Chelsea duo N’Golo Kante and Jorginho will battle it out with Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski for The Best FIFA men’s player award for 2021, while Thomas Tuchel and women’s counterpart Emma Hayes have been nominated for the coaching awards.
The Blues have also had no fewer than four players – Magdalena Eriksson, Pernille Harder, Ji So-yun and Sam Kerr – shortlisted for the women’s award, while Edouard Mendy and Ann-Katrin Berger make the goalkeeper shortlists.
France’s World Cup-winning midfielder Kante and Jorginho, a member of the Italy team which beat England in the Euro 2020 final, will compete with Lewandowski, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe, as well as Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, Real Madrid star Karim Benzema, Paris St Germain’s Neymar, Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
The Chelsea Women quartet also find themselves in good company alongside England and Manchester City pair Ellen White and Lucy Bronze, Arsenal striker Vivianne Miedema, Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati, Caroline Graham Hansen, Jennifer Hermoso and Alexia Putellas, as well as Stina Blackstenius of BK Hacken and Portland Thorns’ Christine Sinclair
The men’s coaching award will be contested by Tuchel, Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola, new Tottenham boss Antonio Conte, Italy’s Roberto Mancini, Germany’s Hansi Flick, Diego Simeone and Lionel Scaloni.
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Hayes has been shortlisted for the women’s prize along with England boss Sarina Wiegman, Lluis Cortes, Peter Gerhardsson and Beverly Priestman.
Two expert panels – one each for the men’s and women’s games – have also identified candidates for the best goalkeeper awards, with Alisson Becker, Mendy and Kasper Schmeichel flying the flag for the Premier League along with Italy star Gianluigi Donnarumma and Germany’s Manuel Neuer, while Chelsea’s Berger will go head to head with Christiane Endler, Stephanie Labbe, Hedvig Lindahl and Alyssa Naeher.
The nominees for the FIFA Puskas Award, given for the best goal, will be announced at a later date.
A public vote is now open on FIFA.com and will remain so until December 10, and three finalists in each category will be announced in January. The winners will be revealed at an online ceremony on January 17.
The Best FIFA Women’s Player:
Stina Blackstenius (Sweden / BK Hacken)Aitana Bonmati (Spain / FC Barcelona)Lucy Bronze (England / Manchester City WFC)Magdalena Eriksson (Sweden / Chelsea FC Women)Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway / FC Barcelona)Pernille Harder (Denmark / Chelsea FC Women)Jennifer Hermoso (Spain / FC Barcelona)Ji So-yun (Korea Repuiblic / Chelsea FC Women)Sam Kerr (Australia / Chelsea FC Women)Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands / Arsenal WFC)Ellen White (England / Manchester City WFC)Alexia Putellas (Spain / FC Barcelona)Christine Sinclair (Canada / Portland Thorns FC)
The Best FIFA Men’s Player:
Karim Benzema (France / Real Madrid CF)Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium / Manchester City FC)Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal / Juventus FC / Manchester United FC)Robert Lewandowski (Poland / FC Bayern Munchen)Lionel Messi (Argentina / FC Barcelona / Paris Saint-Germain)Neymar (Brazil / Paris Saint-Germain)Erling Haaland (Norway / BV Borussia 09 Dortmund)Jorginho (Italy / Chelsea FC)N’Golo Kante (France / Chelsea FC)Kylian Mbappe (France / Paris Saint-Germain)Mohamed Salah (Egypt / Liverpool FC)
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach:
Lluis Cortes (Spain / FC Barcelona)Peter Gerhardsson (Sweden / Swedish national team)Emma Hayes (England / Chelsea FC Women)Beverly Priestman (England / Canadian national team)Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands / Dutch national team / English national team)
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach: *
Antonio Conte (Italy / FC Internazionale Milano / Tottenham Hotspur FC)Hansi Flick (Germany / FC Bayern Munchen / German national team)Pep Guardiola (Spain / Manchester City FC)Roberto Mancini (Italy / Italian national team)Lionel Sebastian Scaloni (Argentina / Argentinian national team)Diego Simeone (Argentina / Atletico de Madrid)Thomas Tuchel (Germany / Chelsea FC)
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper:
Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany / Chelsea FC Women)Christiane Endler (Chile / Paris Saint-Germain / Olympique Lyonnais)Stephanie Lynn Marie Labbe (Canada / FC Rosengard / Paris Saint-Germain)Hedvig Lindahl (Sweden / Atletico de Madrid Femenino)Alyssa Naeher (USA / Chicago Red Stars)
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper:
Alisson Becker (Brazil / Liverpool FC)Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy / AC Milan / Paris Saint-Germain)Edouard Mendy (Senegal / Chelsea FC)Manuel Neuer (Germany / FC Bayern Munchen)Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark / Leicester City FC)