The South Americans top the list along with the Norwegian Erling Haaland and Frenchman Kylian Mbappé.
However, half of the dozen Best Player candidates are from Manchester City, which won the treble last season, and the English team’s coach, Spaniard Pep Guardiola, is also nominated for Best Men’s Coach.
The other Skyblues footballers are the Belgian Kevin De Bruyne, the German Lkay Gündogan, the Spanish Rodri and the Portuguese Bernardo Silva.
The Croatian Marcelo Brozovic, from Italian Inter Milan, the Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Naples-Italy), the Nigerian Victor Osimhen (Naples-Italy) and the Englishman Declan Rice (Arsenal-England) complete the list.
Meanwhile, the other technicians who are competing for the award in their category are the Italians Simone Inzaghi and Luciano Spalletti, and the Spanish Xavi Hernández.
Among the women, the Spanish world champions included Aitana Bonmatí, Jenni Hermoso, Mapi León and Salma Paralluelo in the fight for Best Player, in a list that also includes the Colombian Linda Caicedo.
The nominees were shortlisted by a panel of experts including retired players Mia Hamm and Didier Drogba, with voting ending in mid-October.
Complete list of nominees for The Best 2023 Award:
Best Player:
Aitana Bonmatí (Spain); Linda Caicedo (Colombia); Rachel Daly (England); Kadidiatou Diani (France); Caitlin Foord (Australia); Mary Fowler (Australia); Alex Greenwood (England); Jenni Hermoso (Spain); Lindsey Horan (USA); Amanda Ilestedt (Sweden); Lauren James (England); Sam Kerr (Australia); Mapi León (Spain); Hinata Miyazawa (Japan); Salma Paralluelo (Spain); Keira Walsh (England).
Best player:
Julián Álvarez (Argentina); Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia); Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium); lkay Gündogan (Germany); Erling Haaland (Norway); Rodrigo “Rodri” Hernández (Spain); Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia); Kylian Mbappé (France); Lionel Messi (Argentina); Victor Osimhen (Nigeria); Declan Rice (England); Bernardo Silva (Portugal).
Women’s Soccer Coach:
Peter Gerhardsson (Sweden); Jonatan Giráldez (Spain); Tony Gustavsson (Sweden); Emma Hayes (England); Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands).
Men’s Soccer Coach:
Pep Guardiola (Spain); Simone Inzaghi (Italy); Ange Postecoglou (Australia); Luciano Spalletti (Italy); Xavi Hernandez (Spain).
Best Female Goalkeeper:
Mackenzie Arnold (Australia); Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany); Catalina Coll (Spain); Mary Earps (England); Christiane Endler (Chile); Zeira Muovi (Sweden); Sandra Paños (Spain).
Best Male Goalkeeper:
Yassine Bounou (Morocco); Thibaut Courtois (Belgium); Ederson (Brazil); André Onana (Cameroon); Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany).
FIFA Fan Award:
Fan of Club Atlético Colón de Santa Fe (Argentina); Fran Hurndall (England); Miguel Ángel, fan of Millonarios (Colombia).
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