Winners of the FIFA Best Awards were announced Monday, January 15, with Lionel Messi from Inter Miami and Aitana Bonmatí from FC Barcelona taking home the Men's and Women's best player awards, respectively.
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The duo fended off tough competition from Erling Haaland and Linda Caicedo to claim the international awards.
Messi secured the top spot in the poll, thanks to the number of first-choice nominations he received from national team captains. This made him the winner at the expense of Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.
The winners of The Best FIFA Women’s Player, The Best FIFA Men’s Player, The Best FIFA Women’s Coach, The Best FIFA Men’s Coach, The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper and The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper awards are selected by an international jury comprising current coaches of all women’s/men’s national teams (one per team), the current captains of all women’s/men’s national teams (one per team), one specialist journalist from each territory represented by a national team and fans from all over the world registered on FIFA.com.
Representing Rwanda in the men's category were Gérard Marcel Alain Buscher, the Technical Director of FERWAFA, Djihad Bizimana, the Captain of the National Team, and Eddie Nsabimana, journalist for The New Times.
In the women's category, Marie Grace Nyinawumuntu, who coached the She-Amavubi in the Paris 2024 Olympics qualifiers, Sifa Gloria Nibagwire the Captain, and Clarisse Uwimana, a journalist for B&B FM-Muwezi, had the opportunity to cast their votes.
Now, let's take a look at how the Rwandan representatives voted in the Men's and Women's categories.
Men's player of the year:
- Alain Buscher (coach): Kylian Mbappe, Kevin De Bruyne, and Erling Haaland.
- Bizimana (captain): Lionel Messi, Rodri, and Erling Haaland.
- Nsabimama (journalist): Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi, and Kevin De Bruyne.
Men’s coach of the year:
- Bizimana: Pep Guardiola, Xavi, and Ange Postecoglou.
- Alain Buscher: Pep Guardiola, Xavi, and Simone Inzaghi.
- Nsabimana: Pep Guardiola, Simone Inzaghi, and Xavi Hernandez.
Women's Player of the Year:
- Nyinawumuntu (coach): Kadidiatou Diani, Mapi León, and Sam Kerr.
- Nibagwire (captain): Aitana Bonmatí, Sam Kerr, and Salma Paralluelo.
- Uwimana (journalist): Aitana Bonmatí, Linda Caicedo, and Lauren James.
Women's coach of the year:
- Nyinawumuntu: Emma Hayes, Sarina Wiegman, and Jonatan Giráldez.
- Nibagwire: Sarina Wiegman, Peter Gerhardsson, and Emma Hayes.
- Uwimana: Sarina Wiegman, Emma Hayes and Peter Gerhardsson.