FIFA has announced the twelve contenders for The Best Men's Player. Half of the nominees played for the treble-winning Manchester City last season.
The list includes Julián Álvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gündogan, Erling Haaland, Rodri, and Bernardo Silva. Of them, only Gündogan has moved to another club. The midfielder now plays for Barcelona.
The remaining six candidates are Lionel Messi (Inter Miami, previously Paris Saint-Germain), Marcelo Brozovic (Al-Nassr, previously Internazionale), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain), Victor Osimhen (Napoli), and Declan Rice (Arsenal, previously West Ham United).
The voting for the award for this calendar year's performances opened on Thursday. Since 2016, this election has been separated from the Ballon d'Or. Messi won the FIFA award in the last edition for the second time, just as Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski have done before.
Goalkeepers:
Five goalkeepers have been selected as contenders for The Best Men's Goalkeeper. The competition is between Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal, previously Sevilla), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Ederson (Manchester City), André Onana (Manchester United, previously Internazionale), and Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona).
