- The best outfield players, goalkeepers, and managers are all up for annual awards
- Jude Bellingham is the only Englishman, while just two Prem stars are nominated
- This Man City team is DONE and Pep Guardiola has been sleeping on the job – LISTEN NOW to It’s All Kicking Off! New episodes every Monday and Thursday
Jude Bellingham is one of 11 stars who have been nominated for The Best FIFA Men’s Player award for 2024 – alongside two other Premier League stars.
The prize rewards stars for their achievements over the calendar year, as opposed to the Ballon d’Or being handed out by season.
It has been running in its current form since 2016, though it was previously known as the FIFA World Player of the Year. It is not always the case that a player will win both due to the different timespans they cover.
Manchester City stars Rodri and Erling Haaland are in the running for the gong, with the former having scooped up the Ballon d’Or last month.
Lionel Messi is also up for the prize, having won it in the past two years, though there is no sign of his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
A six-strong Real Madrid delegation of Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe, Dani Carvajal, Federico Valverde, and Toni Kroos (now retired) are among the nominees, though it remains to be seen whether they will deign to attend the ceremony after skipping the Ballon d’Or gala in October.
Jude Bellingham has been nominated for The Best FIFA Men’s Player award for 2024
Lionel Messi has won the last two editions and is up for the award among 11 nominees
Ballon d’Or winner Rodri is also up for the award, though his chances may be hampered by teh fact he has not played since September as it is a year-round gong
Ederson is one of three Premier League goalkeepers in the running, but Brazil rival Alisson is not
Pep Guardiola is one of five managers to have a chance of winning in their respective category
Barcelona and Spain wonderkid Lamine Yamal joins them, as does Florian Wirtz, star of Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten Bundesliga season.
There is a separate award for goalkeepers. Somewhat surprisingly, there is no Alisson. Ederson, Emi Martinez, David Raya, Mike Maignan Gianluigi Donnarumma, Yassine Bounou, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Yann Sommer, Andriy Lunin, and Ronwen Williams have been nominated.
As for the managers, Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso, Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti, Spain’s Luis de la Fuente, Pep Guardiola, and Lionel Scaloni of Argentina are nominated.
Rodri lifted the Ballon d’Or trophy ahead of forward Vinicius Jnr, becoming the first Premier League player to do so since 2008, when Cristiano Ronaldo won the title.
It resulted in Real Madrid boycotting the ceremony, with neither Vinicius or Jude Bellingham, who finished third, present in France when the award was announced.
A number of stars went vocal with their displeasure ovr the announcement, but Rodri nonetheless embraced the win despite his season essentially being over.
Back in September, he suffered an ACL injury, ruling him out of action for a number of months.
