FIFA Best: Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski nominated

Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski has been nominated for FIFA The Best Men’s Player of the Year for 2020, alongside Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo.

The women’s award will be contested between Manchester City defender Lucy Bronze, Chelsea forward Pernille Harder, and Lyon defender Wendie Renard.

The FIFA The Best award is the rebirth of the FIFA World Player of the Year award, which ran parallel to the Ballon d’Or award from 1991 to 2009. The two awards then merged to create the FIFA Ballon d’Or from 2010 to 2015 before FIFA The Best was reintroduced in 2016.

Lewandowski, whose 55 goals helped Bayern win the Treble in 2019-20, said he was disappointed the Ballon d’Or award had been canceled due to COVID-19. But he has the chance to add his first FIFA The Best award as he goes up against winners Ronaldo, who has won it twice, and Messi, who won in 2019.

Ronaldo scored 31 goals in Serie A last term as Juventus won the title, while Messi hit 25 in La Liga. Lewandowski scored 34 in the Bundesliga to finish second in the European Golden Shoe list.

On the women’s side, Bronze and Renard were part of the Lyon side that won the Champions League last term. Harder was at Wolfsburg n the previous campaign and a runner-up in Europe’s main competition before moving to Chelsea.

The men’s top three goalkeepers were Liverpool’s Alisson, Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak, and Bayern’s Manuel Neuer. The best women between the posts for 2019-20 were Lyon’s Sarah Bouhaddi, Paris Saint-Germain’s Christiane Endler, and Alyssa Naeher, who plays for Chicago Red Stars as well as the USWNT.

Bayern boss Hansi Flick is up against Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp and Leeds’ Marcelo Bielsa for the best men’s manager, while Lyon’s Jean-Luc Vasseur, Chelsea’s Emma Hayes, and Sarina Wiegman will battle it out on the women’s side.