The Best FIFA Football Awards 2023: how the voting system works

The Best FIFA Football Awards 2023 take place in London on Monday 15 January 2024, with Erling Haaland tipped for the men’s trophy.

FIFA will host its annual “The Best” ceremony on Monday to celebrate players and coaches in football. Last year’s winners included Lionel Messi, Alexia Putellas, Lionel Scaloni and Sarina Wiegman. Given the time periods involved for each of the categories - that’s right, it’s not the same for all - Manchester City’s Norwegian striker Erling Haaland is the clear favourite for the men’s title, but we won’t know for sure until the votes are counted and announced.

The award differs from the Ballon d’Or by letting fans vote for their favorite player and coach. The selection process involves a jury comprising current national team coaches and captains, one journalist per national team, and fans registered on FIFA.com. Each group (coaches, captains, journalists, fans) contributes equally to the final vote, each accounting for one quarter of the total.

Participants can vote for candidates from their own country or team, but nominated individuals cannot vote for themselves. The individual votes of coaches, captains, and journalists are publicly disclosed on FIFA.com. Each jury member nominates their top three choices for players, coaches, and goalkeepers in order of preference, based on set criteria. Full details.

The timeframe for eligibility for the women’s categories, including The Best Women’s Player, The Best Women’s Coach, and The Best Women’s Goalkeeper, spanned from 1 August 2022 to 20 August 2023, concluding on the date of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final.

For the men’s categories, encompassing The Best Men’s Player, The Best Men’s Coach, and The Best Men’s Goalkeeper, the qualification period