Messi, Zlatan And Cliftonville Ladies FC Set To Battle For FIFA Puskás Award

It’s that time of year again: FIFA has announced the 10 finalists for the annual Puskás Award, the trophy given to the player, male or female, “judged to have scored the most aesthetically significant, or ‘most beautiful,’ goal of the calendar year.”

This most certainly wasn’t the case last year when Mohamed Salah scooped the award after Liverpool and Egypt supporters spammed the fan vote. The goal Salah scored against Everton back in December of 2018 hadn’t even won the Premier League’s Goal of the Month, so it was an awful joke to see it given the prestigious Puskás Award.

That’s unlikely to happen this year as the structure of the vote has changed. Public voting will be used again, but the public vote will only decide the top three goals instead of the winner. From there, a vote among FIFA Legends will decide the 2019 Puskás-winner.

Here are the 10 nominees in super-speed.

OFFICIAL: @FIFAcom have released the nominees for the Puskas Award: pic.twitter.com/WJTykyeWsA

— 433 (@official433) August 19, 2019

Here are the 10 nominees in slower speed.

2019 Puskas Award Nominees

#1. Matheus Cunha (RB Leipzig)

That #PuskasAward-nominated Cunha goal from every angle pic.twitter.com/qlywZADY4d

— Goal (@goal) August 19, 2019

#2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (LA Galaxy)

Zlatan's 500th career goal is RIDICULOUS. #TORvLA #Zlatan500 https://t.co/gosg571udB

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 16, 2018

#3. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

An angle only he could find...

This Leo Messi GOLAZO has been nominated for the 2019 Puskas Award. #LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/eD0WkPNrXt

— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) August 19, 2019

#4. Ajara Nchout (Cameroon)

#WWCTelemundo: ¡GO-LA-ZO de último minuto y #CMR se mete a octavos!

Con una jugada individual de lujo de @AjaraNjoya , las africanas le ganan a #NZL y avanzan a la siguiente ronda, eliminando también a #ARG pic.twitter.com/GqD8Um0zyx

— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 20, 2019

#5. Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria)

#6. Juan Fernando Quintero (River Plate)

#7. Amy Rodriguez (Utah Royals FC)

What a strike

(via @NWSL)pic.twitter.com/lSw5aOp7JM

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 16, 2019

#8. Billie Simpson (Cliftonville Ladies FC) 

Congratulations to @CVilleLadiesFC's Billie Simpson who has been nominated for the prestigious Puskas Award.

This is the stunning volley that sees her now up against the likes of Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. pic.twitter.com/9qHntZNTZv

— NI Football Writers' Association (@NIFWA) August 19, 2019

#9. Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace)

#10. Daniel Zsori (Debrecen)