The faintly ludicrously named The Best Fifa Football Awards return this evening with stars of the sport set to be honoured in a glitzy ceremony in Qatar.
After splitting from the much more universally-recognised Ballon d’Or in 2016, Fifa has held its own annual award show to try and claim a slice of the ever-increasing fascination with individual personalities and honours in a team sport.
The previous Best Awards in 2024 saw Vinicius Jr named the best men’s player, righting what some saw as a perceived wrong when Rodri was named that year’s Ballon d’Or winner, causing Real Madrid to have a massive tantrum and boycott the ceremony.
Aitana Bonmati won the best women’s player award for the second year running and she is nominated again this year, seeking a hat-trick, with Doha playing host to the ceremony this evening, little more than a week after another big Fifa-led event – the World Cup draw.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2025 edition of The Best Fifa Football Awards:
When do The Best Fifa Football Awards start?
The Best Fifa Football Awards 2025 are taking place on Tuesday 16 December 2025 at Fairmont Katara Hall in Doha, Qatar. The ceremony is due to start at around 5pm GMT (8pm local).
How can I watch?
The ceremony is available to watch live, for free, via the official Fifa website and Fifa+ platform with coverage set to begin at 5pm GMT. No login or subscription is required, simply visit the website at the start time to begin streaming.
How are the winners selected?
Performances between August 11 2024 and August 2 2025 have been taken into consideration so those players who excelled in the 2024-25 season, in tournaments such as the Champions League, domestic leagues, Women’s Euros and Club World Cup will be winning awards.
A total of 12 awards will be presented, with the winners in the women's and men's categories for best player, coach and goalkeeper decided by votes cast by national team captains and coaches, media representatives from each Fifa member association and registered fans. Each of these four groups will carry equal weight, accounting for 25 per cent of the total vote.
The best men’s and women’s XIs will be selected through votes from professional footballers and fans worldwide while the Marta Award and Puskas Award for best goals will see voting equally shared between fans and a panel of Fifa legends.
Who are the nominees for each award?
Best Fifa Men’s Player
- Ousmane Dembele (PSG/France)
- Achraf Hakimi (PSG/Morocco)
- Harry Kane (Bayern Munich/England)
- Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid/France)
- Nuno Mendes (PSG/Portugal)
- Cole Palmer (Chelsea/England)
- Pedri (Barcelona/Spain)
- Raphinha (Barcelona/Brazil)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt)
- Vitinha (PSG/Portugal)
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)
Best Fifa Women’s Player
- Sandy Baltimore (Chelsea/France)
- Nathalie Bjorn (Chelsea/Sweden)
- Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona/Spain)
- Lucy Bronze (Chelsea/England)
- Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal/Spain)
- Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current/Malawi)
- Kadidiatou Diani (Lyon/France)
- Melchie Dumornay (PSG/Haiti)
- Patri Guijarro (Barcelona/Spain)
- Lindsey Heaps (Lyon/USA)
- Lauren James (Chelsea/England)
- Chloe Kelly (Arsenal/England)
- Ewa Pajor (Barcelona/Poland)
- Claudia Pina (Barcelona/Spain)
- Alexia Putellas (Barcelona/Spain)
- Alessia Russo (Arsenal/England)
- Leah Williamson (Arsenal/England)
Best Fifa Men’s Goalkeeper
- Alisson (Liverpool/Brazil)
- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid/Belgium)
- Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG, Man City/Italy)
- Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa/Argentina)
- Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich/Germany)
- David Raya (Arsenal/Spain)
- Yann Sommer (Inter/Switzerland)
- Wojciech Szczesny (Barcelona/Poland)
Best Fifa Women’s Goalkeeper
- Ann-Katrin Berger (Gotham FC/Germany)
- Cata Coll (Barcelona/Spain)
- Christiane Endler (Lyon/Chile)
- Hannah Hampton (Chelsea/England)
- Anna Moorhouse (Orlando Pride/England)
- Chiamake Nnadozie (Paris FC, Brighton/Nigeria)
- Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Man United/USA)
Best Fifa Men’s Coach
- Javier Aguirre (Mexico)
- Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
- Luis Enrique (PSG)
- Hansi Flick (Barcelona)
- Enzo Maresca (Chelsea)
- Roberto Martinez (Portugal)
- Arne Slot (Liverpool)
Best Fifa Women’s Coach
- Sonia Bompastor (Chelsea)
- Jonatan Giraldez (Lyon)
- Seb Hines (Orlando Pride)
- Renee Slegers (Arsenal)
- Sarina Wiegman (England)
Fifa Puskas Award (best men’s goal)
- Alerrandro: Vitoria vs Cruzeiro – 19 August 2024
- Alessandro Deiola: Cagliari vs Venezia – 18 May 2025
- Pedro de la Vega: Cruz Azul vs Seattle Sounders – 31 July 2025
- Santiago Montiel: Independiente vs Independiente Rivadavia – 11 May 2025
- Amr Nasser: Al Ahly vs Pharco – 17 April 2025
- Carlos Orrantia: Queretaro vs Atlas – 16 April 2025
- Lucas Ribeiro: Mamelodi Sundowns vs Borussia Dortmund – 21 June 2025
- Declan Rice: Arsenal vs Real Madrid – 8 April 2025
- Rizky Ridho: Persija Jakarta vs Arema – 9 March 2025
- Kevin Rodrigues: Kasimpasa vs Rizespor – 9 February 2025
- Lamine Yamal: Espanyol vs Barcelona – 15 May 2025
Fifa Marta Award (best women’s goal)
- Jordyn Bugg: North Carolina Courage vs Seattle Reign – 22 March 2025
- Mariona Caldentey: Lyon vs Arsenal – 27 April 2025
- Ashley Cheatley: Brentford vs Ascot United – 3 November 2024
- Kyra Cooney-Cross: Germany vs Australia – 28 October 2024
- Jon Ryong-jong: North Korea vs Argentina – 2 September 2024
- Marta: Orlando Pride vs Kansas City Current – 17 November 2024
- Vivianne Miedema: Wales vs Netherlands –5 July 2025
- Kishi Nunez: Argentina vs Costa Rica – 8 September 2024
- Lizbeth Ovalle: Tigres vs Guadalajara – 3 March 2025
- Ally Sentnor: USA vs Colombia – 20 February 2025
- Khadija Shaw: Hammarby vs Manchester City – 21 November 2024
Other awards
A best men’s XI and a best women’s XI will be named on the night, while the Fifa Fan Award and the Fifa Fair Play Award will also be handed out in Doha.
The FA has one move to show it’s not spineless in World Cup ticket crisis
Fans need the FA to speak up and take on Fifa’s rip-off World Cup
FA set to take action as fans lash out at Fifa’s ‘scandalous’ World Cup ticket prices
Brendan Rodgers lands Saudi manager’s role after bitter Celtic exit
What is Ruben Amorim’s new Manchester United formation and how did it work?
Mainoo’s brother wears ‘Free Kobbie’ t-shirt in message to Ruben Amorim
