Lionel Messi and Aitana Bonmati were named finalists for the FIFA best players of the year awards on Thursday by the world football’s governing body.
Messi won his sixth Ballon d’Or in October in Paris, while Bonmati won the women’s award after excelling for Spain in their Women’s World Cup victory.
Other nominees for the FIFA men’s best player award include Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, with Bonmati’s Spain teammate Jenni Hermoso and Colombian teenage phenom Linda Caicedo also on the women’s shortlist.
The awards ceremony will take place in London on January 15.
The men’s finalists were chosen based on their performances between December 19, 2022 and August 20, this year, while the women’s finalists were chosen based on their achievements between August 1, 2022 and August 20, 2023, the day of the World Cup final.
Last year, Messi won his second FIFA best player award after helping Argentina win the World Cup.
Haaland, who finished second in the Ballon d’Or voting to Messi, scored 52 goals in his first season at Manchester City last season, helping the English team win the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League treble.
France striker Mbappe scored 41 goals in all competitions to help Paris Saint-Germain win Ligue 1.
Both Bonmati and Hermoso scored three goals as Spain won the Women’s World Cup for the first time. Bonmati also won the Women’s Champions League with Barcelona last season.
Following Spain’s 1-0 final victory over England, Hermoso was forcibly kissed by then-Spanish Football Federation head Luis Rubiales, generating a great controversy and his ultimate departure.
Caicedo, 18, played a key role in Colombia’s progress to the World Cup quarterfinals and has since joined Real Madrid.