Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Best Fifa Football Awards: Virgil van Dijk, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi – we pick our world XI

Our writers pick their Fifa Best World XI ahead of the awards ceremony this evening

Luke Brown
Monday 23 September 2019 11:02 BST
Comments
Rugby World Cup 2019 in numbers

The greatest footballers in the world will tonight come together as Fifa stage the Best Fifa Football Awards in Milan.

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk make up the shortlist for the Best Men's Player award, while 50 players are on the shortlist for the Fifa FIFPro Men’s World XI.

Ahead of the ceremony, eleven of our writers submitted their dream team of players currently playing international football, in a 4-3-3 formation. What made it a little trickier was the rule: only one player could be chosen from each country.

So do you pick Kylian Mbappe or N’Golo Kante? Cristiano Ronaldo or Bernardo Silva? Any English players at all?

Just two players made every one of our 11 writers’ teams, players from Slovenia and Senegal were surprisingly prominent, while not a single Uruguayan earned a vote despite Uruguay’s fifth place in the world rankings. Here’s the team they selected.

Check the above gallery to see which players we have selected for our Fifa Best World XI.

Fifa Best Awards preview:

What time does the ceremony start in the UK?

The festivities kick off in Milan at around 6.30pm with the green carpet arrivals. The ceremony then gets underway around 7.30pm in the UK.

What TV channel is it on?

The show is being broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League. Coverage begins at 7:30pm.

Can I live stream it?

Subscribers can watch the ceremony online via the Sky Go app.

Non-subscribers can also tune in with a NOW TV Day Pass which costs £7.99 a day, with a weekly version priced at £12.99.

What awards are being handed out?

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)

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in