Van Dijk, Messi, Ronaldo named finalists for FIFA POTY award
Virgil van Dijk, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo will go head to head for another individual honor.
The three were revealed on Monday as finalists for The Best FIFA Men's Player award. The Liverpool defender beat out his decorated peers in the race for UEFA's player of the year prize last week.
Over on the women's side, American World Cup champions Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan are in contention, alongside England star Lucy Bronze.
There are eight FIFA awards in total, which will be presented on Sept. 23 in Milan. The complete list of finalists is as follows:
Best Men's Player
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus and Portugal)
- Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)
- Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and the Netherlands)
Best Women's Player
- Lucy Bronze (Lyon and England)
- Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride and the United States)
- Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC and the United States)
Best Men's Coach
- Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
- Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
- Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham)
Best Women's Coach
- Jill Ellis (United States women's national team)
- Phil Neville (England women's national team)
- Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands women's national team)
FIFA Fan Award
- Silvia Grecco (Brazil)
- Netherlands fans at the Women’s World Cup
- Justo Sanchez (Uruguay)
Best Men's Goalkeeper
- Alisson (Liverpool and Brazil)
- Ederson (Manchester City and Brazil)
- Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona and Germany)
Best Women's Goalkeeper
- Christiane Endler (Paris Saint-Germain and Chile)
- Hedvig Lindahl (Wolfsburg and Sweden)
- Sari van Veenendaal (Atletico Madrid and the Netherlands)
Puskas Award
- Lionel Messi: Real Betis vs. Barcelona (March 17, 2019)
- Juan Fernando Quintero: River Plate vs. Racing Club (Feb. 10, 2019)
- Daniel Zsori: Debrecen vs. Ferencvaros (Feb. 16, 2019)
FIFA's The Best awards have been presented since 2016 and are a rebranding of the FIFA World Player of the Year festivities, which were held from 2010 to 2015 as part of a merger with the Ballon d'Or trophy.