Van Dijk To Battle Cristiano Ronaldo And Lionel Messi For FIFA Best Player Award

Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk will once again go head to head with Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi for FIFA Best Men’s player award.

The trio were announced as the final three-man shortlist by the technical team of the world football governing body. Van Dijk will hope to make it two wins out of two after he beat the Messi and Ronaldo to UEFA’s player of the year awards last week.

The Netherlands international has had a stellar year which saw him win the champions league with Liverpool. The Reds also finished a close second with 97 points in 2018/2019 Premier League season with Van Dijk playing a major role.

His performance that season earned him the PFA Players’ Player of the award in English football. On the international scene, he led the Netherlands to the final of the inaugural UEFA Nations League where they lost to host, Portugal.

However, his rivals also had a stellar year with Lionel Messi winning the European Golden Boot, while he also led Barcelona to La Liga victory. Cristiano Ronaldo meanwhile, finished as Serie A’s second topscorer as Juventus won their eighth successive league title, while he also led Portugal to victory in the Nations League.

The winner of the award will be announced on September 23rd in front of football’s biggest names amongst the salubrious surroundings of the Teatro all Scala in Milan.

Other nominees that were announced include, the coach of the year ( Men and Women), Goalkeeper of the year and Puskas Awards.

The Best FIFA Football Awards finalists in full
The Best FIFA Men’s Player
Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) – Juventus
Lionel Messi (ARG) – FC Barcelona
Virgil van Dijk (NED) – Liverpool

The Best FIFA Women’s Player
Lucy Bronze (ENG) – Olympique Lyonnais
Alex Morgan (USA) – Orlando Pride
Megan Rapinoe (USA) – Reign FC

The Best FIFA Men’s Coach
Pep Guardiola (ESP) – Manchester City
Jurgen Klopp (GER) – Liverpool
Mauricio Pochettino (ARG) – Tottenham Hotspur

The Best FIFA Women’s Coach
Jill Ellis (USA) – USA national team
Phil Neville (ENG) – England national team
Sarina Wiegman (NED) – Netherlands national team

FIFA Fan Award
Silvia Grecco (BRA)
Netherlands Fans at the Women’s World Cup (NED)
Justo Sánchez (URU)

The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper
Alisson (BRA) – Liverpool
Ederson (BRA) – Manchester City
Marc-André ter Stegen (GER) – FC Barcelona

The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper
Christiane Endler (CHI) – Paris Saint-Germain
Hedvig Lindahl (SWE) – Chelsea / Wolfsburg
Sari van Veenendaal (NED) – Arsenal / Atletico Madrid

FIFA Puskás Award
Lionel Messi (ARG) – Real Betis v FC Barcelona [La Liga] (17 March 2019)
Juan Fernando Quintero (COL) – River Plate v Racing Club [Argentinian Superliga] (10 February 2019)
Dániel Zsóri (HUN) – Debrecen FC v Ferencváros TC [Nemzeti Bajnoskag I] (16 February 2019)