The Best FIFA Men’s Player winner of 2016 will be announced at an awards ceremony later tonight which will be held at TPC Studios in Zurich, Switzerland. The awards ceremony – namely ‘The Best FIFA Football Awards’ – will witness many awards being awarded including the Best FIFA Men’s Player of 2016 – arguably the biggest prize up for grabs tonight.
One of Antoine Griezmann, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi will swoop the big award, having made the cut from a 23-man shortlist. Last month, Real Madrid superstar and Portugal’s hero Cristiano Ronaldo was crowned Ballon d’Or 2016 winner – which marked his fourth Ballon d’Or triumph. Will Cristiano win this one ahead of Messi and Griezmann or will the fans voting play a part in who is crowned the eventual winner.
Sportskeeda’s in-house experts made their picks for the winner of this prestigious award. Let us take a look at those predictions:
Amartojit Basu (Twitter: @amartojitbasu)
There is only one person who deserves this for 2016 - Cristiano Ronaldo. Like I have said before, such awards should not exist in the first place, but since they do, it is but apt that they should celebrate the grit, determination and excellence of a man so driven, that he has over the course of his career, actually made a case for the Ronaldo vs Messi debate.
That he can be compared to and in some cases, win individual awards, while the best footballer to have ever graced the football pitch plies his trade in the same era, is a remarkable achievement unto itself.
And in 2016, Cristiano once and for all guaranteed that the 'greatest player ever' debate will continue unto the end of time itself. This year was about his single-mindedness, as anyone who has followed his glittering career knows he has lost a step or two, But CR7 seems more determined than ever to succeed at everything he puts his mind to, driven by the achievements of diminutive Argentinian he will forever be compared. Portugal and Real Madrid owe a lot to this oft-misunderstood superstar who has redefined with every pass, dribble and shot, the way the masses view the game of football.
We shouldn't forget the pain and sacrifice involved in Ronaldo's journey towards greatness. Granted Messi too has overcome. But when your entire public existence hinges on hitting benchmarks set by the son of the football gods to whom the game seems so effortless, and you constantly have to prove your detractors wrong by winning trophies at international and club level, and you manage all of this it has been your year. The son of god however, decided to take this year to wallow in self-pity and swathe himself in controversy.
This one time let's celebrate Ronaldo. Let's celebrate the mettle of a mortal instead of the everyday miracles of a flawed god.
The Best FIFA Men's Player 2016 winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
Rohith Nair (Twitter: @rohithnair)
We know how these things go. With captains and coaches voting for the best player, expect some sort of bias in the voting process.
Ultimately, Cristiano Ronaldo should walk away with the prize considering his conquests of Europe with both club and country (especially for his Champions League heroics).
But what the heck do I know, I picked Luis Suarez as the deserving winner of the Ballon d'Or.
The Best FIFA Men's Player 2016 winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
Anirudh Menon (Twitter: @animenon19)
2016 was the year of Cristiano Ronaldo, wasn't it?.
I'd picked him for the Ballon d'Or with the following rationale - " Cristiano Ronaldo is the man of the year. A third Champions League trophy and a Euro trophy (a first ever success for Portugal) are merely the cherries on top of the cake that the man has dedicated his life to baking"
I see no reason why I should amend the rationale - especially since he added another Club World Club to his kitty before the New Year came about - or my pick just because someone else is giving the award
My pick for BEST FIFA Men's Player of the Year? - Cristiano Ronaldo
The Best FIFA Men's Player 2016 winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
Soumalya Moitra (Twitter: @soumalyamoitra7)
Despite your heart urging you to go for the underdog, for my vote to count I do feel obliged to go for one of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Between the two, for the year, I feel it is an easy one.
Football is about trophies, and Cristiano Ronaldo has swept away the lot, the UEFA Champions League and the Euro 2016, add to that the FIFA Club World Cup, the trophy cabinet becomes shiny. Perfect for the perfectionist.
The Best FIFA Men's Player 2016 winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
Sunaadh Sagar (Twitter: @Sunaadh)
It's very tempting to go against the grain and look past Cristiano Ronaldo for the FIFA BEST Player of the Year award, but if anyone is representative of the cult of a celebrity pervading football nowadays, it is the Real Madrid forward. For all the allegations that Ronaldo went missing in the Euro 2016 and UEFA Champions League finals, he was instrumental in dragging his teams to that stage.
The two most iconic images of the year were a shirtless Ronaldo celebrating and a tearful Lionel Messi distraught at Argentina's Copa America loss. That tells you all you need to know - look past the stats - when the curtain fell on 2016, Ronaldo was much, much happier than Messi. He should be crowned the FIFA BEST Player of the Year.
The Best FIFA Men's Player 2016 winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
Rohit Vishwanathan (Twitter: @RohitV92 )
There is not much doubt in my mind that Lionel Messi is far superior to Ronaldo in quality and ability. If this award was purely based on the brilliance of a player it would go to Messi. But football is not a game of just performances.
Winning is a big part of it and Ronaldo has excelled in that department in 2016. He might not be the best player in the world but he is best winner in this three-man shortlist which makes him my favourite for the award.
The Best FIFA Men's Player 2016 winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
Ashwin Hanagudu (Twitter: @ashw77 )
According to me, the player who deserved to be crowned the BEST Player of the Year is Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan had a wonderful year and played a pivotal role in Barcelona’s double, even claiming the Pichichi ahead of Ronaldo, Messi and Girezmann.
Since, FIFA has already revealed the top 3 nominees, my pick for the award is Ronaldo. Although Lionel Messi was unbelievably good throughout the year, Ronaldo claimed all the important trophies of the year playing crucial roles in the Champions League and Euro 2016 triumphs (causing heartbreak to Antoine Griezmann twice in the process)
All in all, 2016 has belonged to Ronaldo and he deserves the FIFA Best Player of the Year award ahead of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann.
Predictions: 1st - Cristiano Ronaldo, 2nd - Lionel Messi and 3rd - Antoine Griezmann.
The Best FIFA Men's Player 2016 winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
Sripad Kilikar (Twitter: @falsewinger)
Cristiano Ronaldo won the Champions League, EURO 2016, UEFA Best Player of the year, Club Would Cup and Ballon d'Or in 2016 and I don't think anyone deserves it more than Ronaldo. Messi is still the best player in the world for me but 2016 was the year of the Real Madrid superstar.
Many might argue that Ronaldo didn't do much in the Champions League and Euro 2016 final but a player’s performance throughout the year is what we are supposed to look at, not just the finals.
The Best FIFA Men's Player 2016 winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
Shaurya Vineet (Twitter: @ShauryaVineet)
Cristiano Ronaldo is the overwhelming favourite going into another prestigious award for the second time in under a month. The man needs no introduction, nor does the records that he broke or the peaks that he scaled during 2016 – which is visible by the selections of those above me.
Now, let’s hear the case for the little magician before we wait with bated breaths for the final announcement to be made and the debate to be put hold for another year, as the two continue to lead the pack doing out-worldly things, while the rest of the pack chases them in a bid to usurp the duopoly, which has dominated world football for close to a decade.
I had predicted (or rather wanted) Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d’Or 2016 and my argument at the time still holds true despite being proved otherwise by the panellist who picked Cristiano Ronaldo for the award.
Messi failed to end Argentina’s long wait for an international honour but for the third consecutive year he grabbed his team by the scruff of their neck and guided an average team to the final of three different major international tournaments. First, it was the FIFA World Cup 2014, followed by Copa America 2015 and finally the Copa America Centenario in 2016.
He may have failed to take them over the line on all three occasions but Ronaldo didn’t win Portugal their maiden European Championship, it was Eder’s goal that did and in Messi’s case he was let down by his teammates on the biggest stages.
The diminutive Argentine has the capability of making a 9-year-old fall in love with the ‘Beautiful Game’ with a slight feint, a drop of the shoulder, a nutmeg past the world’s best defender or just the way the ball sticks to his foot as he dribbles and dribbles past the world and that for me is what football is all about – moments of magic. And on the hallowed football pitches across the world, no one does it better than Messi.
The Best FIFA Men's Player 2016 winner: Lionel Messi
As is clearly seen, Cristiano Ronaldo is the overwhelming favourite to win The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award ahead of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann.
Will Cristiano Ronaldo become the inaugural champion of the new award, or will Messi find some solace after missing out on the Ballon d’Or. Or, and that’s a big or, will Antoine Griezmann become the first man to break the Ronaldo-Messi duopoly.
The big factor tonight will be the fans poll organised by FIFA. Will it give us a new winner or will the popularity of Messi and Ronaldo prove too much for the younger, and less popular, Frenchman?
Follow our live coverage of the event to find out who reigns supreme.
