The world’s outstanding footballers are set to travel to Milan in September for the lavish ceremony – here’s how you can follow the action
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk are among the 10 players on the shortlist to win The Best FIFA Men’s Player award.
Unlike the Ballon d’Or, which judges performance over the course of a calendar year, this prize is awarded to the outstanding contributor over the running of a season, with FIFA defining the dates from July 16, 2018 until July 19, 2019 inclusive.
Luka Modric won the title for the 2018-19 season but has not made the 10-man shortlist, which will be whittled down to three on September 2, this time around.
The final judgement is just around the corner, but who will succeed the Real Madrid midfielder to be named the star player of the 2018-19 season and when will it all be revealed?
When and where will the 2019 Best FIFA Football awards be presented?
FIFA announced in February that The Best FIFA Awards 2019 will take place at the iconic Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy on September 23. It will be the fourth time the prizes have been presented under this branding.
On September 2, however, the final three-person shortlists for the leading individual awards will be announced from San Siro at 11:00 BST (06:00 ET).
Unlike the Ballon d’Or, they are also more mobile in terms of where they are presented. In 2018, Idris Elba hosted the awards at the Royal Festival Hall, London, and though a year earlier they also took place in the UK capital, they were previously hosted in Zurich.
Aside from the Best FIFA Men’s Player, there are also awards for the Best FIFA Women’s Player, the Best Coaches, both male and female, and the ever-popular Puskas Award, which honours the most beautiful goal scored in world football.
How to stream the 2019 Best FIFA Football awards
FIFA has not announced details of where the ceremony will be broadcast but it is highly likely that it will be available to stream from FIFA.com, the Best FIFA Football Awards Facebook page and FIFA TV on YouTube.
In the UK, Sky Sports showcased the ceremony last year on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Premier League in the UK. It was also available on Sky Plus Extra and that is likely to be the case for the latest edition of the awards, though this has not been confirmed.
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How are the awards decided?
In late July, the nominees for the leading awards – Best FIFA Men’s and Women’s Players, and The Best FIFA Male and Female Coaches – were announced, having been decided by a group of FIFA Legends.
From there, a jury consisting of national team captains, national coaches, members of the media and football fans, who are each weighted to have a 25% say, voted on the winners.
Who is nominated for The Best FIFA Men’s and Women’s Players?
The candidates for The Best FIFA Men’s Player are: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Frenkie de Jong (Ajax/Barcelona), Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax/Juventus), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Real Madrid), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) and Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool).
The candidates for The Best FIFA Women’s Player are: Lucy Bronze (Lyon), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars), Caroline Graham Hansen (Wolfsburg/Barcelona), Ada Hegerberg (Lyon), Amandine Henry (Lyon), Sam Kerr (Chicago Red Stars), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit), Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC), Wendie Renard (Lyon), Ellen White (Birmingham City/Manchester City)