FIFA Player of the Year: Messi and Rapione take top awards

Lionel Messi from Argentina won the best FIFA Player of the Year for a record sixth time on 23rd September at a ceremony in Milan’s Teatro alla Scala. He has previously won the awards in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.

Messi has had an incredible year, helping Barcelona win the La Liga and enabling it to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.

He beat Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo to win the honour.

Meanwhile, United States co-captain Megan Rapinoe won the best women’s player award. She helped her nation clinch the FIFA Women’s World Cup held in France for a record fourth time. Rapinoe scored six goals in the World Cup, winning the Golden Boot for the tournament’s top scorer and the Golden Ball as the top player.

She staved off competition from fellow co-captain Alex Morgan and England’s Lucy Bronze to win the award.

Jurgen Klopp, the coach of the Liverpool team, was awarded the Best Coach while the coach of the United States’ women’s team, Jill Ellis took home the trophy for the best women’s coach.

Alisson Bekker of Liverpool was awarded the FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year. Sari van Veenendaal, who made more saves at the 2019 World Cup (23) than any other goalkeeper, took home the Women’s Goalkeeper trophy.

For the first time ever in the history of the Best FIFA Football Awards, a women’s ‘dream team’ was selected. It included Sari van Veenendaal, Lucy Bronze, Nilla Fischer, Kelley O’Hara, Wendie Renard, Julie Ertz, Amandine Henry, Rose Lavelle, Marta, Alex Morgan, and Megan Rapinoe

The men’s ‘dream team’ included Alisson, Matthijs de Ligt, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong, Eden Hazard, Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi.