FIFA's Finalists For 'The Best' FIFA Awards Are Some Of The FIFAest Things FIFA Has Done

The nominations for FIFA's self-indulging award of naming "The Best FIFA Football Awards" for coaches and players were announced Wednesday morning. The winners will be revealed Sept. 23 in Milan at The Best FIFA Football Awards show. Here are the FIFA Best Awards nominees for 2019.

2019 FIFA Best Awards Nominees

Men's player finalsists

 Ready? #TheBest Men's Player nominees:

@Cristiano
@DeJongFrenkie21
 Matthijs de Ligt
@hazardeden10
@HKane
 Sadio Mane
@KMbappe
 Lionel Messi
@MoSalah
@VirgilvDijk

Voting NOW OPEN https://t.co/nw6p9KIcc6

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) July 31, 2019

• Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus/Portugal)
• Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona/Netherlands)
• Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus/Netherlands)
• Harry Kane (Tottenham/England)
• Eden Hazard (Real Madrid/Belgium)
• Sadio Mane (Liverpool/Senegal)
• Kylian Mbappé (PSG/France)
• Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina)
• Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt)
• Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool/Netherlands)

Likely favorites to win: Virgil van Dijk, Lionel Messi

This list of 10 is actually fairly solid, but it's surprising not a single Manchester City player was named on the shortlist despite winning the domestic treble. Bernardo Silva has a shout to be on this list, having been a key part of Portugal's Nations League win. Raheem Sterling also had a stellar season, contributing with 25 goals and 18 assists in all competitions. 

Women's player finalists

 Here they are! #TheBest Women's Player nominees:

@LucyBronze
@julieertz
@CarolineGrahamH
@AdaStolsmo
@amandinehenry6
@samkerr1
@roselavelle
@VivianneMiedema
@alexmorgan13
@mPinoe
@WRenard
@ellsbells89

Voting NOW OPEN https://t.co/t8x1884tdq

— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) July 31, 2019

• Lucy Bronze (Lyon/England)
• Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars/United States)
• Caroline Graham Hansen (Wolfsburg/Norway)
• Ada Hegerberg (Lyon/Norway)
• Amandine Henry (Lyon/France)
• Sam Kerr (Chicago Red Stars/Perth Glory/Australia)
• Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit/United States)
• Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal/Netherlands)
• Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride/United States)
• Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC/United States)
• Wendie Renard (Lyon/France)
• Ellen White (Manchester City/England)

Likely favorites to win: Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan

With the international dominance of the U.S., Morgan and Rapinoe are the frontrunners to win this. But don't discount Hederberg who proved lethal in the Women's Champions League, scoring a hat trick in the final against Barcelona. This list is a little more open, so be ready for what's to come.

Men's coaches finalists

 Meet the coaching candidates! #TheBest Men's Coach nominees:

 Djamel Belmadi
 Didier Deschamps
 Marcelo Gallardo
 Ricardo Gareca
@PepTeam
 Jurgen Klopp
 Mauricio Pochettino
 Fernando Santos
 Erik ten Hag
 Tite

Voting OPEN https://t.co/NRJ9Nz40FC

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) July 31, 2019

• Djamel Belmadi (Algeria)
• Didier Deschamps (France)
• Marcelo Gallardo (River Plate)
• Ricardo Gareca (Peru)
• Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
• Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
• Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham)
• Fernando Santos (Portugal)
• Erik ten Hag (Ajax)
• Tite (Brazil)

Likely favorites to win: Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp

This list has a few head-scratchers for both inclusions and exclusions. How Deschamps is on this list just shows how short-sighted FIFA is. Sure, he won the World Cup with France but it was LAST YEAR, and he won this award last year because of it. You could probably replace him with Maurizio Sarri who, despite Chelsea fans' gripes, had a respectable season with a third-place finish, League Cup final and Europa League win.

Women's coach finalists

 Our first announcement today! #TheBest Women's Coach nominees:

@milebertolini
 Jill Ellis
 Peter Gerhardsson
 Futoshi Ikeda
@is_tona
@MontemurroJoe
 Phil Neville
@ReynaldPedros
@prileyfury4life
@wiegman_s

Voting NOW OPEN https://t.co/MPUnRRrU4Q

— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) July 31, 2019

• Milena Bertolini (Italy)
• Jill Ellis (United States)
• Peter Gerhardsson (Sweden)
• Futoshi Ikeda (Japan U-20)
• Antonia Is (Spain U-17)
• Joe Montemurro (Arsenal)
• Phil Neville (England)
• Reynald Pedros (Lyon)
• Paul Riley (North Carolina Courage)
• Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands)

Likely favorites to win: Jill Ellis, Reynald Pedros

I guess FIFA couldn't name or just didn't know very many women's head coaches. It added two youth-level national team coaches to this mix who won FIFA competitions, so basically a way to toot its own horn. But then again, it's FIFA.

Answer:

Nope!

The voting is *evenly split* between:

* National team captains (25%)
* National team coaches (25%)
* Select members of the media (25%)
* Public fan vote (25%)

More info on how it works, here https://t.co/z9zNfgbvBo

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) July 31, 2019