Ronaldo Set To Beat Messi For FIFA’s Best
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will go head-to-head for a major individual award once again on Monday, as FIFA hands out its honor for Best Men’s Player of 2016. FIFA and the Ballon d’Or have once again decided to go their separate ways over the past year, meaning the FIFA Ballon d’Or has now become two awards, with FIFA getting its go in Zurich with the rebranded Best FIFA Football Awards.
Unlike the Ballon d’Or, which is voted for by journalists across the globe, the FIFA award is split equally between head coaches and captains of every national team, as well as an online fan ballot and media representatives.
Still, while the process may be different, Ronaldo is the hot favorite to follow up his Ballon d’Or success by claiming the prize on Monday. For the Real Madrid star, it would be the fourth year in which he has swept the major world honors, putting him just one behind Barcelona’s Messi. Indeed, since Kaka picked up both the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2007, nobody not named Messi or Ronaldo has had a look in.
For this year’s Best FIFA Men’s Player award, Antoine Griezmann will be the player providing the competition. And, after a fine year that saw him fire Atletico Madrid to the final of the Champions League and France to the final of Euro 2016, the forward’s credentials are stellar. It would, though, be a major surprise were he to usurp world soccer’s two biggest stars.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo holds his Ballon d'Or trophy to the crowd before their Spanish first division soccer match against Granada at the Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid, Spain, Jan. 7, 2016. Photo: Reuters/Stringer
The award for Best FIFA Men’s Coach may be harder to predict. Fernando Santos shrewdly led Portugal to its first ever senior title at Euro 2016, while Zinedine Zidane enjoyed a dream first year in top-level coaching, guiding Real Madrid to the Champions League and Club World Cup titles. But surely Claudio Ranieri must be favorite after overseeing one of the great underdog triumphs in sporting history as Leicester City won the Premier League.
On the women’s side, last year’s best player winner, Carli Lloyd will face stiff competition from Brazilian great Marta and the woman who top-scored in the Olympics to fire Germany to glory, Melanie Behringer. Behringer’s coach Silvia Neid also looks tough to beat in the Best Women’s Coach Award, having taken her country to the gold medal before stepping down as national team coach. Her counterpart in that Olympic final, Pia Sundhage of Sweden, and United States coach Jill Ellis will provide her competition.
As has been the tradition since 2009, the Puskás Award for the best goal of the year will also be handed out. This year, there are some unfamiliar names on the list. Brazilian Marlone, Malaysian Mohd Faiz Subri and Venezuela women’s international Daniuska Rodríguez will be vying for the prize.
Best FIFA Football Awards Nominees
Best FIFA Men’s Player
Cristiano Ronaldo
Antoine Griezmann
Lionel Messi
Prediction: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best FIFA Women’s Player
Melanie Behringer
Carli Lloyd
Marta
Prediction: Melanie Behringer
Best FIFA Men’s Coach
Claudio Ranieri
Fernando Santos
Zinedine Zidane
Prediction: Claudio Ranieri
Best FIFA Women’s Coach
Jill Ellis
Silvia Neid
Pia Sundhage
Prediction: Silvia Neid
FIFA Puskás Award
Marlone (for Corinthians vs. Cobresal)
Daniuska Rodríguez (for Venezuela vs. Colombia)
Mohd Faiz Subri (for Palau Penang vs.Pahang
Prediction: Daniuska Rodríguez
Awards DetailsTime: 12:30 p.m. EST
Live Stream: FIFA TV YouTube
Related Articles
