The final installment of the football awards season took place at FIFA headquarters in Zurich on Monday with FIFA’s The Best awards. The other major awards — Ballon d’Or, the Globe Soccer awards and the UEFA player awards — all took place in recent months.
And Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski finally won an award in recognition for his standout 2021 campaign after missing out on both the Ballon d’Or to Lionel Messi and the Globe Soccer Award to Kylian Mbappe. For Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas, it was a clean sweep of all the major awards as women’s player of the year.
MORE: Ballon d’Or final voting results
Lewandowski definitely had a better shot at this award since the main FIFA awards are voted on by: 1) current national team coaches; 2) the current captain of every national team; 3) one specialist journalist from each territory; and 4) fans registered on FIFA.com. Each of the four groups of votes carries the same weight (25 percent each). The Puskas Award for the best goal in the world, the Fair Play award and the Fan Award had different voting rules.
The event kicked off with a special recognition for Canadian star and the world’s all-time leading international goal scorer, Christine Sinclair, who won the FIFA Lifetime Achievement Award. It ended with a special award for Cristiano Ronaldo for setting the all-time scoring record in men’s international football.
MORE: Globe Soccer awards final results
FIFA Player of the Year (Men’s)
- Winner:…
