FIFA acknowledges football's best with global honors

U.S. SOCCER

Charlotte FC defender Tim Ream, captain of the U.S. Men's National Team, was a voter for the Best FIFA Football Awards.

Besides the honor and responsibility, service as captain for the U.S. Men’s National Team brought another perk for Charlotte FC’s Tim Ream. 

The Charlotte defender, along with USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino, were voters in the 2025 Best FIFA Football Awards, which were presented at an event held in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday. 

Former U.S. National Team players Cobi Jones and Heather O’Reilly were also on the multinational 10-person panels that shortlisted the men’s and women’s awards. Carli Lloyd was on the panel for the Marta Award for the best goal by a woman player.

Here’s the list of winners:

Best Women’s Player – Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona/Spain)

Best Men’s Player – Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain/France)

Best Women’s Goalkeeper – Hannah Hampton (Chelsea/England)

Best Men’s Goalkeeper – Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG, Manchester City/Italy)

Best Women’s Coach – Sarina Wiegman (England)

Best Men’s Coach – Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)

Marta Award – Lizbeth Ovalle (Tigres - Liga MX Femenil)

Puskas Award – Santiago Montiel (Independiente - Primera División Argentina)

Best Men’s 11: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain, now Manchester City/Italy), Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain/Morocco), Willian Pacho (Paris Saint-Germain/Ecuador), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool/Netherlands), Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain/Portugal), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid/England), Pedri (Barcelona/Spain), Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain/Portugal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea/England), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain), Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain/France).

Best Women’s 11: Hannah Hampton (Chelsea/England), Irene Paredes (Barcelona/Spain), Lucy Bronze (Chelsea/England), Ona Batlle (Barcelona/Spain), Leah Williamson (Arsenal/England), Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona/Spain), Clàudia Pina (Barcelona/Spain), Patri Guijarro (Barcelona/Spain), Alessia Russo (Arsenal/England), Alexia Putellas (Barcelona/Spain), Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal/Spain)

Ream and Pochettino were nearly even with their choices. Both voted for Ousmane Dembélé as best player Gianluigi Donnarumma top goalkeeper. They also gave PSG’s Luis Enrique top spot in the coaching category.

Spain’s Bonmatí claimed a historic third-straight Best FIFA Women’s Player award, becoming the first women’s footballer to win three consecutive titles.

The selections were typically Eurocentric with no players from any club teams outside of Europe selected. Only two non-European players, Moroccan Achraf Hakimi and Willian Pacho of Ecuador were chosen. All of the women were from England and Spain.

Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi, a three-time winner (and three-time runner-up) of the best player award, was the only MLS player listed on the men’s Best 11 ballots. He finished in a tie for ninth among forwards.

While it’s no surprise that no American male or MLS player made the Best 11 roster, it is that no American female player made the top 11 on the women’s side.

Fan voting did play a part in these selections, choosing from a list of 77 nominees for each line-up, with their votes weighted equally with those of an expert panel.

In the women’s Best 11, Emily Fox was the only American defender receiving votes and she was eighth on that list with three defenders each from Spain and England ahead of her. Among midfielders, Lindsay Heaps, who plays in France for OL Lyonnes, finished fifth behind three Spanish and one English players. Sam Coffey and Croix Bethune also received votes to finish tied for eighth.

No American woman made the list for forwards but Temwa Chawinga of Malawi, who was the top scorer in the NWSL for the Kansas City Current, was sixth, followed by Orlando Pride teammates Marta from Brazil and Zambian Barbra Banda. No American woman received votes in the goalkeeper category, which is understandable since the retirement of Alyssa Naher, who dominated that position since 2016.

It’s not that American or NWSL players have been historically ignored.

Banda finished second in the Best Women’s Player last year as did now-retired USWNT player Alex Morgan in 2022. Megan Rapinoe won the award in 2019 with Morgan second. Marta won in 2018 playing for Orlando. Lloyd won the first award in 2016 and finished second in 2017.

Including the FIFA Women’s Player of the Year, the predecessor award to the current selections, which ran from 2001 to 2015, other American winners include Mia Hamm (2001, 2002), Abby Wambach (2012), and Lloyd (2015).

The selections had a North Carolina connection. Two English players on the women’s Best 11, Lucy Bronze and Alessia Russo, as well as Best Coach Sarina Wiegman competed collegiately at North Carolina. 

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