Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele was named The Best FIFA Men’s Player at the ceremony on 16 December 2025, finishing ahead of Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe after PSG’s treble-winning season. Barcelona and Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí took The Best FIFA Women’s Player award for a third year running, and Luis Enrique was named the men’s coach of the year.
FIFA Best player award is an annual award presented by football’s governing body and has been in existence since 2016. The honour was formerly known as the FIFA World Player of the Year and was merged with the Ballon d’Or. Since 2016 though, the two have been different entities altogether.
Unlike the Ballon d’Or, fans are given a significant weightage in deciding the Best FIFA football award recipient. The results are decided through votes from the following parameters:
- Current national team coaches
- Current captain of every national team
- One specialist journalist from each territory
- Fans registered on FIFA.com
Each category has a 25 per cent weightage.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the first-ever recipient of the Best FIFA Men’s Player honour while USA’s Carli Lloyd was named the Best FIFA Women’s player in 2016.
Apart from this, goalkeepers also receive a special mention in the form of The Best FIFA Goalkeeper. It was started in 2017 in the men’s category, while the first Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper award was given in 2019.
The other category in these awards is The Best FIFA Football Coach. Former Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri was the first-ever recipient in 2016. Carlo Ancelotti won it for 2024 with Real Madrid and Luis Enrique for 2025 with Paris Saint-Germain; on the women’s side, Sarina Wiegman took the 2025 award.
Apart from the individual honours, the organising body also names a World 11 in both the men’s and women’s categories. It ran as the FIFA FIFPRO World 11 up to 2023; from the 2024 edition FIFA has managed the award itself as The Best FIFA Men’s World 11.
The record for most FIFA Best Player awards is shared. Lionel Messi has won the men’s award three times, in 2019, 2022 and 2023. Aitana Bonmatí matched that in the women’s category in 2025 and is the only player to have won it in three straight years.
The Best FIFA Men’s Player winners list
| Year | Player | Team |
| 2016 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid and Portugal |
| 2017 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid and Portugal |
| 2018 | Luka Modric | Real Madrid and Croatia |
| 2019 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona and Argentina |
| 2020 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich and Poland |
| 2021 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich and Poland |
| 2022 | Lionel Messi | Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina |
| 2023 | Lionel Messi | Inter Miami and Argentina |
| 2024 | Vinicius Junior | Real Madrid and Brazil |
| 2025 | Ousmane Dembele | Paris Saint-Germain and France |
The Best FIFA Women’s Player winners list
| Year | Player | Team |
| 2016 | Carli Lloyd | Houston Dash and USA |
| 2017 | Lieke Martens | Barcelona and Netherlands |
| 2018 | Marta | Orlando Pride and Brazil |
| 2019 | Megan Rapinoe | Reign FC and USA |
| 2020 | Lucy Bronze | Manchester City and England |
| 2021 | Alexia Putellas | Barcelona and Spain |
| 2022 | Alexia Putellas | Barcelona and Spain |
| 2023 | Aitana Bonmatí | Barcelona and Spain |
| 2024 | Aitana Bonmatí | Barcelona and Spain |
| 2025 | Aitana Bonmatí | Barcelona and Spain |
Featured photo: AFP / Harold Cunningham