What are The Best FIFA Football Awards?
The Best FIFA Football Awards are the annual awards of FIFA, world soccer's governing body. Presented since 2016, they name the best men's and women's player, goalkeeper and coach, award the Puskás Award for the goal of the year and the Marta Award for its women's counterpart, and publish the FIFA FIFPRO World 11 — a best-eleven selection voted by professional players themselves.[1] [2]
How is the vote structured?
Four constituencies, each holding a quarter of the vote: the head coaches of every national team, the captains of every national team, one journalist per FIFA member association, and registered fans voting online. FIFA publishes the full voting breakdown afterwards, including how each coach and captain ranked the shortlist — an unusual degree of transparency for a major award.[1] [3]
How does it relate to the Ballon d'Or?
They are separate awards with separate histories. FIFA ran a World Player of the Year award from 1991, merged it with the Ballon d'Or between 2010 and 2015, and relaunched its own award as The Best in 2016. The two frequently agree — in 2025 both went to Ousmane Dembélé and Aitana Bonmatí, with The Best presented in Doha on 16 December 2025 — but the electorates are different, and so occasionally are the results.[2] [4]
Why does it matter?
Because it is the governing body's own verdict, delivered by the people who select and lead national teams. A coaches-and-captains vote is a peer judgement in the strictest sense, and because every one of FIFA's 211 member associations participates, the electorate is as close to the whole of world soccer as any award reaches.[1] [3]
References
- FIFA — The Best FIFA Football Awards. Accessed August 2026.
- FIFA — Ousmane Dembélé wins The Best FIFA Men's Player 2025. Accessed August 2026.
- FIFA — The Best 2025: all the winners and the voting breakdown. Accessed August 2026.
- Olympics.com — The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025 winners list. Accessed August 2026.