Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Spain’s Aitana Bonmati were crowned as the best players in the FIFA Football Awards 2023 ceremony held in London on January 15.

The Best FIFA Men’s Player

Messi retained the FIFA men’s player of the year trophy beating Manchester City’s Norwegian striker Erling Haaland and France’s Paris St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe to the award. Messi, who also secured the men’s award in 2022 after guiding Argentina to World Cup victory, clinched the Ligue 1 title with PSG alongside Mbappe following that success, before moving to Major League Soccer team Inter Miami.

The 36-year-old, voted the best player by national teams coaches, captains, journalists and fans, helped Inter Miami win the 2023 Leagues Cup — a competition between MLS and Mexico's Liga MX sides — scoring 10 goals.

Haaland, who helped City clinch a treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League titles by scoring 52 goals in 53 matches across all competitions in the 2022-23 season, finished second in the voting. The 23-year-old had the same points as Messi but lost out by having fewer first-place votes from national team captains.

Messi claimed the award for the third time.

The Best FIFA Women’s Player

Aitana Bonmati has been named the winner for the first time. In 2023, Bonmati guided Spain to victory at the Women’s World Cup in August and was also awarded the Golden Ball award. The midfielder helped Barcelona triumph in the Liga F, UEFA Women's Champions League and Spanish Women’s Super Cup last season.

Bonmati won the Ballon d’Or in October 2023.

The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper

England’s Mary Earps has been voted the Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper for a second successive year, becoming the first two-time winner in the award’s history. Earps dazzled once again as England won the Finalissima, and reached their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup final. Outstanding saves and shootout heroics paved the way to both of those achievements, with Earps’ displays at the latter tournament rewarded with the Golden Glove award. She was also named the best keeper in England’s Women’s Super League, having racked up a remarkable 14 clean sheets from just 22 Manchester United appearances last season.

The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper

Ederson has been named as the Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper of 2023. The Brazilian goalkeeper was awarded the honour following a stellar year in which the 30-year-old backstopped Manchester City’s historic treble-winning campaign.

The Best FIFA Women’s Coach

Sarina Wiegman has been named the Best FIFA Women’s Coach for 2023. In a record-breaking year, she led England to the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the Arnold Clark Cup and Women’s Finalissima titles.

The Best FIFA Men’s Coach

Pep Guardiola has been named the Best FIFA Men’s Coach 2023 after overseeing an incredible period of success at Manchester City. The Spaniard led the club to a historic Premier League, UEFA Champions League, and FA Cup treble in 2022/23. Guardiola’s all-conquering team won a further two trophies in 2023, lifting the UEFA Super Cup before rounding off the calendar year in perfect style by triumphing at the FIFA Club World Cup.

FIFA Puskas Award

Brazilian midfielder Guilherme Madruga won the FIFA Puskas Award 2023 for the standout goal of the year.

The FIFA Special Award

Marta Vieira da Silva was honoured with The FIFA Special Award in recognition of her illustrious career. She scored a staggering 115 goals in 175 appearances for Brazil and inspired millions, passing on her passion for football as she reigned supreme in Brazil, Sweden and the US. In 2025, FIFA will introduce a new award to honour her legendary achievements. The best goal scored in women’s football will receive the ‘Marta Award’.

The FIFA Fair Play Award

The Brazil men’s national team were recognised with the FIFA Fair Play award for their powerful stand against racism. In a friendly against Guinea in June 2023, the team swapped their traditional yellow jerseys for an all-black kit during the first-half of the match in a show of solidarity with star forward Vinicius Junior, who had been subjected to sickening racist abuse while playing for Real Madrid last year.

What is FIFA?

• Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) exists to govern football and to develop the game around the world. 

• FIFA was founded in Paris on May 21, 1904, with a view to organising the world’s most popular sport. The foundation act was signed by representatives from France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

• With 211 affiliated associations, FIFA supports them financially and logistically through various programmes. As representatives of FIFA in their countries, they have obligations to respect the statutes, aims and ideals of football's governing body and promote and manage our sport accordingly.

• The FIFA Council is the main decision making body of the organisation in the intervals of FIFA Congress.

• The final composition of the FIFA Council will consist of 37 members: one president, elected by the FIFA Congress; eight vice presidents, and 28 other members elected by the member associations – each for a term of four years. 

• A minimum of one female representative must be elected per confederation. 

• The president and the members of the Council may serve for no more than three terms of office (whether consecutive or not).

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