar year, with over 25,000 players participating in the vote.

The goalkeeper, as well as the three defenders, three midfielders and three forwards who receive the most votes are selected for the World 11. The remaining spot in the World 11 is assigned to the outfield player with the next highest number of votes who is not selected already.

The award celebrates the best 11 players in the world each year, and gives players who don’t have a realistic shot at winning the overall award, primarily defensive players, recognition for their work on the pitch.

Lionel Messi has the most appearances in the World 11 with 17. Cristiano Ronaldo has been included in 14 World XIs, while Sergio Ramos is next in terms of appearances, with 11.

The last five FIFPro Men’s Best XIs

2023: Thibaut Courtois (Belgium); Ruben Dias (Portugal), John Stones (England), Kyle Walker (England); Jude Bellingham (England), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Bernardo Silva (Portugal); Vinicius Jr (Brazil), Kylian Mbappe (France), Erling Haaland (Norway), Lionel Messi (Argentina).

2022: Thibaut Courtois (Belgium); Joao Cancelo (Portugal), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco); Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Casemiro (Brazil), Luka Modric (Croatia); Kylian Mbappe (France), Erling Haaland (Norway), Karim Benzema (France), Lionel Messi (Argentina).

2021: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy); David Alaba (Austria), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy), Ruben Dias (Portugal); Jorginho (Italy), N’Golo Kante (France), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium); Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Erling Haaland (Norway), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Lionel Messi (Argentina).

2020: Alisson (Brazil); Alphonso Davies (Canada), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England); Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Thiago (Spain), Joshua Kimmich (Germany); Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Lionel Messi (Argentina).

2019: Alisson (Brazil); Marcelo (Brazil), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands); Eden Hazard (Belgium), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlands), Luka Modric (Croatia); Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Kylian Mbappe (France), Lionel Messi (Argentina).

What is the FIFA Puskas Award?

Created in 2009 in honour of Real Madrid icon Ferenc Puskas, captain and star of the Hungary national team during the 1950s, the FIFA Puskas Award is handed out to the player judged to have scored the best goal of the year.

The criteria is: an aesthetically beautiful goal, awarded without distinction of championship, gender or nationality.

Guilherme Madruga won the 2023 FIFA Puskas Award.

What is the FIFA Fair Play Award?

The FIFA Fair Play award recognises exemplary behaviour that promotes fair play, sportsmanship and compassion in football. It can be awarded to a player, a coach, a team, fans or even entire footballing communities.

The winner in 2023 was the Brazil national team for their fight against racism.

What is the FIFA Fan Award?

The FIFA Fan award was created in 2016 and celebrates the best fan moment or event across the calendar year. The 2023 award was won by the Club Atletico Colon de Santa Fe fan who was spotted bottle-feeding his baby during a game.

Who will present The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony for 2025?

The presenters for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025 ceremony have not been revealed yet.

Reshmin Chowdhury and Thierry Henry fronted the ceremony in 2023. Ex-England international Jermaine Jenas and presenter Samantha Johnson were the hosts for 2022, while Jenas was accompanied by the aforementioned Chowdhury in 2021.

Are The Best FIFA Football Awards and the Ballon d’Or the same?

No, they are not. The Ballon d’Or is a ceremony founded and run by France Football, whereas The Best FIFA Football Awards were founded and run by FIFA. They are two separate awards, although between 2010 and 2015, they merged together to form the FIFA Ballon d’Or.

They separated for 2016 and have remained two different awards since then. Before the merge, The Best FIFA Football Awards was known as FIFA World Player of the Year.