Lionel Messi and Aitana Bonmati have been shortlisted as finalists for the FIFA best players of the year awards by world football’s governing body – FIFA.
The nomination announced on Thursday comes barely two months after Messi was awarded a record-extending eighth Ballon d’Or crown in Paris where Bonmati took the women’s prize after starring for Spain in the last Women’s World Cup.
Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe are the other nominees for the FIFA men’s best player award, with Bonmati’s Spain teammate Jenni Hermoso and Colombian teenage sensation Linda Caicedo also named on the women’s shortlist.
The awards ceremony will take place in London on the 15th of January.
The men’s finalists were named based on performances from the 19th of December, 2022 to the 20th of August this year while the women’s category was determined by achievements between the 1st of August, 2022 and the 20th of August, 2023.
Messi won his second FIFA best player trophy last year after helping Argentina win the World Cup.