London (dpa)
The eyes of football fans are turning to the British capital, London, on Monday, to follow the “The Best” awards ceremony for 2023, which is held annually by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).
It will be the third edition in which London hosts this event, after hosting it in 2016 and 2017. Last December, FIFA announced a shortlist of three players in each of the seven categories.
The annual award is presented according to the performance of the award candidates from December 19, 2022 until August 20, 2023, as announced by FIFA, and the winner of each award is chosen after receiving the highest votes in the four stages of the voting process.
There are four sections to the voting process, divided at a rate of 25% of the votes for each section. The first section is the vote of the masses, the second section is the vote of the coaches of the world teams, the third section is the vote of the leaders of the world teams, and the fourth section is the vote of a group of media professionals. From all countries of the world.
Although 7 awards will be presented during this ceremony, the world is awaiting the winner of the Best Player in the World award, which is competed for by the Norwegian trio Erling Haaland, the English Manchester City striker, the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, the French winger of Paris Saint-Germain, and the Argentine Lionel Messi, the Saint-Germain star. Former German, who now plays for Inter Miami.
Haaland, who dreams of obtaining the prestigious award for the first time in his football career, is on the final list of candidates to win the award, and is looking forward to being the first Norwegian player to win the award.
On the other hand, Mbappé dreams of winning the award for the first time in his career, in order to become the first French player to win the award, the first edition of which was launched 7 years ago.
Messi, the captain of the Argentine national team, still aspires to achieve more achievements, as he seeks to win the award for the third time, after 2019 and 2022.
The Moroccan trio Yassine Bounou, the Belgian Thibaut Courtois, and the Brazilian Ederson Moraes are competing for the best goalkeeper award.
Three coaches are also competing for the Best Coach award, as the Spanish Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City coach who won the treble (the English Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League) last season, is competing for the award, with the Italian Simone Inzaghi, the coach of Inter Milan, who led him to the final. Champions League last season, and his compatriot Luciano Spalletti, the current Italy national team coach, who led Napoli last season to win the Italian League title last season.
Competing for the best goal award, the Puskas Award, are the trio Julio Enciso, Guillerme Madruga and Nuno Santos.
Awards for the best player, the best goalkeeper, and the best coach are also presented in the women’s category, as the evaluation period for the women’s awards was from the first of August 2022 to the 20th of August 2023, and the Spanish players Aitana Bonmati and Jennifer Hermoso, the Spanish Barcelona players, compete with the Colombian Linda Caicedo, the Real Madrid player. Madrid, Spain, won the Best Player award.
Most likely, the competition for the award will be limited to the two Spanish players, especially since they led the Spanish national team to win the 2023 Women’s World Cup title for the first time in its history in New Zealand and Australia.
While the award for best goalkeeper witnesses a three-way battle between Australian Mackenzie Arnold, Englishwoman Mary Earps and Spanish Catalina Cole.
Two women and one man are competing for the title of best coach in the women's category: Englishwoman Emma Hayes, Chelsea coach, Dutch Sarina Vigman, England national team coach, and Spanish Jonathan Geraldez, Barcelona coach.
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