• Brazil and Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior won the Best FIFA Men’s Player in Doha on December 17.

• Spain and Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati won the Best FIFA Women’s Player for the second year in a row.

• Like the two main individual honours, Best FIFA Men’s Coach, Best FIFA Women’s Coach, Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper and Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper awards were decided by a vote equally weighted between fans, the current captains and coaches of all women’s/men’s national teams and media representatives.

The Best FIFA Men’s Player

• Vinicius Junior scored Real Madrid’s second goal in the final – one of 24 strikes in 39 competitive club appearances in the 2023-24 season – as the Spanish club claimed a record-extending 15th UEFA Champions League title in June. 

• He was also part of the Brazil squad that reached the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America quarter-finals in the USA and added the La Liga title, the Supercopa de España and the UEFA Super Cup. 

• The Brazilian won the award ahead of Spain and Manchester City midfielder Rodri and his teammate at Real, England's Jude Bellingham.

• Lionel Messi was awarded the Best FIFA Men’s Player last year.

The Best FIFA Women’s Player

• Bonmati retained the FIFA women’s player of the year award ahead of Zambia’s Barbra Banda and Norway’s Caroline Graham Hansen, having also won the women's Ballon d'Or for the second consecutive year in October.

• The 26-year-old helped her club to a domestic treble last season in a campaign in which Barca also retained the Champions League, and Bonmati scored in the semi-final and final when Spain won the Nations League in February.

• By retaining the title she won for the first time last year, Bonmati became just the sixth player —  after Mia Hamm, Carli Lloyd, Marta, Birgit Prinz and team-mate Alexia Putellas — to win FIFA’s top award for women’s football on more than once occasion.

Other Award Winners:

• Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti, who was runner-up two editions ago, was presented with the Best FIFA Men’s Coach award, after the Italian led his club to the league and Champions League double last season.

• Emma Hayes won the Best FIFA Women’s Coach award, after taking the US to the gold medal at this year’s Olympic Games having taken Chelsea to the WSL title last season, her fifth successive league win with the club.

• Aston Villa and Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez came out on top in the vote for The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper, winning the award for the second time, following his triumph in the 2022 edition, largely on the back of his major role in his country’s run to 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America glory.

• Alyssa Naeher was crowned The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper. Her saves, notably in the semi-final shoot-out win against Germany, helped to propel the United States women’s national team to Olympic gold. The Chicago Red Stars player also stood out as her country won the inaugural 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup and her club reached the US National Women’s Soccer League play-offs.

• Voting for the new FIFA Marta Award and the FIFA Puskas Award, which honour the best goals scored in women’s and men’s football, respectively, was split equally between fans and a panel of FIFA Legends.

• Brazil’s Marta won the inaugural award bearing her name for the last of her 119 international strikes: a goal against Jamaica on June 1, 2024. 

• Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho, who won the FIFA Puskas Award for his sensational overhead kick against Everton in the Premier League in November 2023.

• The winner of the FIFA Fan Award – based entirely on the votes of registered users of fifa.com – is Guilherme Gandra Moura. A devoted fan of Vasco da Gama, the young Brazilian suffers from a rare genetic condition known as epidermolysis bullosa. He was placed into a coma after falling ill with pneumonia, waking 16 days later, and the touching video of his reunion with his mother went viral. He was helped in his recovery by Vasco da Gama’s then-star player Gabriel Pec. He met the team and was chosen as mascot for a match in August 2023 after having left hospital.

• Internacional’s Thiago Maia earned the FIFA Fair Play Award, which was decided upon by an expert panel, for his efforts to help people suffering in the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil after it was hit by devastating floods in late April and early May 2024.

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 consists 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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