FIFA awards: Messi and Ronaldo shortlisted for Best Men's Player award
Zurich: Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentine Lionel Messi were shortlisted for the FIFA Best Men's Player award on Monday, the apex football body has announced.
In the category, Liverpool's defender Virgil Van Dijk has also been nominated to complete the three shortlisted footballers.
Van Dijk had outclassed Messi and Ronaldo in the last week's UEFA Player of the Year award.
England's Lucy Bronze has been nominated for the FIFA Women's Player of the Year. She was able to win the UEFA Best Women's Player award last week.
Manchester City's coach Pep Guardiola has been nominated along Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp and Tottenham Hotspur's coach Mauricio Pochettino in the FIFA Best Men's coach category.
Phil Neville, who led England's women team to a World Cup semi-final, has been nominated along with USA's Jill Ellis and Sarina Wiegman in the FIFA Best Women's coach category.
Following are the shortlisted candidates for respective awards:
The Best FIFA Men's Player
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - Juventus
Lionel Messi (Argentina) - FC Barcelona
Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands) - Liverpool
The Best FIFA Women's Player
Lucy Bronze (England) - Olympique Lyonnais
Alex Morgan (USA) - Orlando Pride
Megan Rapinoe (USA) - Reign FC
The Best FIFA Men's Coach
Pep Guardiola (Spain) - Manchester City
Jurgen Klopp (Germany) - Liverpool
Mauricio Pochettino (Argentina) - Tottenham Hotspur
The Best FIFA Women's Coach
Jill Ellis (USA) - USA national team
Phil Neville (England) - England national team
Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands) - Netherlands national team
The Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper
Alisson (Brazil) - Liverpool
Ederson Santana de Moraes (Brazil) - Manchester City
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany) - FC Barcelona
The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper
Christiane Endler (Chile) - Paris Saint-Germain
Hedvig Lindahl (Sweden) - Chelsea / Wolfsburg
Sari van Veenendaal (Netherlands) - Arsenal / Atletico Madrid
FIFA Puskas Award
Lionel Messi (Argentina) - Real Betis v FC Barcelona [La Liga] (March 17 2019)
Juan Fernando Quintero (Colombia) - River Plate v Racing Club [Argentinian Superliga] (February 10, 2019)
Daniel Zsori (Hungary) - Debrecen FC v Ferencvaros TC [Nemzeti Bajnoskag I] (16 February 2019)
The winners of each award will be announced on September 23 in Milan.
