The Best 2025 nomination list doesn't have many surprises

Early this morning, FIFA announced the list of nominees for the annual The Best awards. The focus is still on the Best Men's Player of the Year award. As expected, the names competing for the award are quite similar to the candidates competing for the 2025 Golden Ball.

Champions League champions PSG continue to dominate the nomination list, taking 4/11 positions, including Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha and Dembele. Behind them is Barcelona with 3 stars including Pedri, Raphinha and Yamal. The remaining candidates are Harry Kane (Bayern), Mbappe (Real), Cole Palmer (Chelsea) and Salah (Liverpool).

Palmer and Salah have both been disappointing in the new season. Palmer has had problems with injuries, while Salah has been in poor form. However, they were still nominated by FIFA thanks to their outstanding achievements last season.

According to the experts' general assessment, the race for The Best 2025 still revolves around the duo Dembele and Yamal. Coaches and captains of all 211 FIFA men's national teams will also have the opportunity to choose the top three candidates for the three men's awards. Media representatives (journalists covering both men's and women's matches) and fans registered on FIFA.com can also vote for each award.

The four voting groups have the same electoral weight, regardless of the actual number of voters in each group (i.e. the votes of coaches, captains, professional journalists and fans will account for 25% of the total votes, regardless of the number of voters in each group).

In addition to the awards for men's players, FIFA also announced the nominations for the Best Women's Player of the Year, Best Men's and Women's Coaches of the Year, and Best Men's and Women's Goalkeepers of the Year. The specific lists are below:

Women's Player of the Year 2025 : Sandy Baltimore (Chelsea, France), Nathalie Björn (Chelsea, Sweden), Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona, Spain), Lucy Bronze (Barcelona, England), Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal, Spain), Temwa Chawinga (Paris FC, Malawi), Kadidiatou Diani (PSG, France), Melchie Dumornay (Lyon, Haiti), Patri Guijarro (Barcelona, Spain), Lindsey Horan (Lyon, USA), Lauren James (Chelsea, England), Chloe Kelly (Manchester City, England), Ewa Pajor (Wolfsburg, Poland), Clàudia Pina (Barcelona, Spain), Alexia Putellas (Barcelona, Spain), Alessia Russo (Arsenal, England) and Leah Williamson (Arsenal, England).

Best Women's Goalkeeper 2025 : Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea, Germany), Cata Coll (Barcelona, Spain), Christiane Endler (Lyon, Chile), Hannah Hampton (Chelsea, England), Anna Moorhouse (Orlando Pride, USA), Chiamaka Nnadozie (Paris FC, Nigeria) and Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United, USA).

Best Men's Goalkeeper 2025: Alisson Becker (Liverpool, Brazil), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid, Belgium), Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG, Italy), Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez (Aston Villa, Argentina), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich, Germany), David Raya (Arsenal, Spain), Yann Sommer (Inter Milan, Switzerland) and Wojciech Szczęsny (Juventus, Poland).

Best Men's Coach 2025 : Luis Enrique Martínez (PSG), Hansi Flick (Barcelona), Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Enzo Maresca (Chelsea), Roberto Martínez (Portugal), Arne Slot (Liverpool) and Javier Aguirre (Mexico).

Best Women's Coach 2025: Sonia Bompastor (Chelsea), Jonatan Giráldez (Washington Spirit/Olympique Lyon), Seb Hines (Orlando Pride), Renée Slegers (Arsenal) and Sarina Wiegman (England).

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