The upcoming The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony, held on 24th September, 2018 in London, England, is the most anticipated footballing event taking place in the near future (with the exception of the return of Champions League football, of course), which is also why I thought it’d be a nice topic for my  next article. This year’s edition is even more so, because it is probably the first time the award might be given to a player other than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Now don’t get me wrong, these two footballing heavyweights have rightfully cemented their place as two of the greatest players to ever kick a ball. They have done things at such a frequency and consistency that footballers can’t even dream of. It is very unlikely that we’ll be seeing players of their like, at least during our lifetime. Messi and Ronaldo have been dominating the footballing world for more than a decade. Every football award handed out is contested between these two, with no one else even considered in the picture.

But this year might actually be the year where they might be knocked off their respective thrones. This year, we could be seeing Luka Modric holding up the coveted prize instead of them. And rightfully so. But I’ll get to that later.

Now, What Exactly are These Awards?

 

The Best FIFA Football Awards are presented by the governing body (FIFA, in case the title didn’t give you the hint), and have been since 2016, which attempts at reviving the old FIFA World Player of the Year, which was merged with the Ballon D’Or 2010, and subsequently split in 2015. We see the football world’s best and brightest getting the recognition they deserve (well, most of them anyway). The FIFA Best Awards are split into nine categories, including: Best Men’s Player, Best Goalkeeper, Best Men’s Coach, Best Women’s Player, Best Women’s Coach, the FIFA Fair Play Award, FIFA Puskas Award, FIFA Fan Award and the FIFA FIFPro World 11. 25% of the final votes for these awards come from the fans, while the remaining 75% will be distributed evenly between the national coaches of FIFA Member Associations, their team captains and a select group of football journalists from those countries.

The selection panel to shortlist the initial Best Men’s Player and Best Men’s Coach awards include a host of former footballing greats such as Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Kaka, Fabio Capello and Ronaldo Nazario.

 

Who are the nominees?

Since there are a lot of awards and now that the final lists have been updated by FIFA, I’ll be speaking mainly about Best Men’s Player, Best Goalkeeper, Men’s Best Coach, the FIFA FIFPro World 11.

The Men’s Best Player Award this year sees former Real Madrid and current Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid’s midfield maestro Luka Modric, and Liverpool’s talisman Mohammed Salah take the top three spots. This is also the first time in a decade that Lionel Messi hasn’t made the final three. To quote Bob Dylan, ‘The times, they are a-changin’.’

The FIFA Best Goalkeeper list comprises of Belgian shotstopper and World Cup Golden Glove winner Thibaut Courtois, who recently made the switch from Chelsea to Real Madrid, France captain Hugo Lloris, and Leicester City’s Great Dane, Kasper Schmeichel.

Men’s Best Coach comprises of Croatia’s Zlatko Dalic, who led his nation to the final of the 2018 World Cup, Croatia’s best ever World Cup finish. His counterpart in that final, World Cup winning coach Didier Deschamps, who also captained France to the trophy in 1998, and his former French teammate, the legendary Zinedine Zidane, who led Real Madrid to their third successive UEFA Champions League complete the final three.

Not bad, eh?

 

Here’s who I think should win.

 

I’ll say this. There are plenty of players/coaches who deserve these Award(s) as much as the nominees. Especially the players. People like Sergio Busquets, Daniele de Rossi, Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini and the like are not appreciated enough for what they give for their respective teams. They do not require awards to prove that they’re the best at what they do. But let’s move on to the predictions.

 

Men’s Best Player – Luka Modric.

Lukita, as he is so affectionately called by his teammates, has had probably the best season in his long and trophy-laden career. He has been an immense presence in midfield for both club and country. I mean, he was everywhere, doing every job a midfielder had to do. He made the tackles, he started the counter attacks, he made the crucial pass, he assisted the goals, and scored the occasional banger. Cristiano Ronaldo, who is keen to bag the award for a third consecutive time, has some serious competition this year, and this time, it’s not Leo Messi. The romantic in me desperately hopes Modric is the one who gets to stand on that podium.

Best Goalkeeper – Thibaut Courtois.

After his heroics in Russia during the World Cup, his consistent performances for Chelsea, and with him getting the Golden Glove, Thibaut Courtois seems to be a shoe-in for Best Goalkeeper. If Hugo Lloris wasn’t so cocky in the World Cup finals, he might have even had a chance at winning.

Men’s Best Coach – Didier Deschamps.

After getting so close to winning the Euros in 2016, but letting the opportunity slip, France and Didier Deschamps were determined not to let Football’s Biggest Prize slip from their grasp. And that’s exactly what they did. They were patient, they were careful, and they were devastating. Deschamps became only the third person to win the World Cup as a player and a manager, after Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer. Not bad company to be in.

My FIFPro World 11 for 2018.

Now we get to the good part. This team isn’t chosen by the fans, to clarify. 25000 professional footballers from 65 countries voted for their team of the year, out of which a list of 55 players with the most votes was compiled. The World 11 will be announced during the ceremony on 24th September. But that’s not going to stop the rest of us predicting who’ll get in and who won’t, will it? The formation is a classic 4-3-3 (4 defenders, 3 midfielders and 3 forwards), and the nominees will be allotted based on their respective positions.

So let’s get to it.

Goalkeeper – Thibaut Courtois. This is what’s likely to happen, but the United fan in me hopes that David de Gea somehow steals that spot. After all, he’s been immense for the Red Devils and is regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world (unofficially).

Right Back – Dani Carvajal. Consistent throughout the season. Unlucky to miss the trip to Russia. Not that it mattered anyway.

Right Centre Back – Raphael Varane. World Cup winner. Champions League winner. Pops up with the occasional header. Rock at the back.

Left Centre Back – Sergio Ramos. Real Madrid’s capitan, leader and legend. Led Madrid to their third successive Champions League.

Left Back – Marcelo. Best left back in the world right now according to me. Best left back since Roberto Carlos. Is there any doubt?

Centre Defensive Midfielder – N’Golo Kante. What a player. What a guy. Chelsea and France defenders can thank their lucky stars they have someone like him on their side. Tireless workhorse. Oh, and World Cup winner as well.

Right Central Midfielder – Luka Modric. Need I say more?

Left Central Midfielder – Kevin de Bruyne. Laser sharp passes. Unstoppable shots. Best midfielder in the world save for Modric. But that’s just my opinion.

Right Winger – Mohammed Salah. Broke all sorts of records last season. Scored goal after goal after goal. After goal. Like seriously, he just wouldn’t stop. Part of Liverpool’s fearsome attacking three along with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino. But there is a slight chance of Leo Messi beating him to this spot. After all, it is Leo Messi.

Left Winger – Cristiano Ronaldo. The legendary forward, who just completed a shock move after a decade with Los Blancos to the Old Lady, is a constant presence in FIFPro’s Team of the Year lists. No surprise there.

Striker – Harry Kane. Five season wonder. World Cup Golden Boot Winner. Don’t let Mo Salah scoring 32 goals in the league distract you from the fact that Kane scored just two less. One of Tottenham’s very own.

 

So that’s about it. Apologies if some of you felt it was a tad too long. This is my prediction for the FIFA Best Awards 2018. Let’s see if some of these predictions hold up. Thanks for reading. I’ll be back with more content. Oh, and again, and feel free to share this.

 

Sarma out.