FIFA The Best 2025: Yamal returns to challenge Dembele, top 10 sparks excitement

The list of nominees for the individual categories of The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025 has been officially revealed.

The awards of The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025 will be presented to the best player, coach, and goalkeeper of the year at FIFA’s annual gala event.

Among these, The Best Men’s Player and The Best Women’s Player are the most prestigious honors, celebrating the top players worldwide for the past season. The evaluation period spans from August 11, 2024, to August 2, 2025.

This means the stars who shined in the Champions League, national leagues, the 2025 Women’s Euro, as well as the FIFA Men’s Club World Cup will have an advantage in the nominations.

Additionally, other key categories such as Best Goalkeeper and Best Coach have also released their nominee lists. The candidates for the Puskás Award (honoring the best goal of the year) will be announced by FIFA soon.

FIFA’s awards are always regarded as a direct rival to the Ballon d’Or in terms of prestige. The 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony took place last September, with Ousmane Dembélé and Aitana Bonmatí winning the top prizes, and both are expected to remain leading contenders at this year’s The Best awards.

Notably, this year’s men’s top 10 nominations have sparked controversy, especially with Harry Kane included. Despite scoring 41 goals last season and winning the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, his team achievements are modest compared to Gianluigi Donnarumma—who helped PSG achieve a historic quadruple but was excluded from the top 10.

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