Since the first ceremony in January 2017, the Best FIFA Football Awards have recognised individual excellence across the calendar year. The ceremony covers players, coaches, goalkeepers and goals, with honours handed out to men’s and women’s game figures based on their performances.

In the men’s player category Cristiano Ronaldo secured the early prizes for 2016 and 2017, while Lionel Messi has won most often with victories in 2019, 2022 and 2023 for his contributions at Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami and Argentina. Robert Lewandowski has two titles, tying with Ronaldo, and other winners include Luka Modrić and Vinicius Junior. The most recent winner in the men’s player category listed is Vinicius Junior in 2024 for Real Madrid.

The men’s goalkeeper award was first presented in 2017 to Gianluigi Buffon. Thibaut Courtois won in 2018 representing Chelsea and Real Madrid. Alisson and Manuel Neuer followed, with Premier League goalkeepers dominating later years: Édouard Mendy won in 2021 with Chelsea, Emiliano Martínez took the trophy in 2022 and again in 2024 for Aston Villa, and Ederson was the 2023 winner for Manchester City.

Among coaches Jürgen Klopp is the only multiple winner, lifting the prize in 2019 and 2020 after Champions League and Premier League success. Claudio Ranieri won the inaugural award for 2016, followed by Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Thomas Tuchel, Lionel Scaloni, Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti in subsequent years.

The Puskás Award for the best goal has gone to a mix of lesser-known scorers and high-profile names. Recipients include Mohd Faiz Subri, Olivier Giroud, Mohamed Salah, Son Heung-min, Erik Lamela and Alejandro Garnacho, with other winners such as Dániel Zsóri, Marcin Oleksy and Guilherme Madruga.

On the women’s side Carli Lloyd won the first women’s player prize, with Lieke Martens, Marta, Megan Rapinoe and Lucy Bronze also honoured. Alexia Putellas won in 2021 and 2022 and Aitana Bonmatí in 2023 and 2024 for Barcelona. The women’s goalkeeper award began in 2019 with Sari van Veenendaal; Mary Earps won consecutive trophies in 2022 and 2023 for Manchester United, and Alyssa Naeher was the 2024 winner. Sarina Wiegman has collected the women’s coach award four times across her spells with the Netherlands and England, with Emma Hayes, Silvia Neid, Reynald Pedros and Jill Ellis also among past winners. The 2024 Marta Award was won by Marta.

Few ruptures destabilise a team like a public falling-out between player and manager. Across international tournaments and club dressing rooms, such confrontations have reshaped squads and careers.

The 2002 Saipan incident remains one of the most notorious cases, so notorious a film was made about it starring Steve Coogan. Roy Keane publicly confronted Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy over pre-tournament preparations in Saipan. The argument spilled out in a team meeting and exploded into a venomous outburst: “Mick, you’re a liar … you’re a f—– w—–,” Keane barked. “I didn’t rate you as a player, I don’t rate you as a manager, and I don’t rate you as a person. You’re a f—– w—– and you can stick your World Cup up your a—. The only reason I have any dealings with you is that somehow you are the manager of my country!” Keane did not play at that World Cup and did not return to international duty until McCarthy’s dismissal.

At Manchester United tensions between David Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson reached a physical flashpoint in February 2003 after an FA Cup fifth round defeat to Arsenal. Ferguson kicked a boot that struck Beckham above the eye, leaving a cut. Beckham wore a small plaster on his eyebrow at his next public appearance. The season ended with Beckham leaving Old Trafford for Real Madrid.

Zlatan Ibrahimović’s time at Barcelona collapsed after a dressing-room confrontation with Pep Guardiola following a Champions League semi-final defeat to Bayern Munich. “Guardiola was staring at me and I lost it,” Ibrahimović said. “I thought, ‘there is my enemy, scratching his bald head!’ “I yelled: ‘You haven’t got any b—-!’ and worse than that I added: ‘You can go to hell!’ I completely lost it, and you might have expected Guardiola to say a few words in response, but he’s a spineless coward.” Ibrahimović moved on loan to AC Milan and later completed a permanent transfer.

France’s 2010 World Cup campaign also featured a midgame bust-up. At halftime of the group defeat to Mexico, Nicolas Anelka allegedly told manager Raymond Domenech: “Go f— yourself, you son of a w—-.” He was substituted and subsequently sent home.

Finally, the Pogba-Mourinho relationship at Manchester United deteriorated after public disagreement over the team’s approach in 2018–19. Mourinho reportedly told Pogba he would never captain the Red Devils and later labelled him a “virus” that “kills the mentality of good, honest people.” Pogba was left out of a squad and Mourinho was sacked following a defeat to Liverpool.

Marcus Rashford was unable to give a definitive answer when asked to pick between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the debate over the game’s greatest. Put on the spot by ESPN, he opted for balance rather than a verdict. “I think it’s Messi and Ronaldo,” Rashford said with an uneasy smile creeping across his lips. “It’s difficult.”

In the same quick-fire sequence the England international praised both men’s strengths. Ronaldo earned the status of “best finisher of all time” while Messi was deemed to be the “best playmaker.” Rashford was clear that Messi remains “the greatest La Liga player of all time,” but he also refused to overlook Ronaldo when the discussion expanded beyond Spain’s top flight.

Rashford has previously described Ronaldo as an influence on his early development at Manchester United, recalling the Portuguese forward’s work ethic and ambition. “When Cristiano Ronaldo came to United, he was the one who everyone looked up to,” the boyhood Red Devils fan revealed shortly after breaking into the first team. “The thing that impressed me the most was the fact he was only young when he came into the side and he wanted to be the best player in the side. He worked hard every single day, you saw him in the gym every single day and the results came on the pitch. He openly wanted to be the best player in the world .

“You have to have an approach like that—all the best players in the world do. It’s not arrogance or anything like that, it’s the mindset you need to achieve things.”

There’s no suggestion that a member of Barcelona ’s media department were looming menacingly behind the camera during Rashford’s interview. Still, ex-Blaugrana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng has spoken about internal pressure at Barcelona. He told Rio Ferdinand’s podcast back in 2023: “I remember that when I arrived in Barcelona they immediately asked me who the best player in the world was. I had to say it was Lionel Messi, I lied. It was one of the biggest lies of my life.”