What’s the story?
Cristiano Ronaldo won the Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award in a glittering ceremony in Zurich’s TPC studios tonight. The Real Madrid forward, who also won the 2016 Ballon d’Or a month ago, is the first winner of the ‘FIFA Best’ awards, beating out Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann to the title. Speaking about the award, Ronaldo said, ‘Last year was a dream year...An unbelievable season.’
In case you didn’t know...
FIFA no longer are associated with the Ballon d’Or award with France Football regaining control of their trophy. FIFA have created a new series of awards, called ‘The BEST’ which recognizes various categories. The voting also has undergone a change, with the award based on votes of National Team Captains (25%), National Team Managers (25%), Online Fan Voting (25%) and Selected Media (25%).
The heart of the matter
Cristiano Ronaldo was a deserving winner of the Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award, having won the UEFA Champions League, Euro 2016 and the FIFA Club World Cup with Real Madrid and Portugal in a stellar 2016. Ronaldo earned 34.54% of the vote, with Lionel Messi not too far behind on 26.42%. Antoine Griezmann had 7.53% of the vote with the rest earning 31.51% of the votes.
Claudio Ranieri was also crowned the Best FIFA Men’s Coach Award, beating out Zinedine Zidane and Fernando Santos.
Here are the winners of each award announced on the night:
- The Best FIFA Men's Player Award – Cristiano Ronaldo- The Best FIFA Women’s Player Award – Carli Lloyd- The Best FIFA Men’s Coach Award – Claudio Ranieri- The Best FIFA Women’s Coach Award – Silvia Neid- The FIFA Puskás Award 2016 – Mohd Faiz Subri- The FIFA Fair Play Award – Atletico Nacional- The FIFA Fan Award – Borussia Dortmund-Liverpool supporters
- The FIFA Outstanding Career Award – Falcao (Futsal)
What next?
Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t resting on his laurels, as the Real Madrid forward was also named the best player of the 2016/17 season so far by the CIES Football Observatory. Lionel Messi will also be keen on being crowned the best player of 2017, having plundered in the goals in Barcelona’s disappointing season so far. Either way, it is unlikely the duo will relinquish their stranglehold on individual awards.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Cristiano Ronaldo was not the best player in 2016, statistically, but he truly deserves the award. The forward made some crucial contributions at pivotal stages when both Real Madrid and Portugal’s dreams were close to being shattered. Having won all that football has to offer except an international trophy, Ronaldo finally has achieved his life’s goal, and thus truly deserves to be crowned the 1st winner of the Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year.
