The annual FIFA awards show is taking place in Zurich, Switzerland on Monday, January 9th. Awards will be given out to honor the best of football from across the world in 2016.
Time: 5:30 p.m. GMT / 6:30 p.m. CET / 12:30 p.m. ET
Livestream: FIFA.com
All eyes will be on the award for the best men’s player, between Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann. Ronaldo will be the likely favorite to win this award after recently picking up his fourth Ballon d’Or. In 2016 the Portuguese forward led his country to their first ever tournament win at the Euros and won the Champions League with Real Madrid.
The best men’s coach for 2016 has a clear favorite in Claudio Ranieri. The Leicester City manager guided his team to a historic Premier League title with smart tactics, suffering just three losses in the league all season. The other managers up for the award are Portugal coach Fernando Santos and Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane.
The award for the best women’s player will be contested between Carli Lloyd, Marta and German midfielder, Melanie Behringer. U.S. international Lloyd will be the likely favorite for the award, but Behringer could challenge after winning the Olympics with Germany in 2016.
The best women’s coach is between all national team managers, who get the spotlight over club managers in women’s football. The finalists: Jill Ellis of U.S.A., Silvia Neid of Germany and Pia Sundhage of Sweden all made it far in the 2016 Olympics. However, since Germany won the competition Silvia Neid may be the favorite.
Another award that will be handed out is The FIFA Fair Play Award, which is given in recognition to exemplary behavior that positively influences the spirit of the football. Also, the annual FIFA Puskás Award will be awarded to the player who scored the best goal in 2016.
The last single award that will be given out on Monday is the new FIFA Fan Award, which honors a group of fans for an incredible moment in 2016 and is voted for by fans. The three moments up for this award are Iceland’s chant from the Euros, Liverpool and Dortmund fans singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” together, and ADO Den Haag fans for dropping soft toys to grateful children at Feynoord’s stadium.
The last awards are presented to the FIFPro World11: The best eleven players in the year of 2016. The team is likely to feature many star players from La Liga, such as Ronaldo, Messi and Griezmann.
The highly anticipated yearly awards will be a great time to bring the world of football together and highlight the best that the beautiful game has to offer.
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