Soccer is a team game, but that doesn’t prevent an almighty scramble for individual awards every single year.
The Ballon d’Or might boast the renown and prestige that all other prizes aspire to achieve, but the relatively recent introduction of the Best FIFA Football Awards offers another route to solo stardom for the world’s elite.
There are an array of accolades on offer at the ceremony, which has been staged by world soccer’s governing body since the inaugural event in January 2017. Prizes are distributed based on performances over the calendar year, with both coaches and players earning acclaim.
Here are the past winners across all the Best FIFA Football Awards categories since its inception.
The Best FIFA Men’s Player: Past Winners
Cristiano Ronaldo scooped the first two Best FIFA Men’s Player awards, collecting the prize for 2016 and 2017, but it’s the ex-Real Madrid star’s longstanding career rival Lionel Messi who has collected the crown most frequently.
The veteran forward triumphed in 2019 with Barcelona and then won successive awards in 2022 and 2023 following his performances for Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami and, most importantly, Argentina.
Robert Lewandowski is tied with Ronaldo in second with two victories, while modern Real Madrid greats Luka Modrić and Vinicius Junior have also clinched the honor previously.
| Year | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
| 2017 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
| 2018 | Luka Modrić | Real Madrid |
| 2019 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2020 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich |
| 2021 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich |
| 2022 | Lionel Messi | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 2023 | Lionel Messi | Paris Saint-Germain/Inter Miami |
| 2024 | Vinicius Junior | Real Madrid |
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper: Past Winners
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper was not crowned in 2016 as Gianluigi Buffon scooped the inaugural title the following year for his displays with Juventus. Thibaut Courtois stole his crown in 2018, representing both Chelsea and Real Madrid, before Alisson and Manuel Neuer proceeded to earn the prize.
But Premier League sides have dominated the award in recent years, with Édouard Mendy winning in 2021 after his Champions League heroics with Chelsea, while Manchester City’s Ederson ran out victor in 2023—sandwiched in between victories for Aston Villa stopper Emiliano Martínez.
| Year | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Gianluigi Buffon | Juventus |
| 2018 | Thibaut Courtois | Chelsea/Real Madrid |
| 2019 | Alisson | Liverpool |
| 2020 | Manuel Neuer | Bayern Munich |
| 2021 | Édouard Mendy | Chelsea |
| 2022 | Emiliano Martínez | Aston Villa |
| 2023 | Ederson | Manchester City |
| 2024 | Emiliano Martínez | Aston Villa |
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach: Past Winners
An array of soccer’s elite tactical minds have got their hands on the Best FIFA Men’s Coach award, but only ex-Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has won it on more than one occasion. Champions League success in 2019 and Premier League glory in 2020 ensured two successive triumphs.
Claudio Ranieri rightly won the trophy in 2016 after achieving impossible Premier League glory with Leicester City, while Frenchmen Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps followed in the Italian’s footsteps.
Thomas Tuchel, Lionel Scaloni, Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti have all won since Klopp’s back-to-back titles.
| Year | Manager | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Claudio Ranieri | Leicester City |
| 2017 | Zinedine Zidane | Real Madrid |
| 2018 | Didier Deschamps | France |
| 2019 | Jürgen Klopp | Liverpool |
| 2020 | Jürgen Klopp | Liverpool |
| 2021 | Thomas Tuchel | Paris Saint-Germain/Chelsea |
| 2022 | Lionel Scaloni | Argentina |
| 2023 | Pep Guardiola | Manchester City |
| 2024 | Carlo Ancelotti | Real Madrid |
FIFA Puskás Award: Past Winners
The FIFA Puskás Award is less self-explanatory, but is awarded to the best goal across a calendar year. A few unknowns have achieved the feat, with Mohd Faiz Subri, Dániel Zsóri, Marcin Oleksy and Guilherme Madruga hardly household names.
However, plenty of big-hitters have scored stunners worthy of the prize, with Premier League stars past and present dominating the award. Mohamed Salah, Son Heung-min and Alejandro Garnacho are among the recipients.
| Year | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Mohd Faiz Subri | Penang |
| 2017 | Olivier Giroud | Arsenal |
| 2018 | Mohamed Salah | Liverpool |
| 2019 | Dániel Zsóri | Debrecen |
| 2020 | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2021 | Erik Lamela | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2022 | Marcin Oleksy | Warta Poznań |
| 2023 | Guilherme Madruga | Botafogo-SP |
| 2024 | Alejandro Garnacho | Manchester United |
The Best FIFA Women’s Player: Past Winners
Before Barcelona’s dominance of the Best FIFA Women’s Player award, winners were hard to predict.
Carli Lloyd won the inaugural prize and was followed by United States compatriot Megan Rapinoe three years later. In between their victories, Lieke Martens and Marta clinched the crown, while Lucy Bronze triumphed in 2020.
But it’s been all Barça since then, with two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas collecting FIFA’s top individual prize in the same year as her golden ball wins in 2021 and 2022.
Like her fellow Spaniard, Aitana Bonmatí has won back-to-back titles, adding to her three Ballon d’Or wins.
| Year | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Carli Lloyd | Houston Dash |
| 2017 | Lieke Martens | Rosengård/Paris Saint-Germain |
| 2018 | Marta | Orlando Pride |
| 2019 | Megan Rapinoe | Seattle Reign |
| 2020 | Lucy Bronze | Lyon/Manchester City |
| 2021 | Alexia Putellas | Barcelona |
| 2022 | Alexia Putellas | Barcelona |
| 2023 | Aitana Bonmatí | Barcelona |
| 2024 | Aitana Bonmatí | Barcelona |
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper: Past Winners
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper award wasn’t dished out until 2019, with Sari van Veenendaal the first ever victor. Two Lyon stoppers followed in her path, with Sarah Bouhaddi and Christiane Endler enjoying wins in the subsequent years.
Mary Earps remains the only two-time winner following her exploits with both Manchester United and, chiefly, England. She won successive crowns in 2022 and 2023, but was unable to achieve a three-peat as Alyssa Naeher beat her to the trophy in 2024.
| Year | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Sari van Veenendaal | Arsenal/Atlético Madrid |
| 2020 | Sarah Bouhaddi | Lyon |
| 2021 | Christiane Endler | Paris Saint-Germain/Lyon |
| 2022 | Mary Earps | Manchester United |
| 2023 | Mary Earps | Manchester United |
| 2024 | Alyssa Naeher | Chicago Red Stars |
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Past Winners
This is Sarina Wiegman’s award. Having won the prize four times—twice while managing the Netherlands and twice while coaching England—she has demolished the competition since the first award in 2016, which was won by Silva Neid.
Emma Hayes is the only other serial champion, winning in 2021 and 2024, while ex-Lyon manager Reynald Pedros and former United States head coach Jill Ellis have each won once.
| Year | Manager | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Silvia Neid | Germany |
| 2017 | Sarina Wiegman | Netherlands |
| 2018 | Reynald Pedros | Lyon |
| 2019 | Jill Ellis | United States |
| 2020 | Sarina Wiegman | Netherlands |
| 2021 | Emma Hayes | Chelsea |
| 2022 | Sarina Wiegman | England |
| 2023 | Sarina Wiegman | England |
| 2024 | Emma Hayes | Chelsea/United States |
FIFA Marta Award: Past Winners
The equivalent of FIFA’s Puskás Award in the women’s game, the FIFA Marta Award is named after the fabled Brazilian star. She also won the inaugural title in 2024 for her stunning strike against Jamaica in an international friendly.
| Year[ | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Marta | Brazil |
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Best FIFA Football Awards: Full List of Past Winners.
