Revealed: Nigeria’s Picks for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022

The national teams’ captains, coaches, and journalists cast their votes in the nomination process.

FIFA 'The Best' Football Awards' men's player title went to Lionel Messi. Due to his role in guiding Argentina to World Cup victory in the latter half of 2022, he was the clear frontrunner. Messi's performance with Paris Saint-Germain has also improved after following a challenging first season with the French side.

The women's player award went to Alexia Putellas for the second year in a row. She had yet another exceptional season playing for Barcelona, who dominated the Primera Division. Putellas contributed a goal to the 3-1 loss to Lyon in the Champions League final.

The men's goalkeeper award went to Emiliano Martinez for his crucial performance in Argentina's World Cup victory in Qatar. The female goalkeeper award went to Mary Earps. She became England's top player and dominated during Euro 2022. Additionally, Earps had a significant impact on Manchester United's recent achievement.

Argentina's World Cup victory in Doha earned Lionel Scaloni The Best FIFA Men's Coach honor. For the third occasion, Sarina Wiegman was the female coach of the year. The attacking style of football played by the English team under the Dutch boss included some courageous victories over Spain and Germany. This helped England win the Euro 2022 competition.

The incredible scissor goal by Polish amputee player Marcin Oleksy for Warta Poznan earned him the FIFA Puskás Award. Robert Lewandowski sent him a note of congratulations as well for achieving this honor.

Nigerian voting panel

The Nigerian voting panel for the Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 included several notable individuals in both the men’s and women’s categories. Among those who voted were Onome Ebi, the captain of the Nigerian women’s national team and Randy Waldrum, the women's team coach.

In the men’s category, Ahmed Musa, the captain of the Nigerian men’s national team, and José Vítor Dos Santos Peseiro, the team’s coach, both participated in the voting process.

In addition, Ibikunle Solaja, a respected member of the Nigerian media, also cast his vote in both men's and women's category.

The voting process for The Best FIFA Football Awards involves the following steps:

Formation of the Voting Panel: FIFA selects the voting panel consisting of national team coaches, national team captains, selected media representatives, and fans.

Nomination Process: FIFA publishes a list of nominees in each category, including Best FIFA Men’s Player, Best FIFA Women’s Player, Best FIFA Men’s Coach, Best FIFA Women’s Coach, FIFA Puskás Award, and FIFA Fan Award.

Voting Period: The voting panel has a specific period to cast their votes. During this period, each member of the panel can submit their top three preferences for each category. The first preference receiving five points, second preference receiving three points, and third preference receiving one point respectively.

Counting of Votes: After the voting period is over, FIFA collects all the votes and calculates the results by assigning points to each nominee. The nominee with the highest number of points in each category is declared the winner.

Award Ceremony: FIFA hosts an award ceremony to announce and present the awards to the winners.

It is important to note that the voting process for each award category is conducted separately. The winners are then decided based on the votes received in their respective categories.

The voting panel for The Best FIFA Football Awards consists of the following four groups:

National Team Coaches: The head coaches of men’s and women’s national teams around the world registered with FIFA, are eligible to vote.

Captains of National Teams: The captains of men’s and women’s national teams around the world registered with FIFA, are eligible to vote.

Selected media representatives: A selected group of international journalists who specialize in football, are also eligible to vote.

Fans: Football fans worldwide can vote for the FIFA Fan Award through an online poll.

Now let’s see who they have voted for

THE BEST FIFA WOMEN’S PLAYER 2022

Nigerian captain Onome Ebi voted for Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmatí and Wendie Renard.

Nigerian coach Randy Waldrum voted for Beth Mead, Sam Kerr and Alexia Putellas.

From Media, Ibikunle Solaja voted for Alex Morgan, Alexandra Popp and Leah Williamson.

THE BEST FIFA MEN’S PLAYER 2022

Nigerian captain Ahmed Musa voted for Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappé.

Nigerian coach José Vítor voted for Karim Benzema, Lionel Messi and Kevin De Bruyne.

From media, Ibikunle Solaja voted for Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Karim Benzema.

THE BEST FIFA WOMEN’S GOALKEEPER 2022

Nigerian captain Onome Ebi voted for Christiane Endler, Sandra Paños García-Villamil and Mary Earps.

Nigerian coach Randy Waldrum voted for Christiane Endler, Ann-Katrin Berger and Alyssa Naeher.

From Media Ibikunle Solaja voted for Mary Earps, Merle Frohms and Sandra Paños García-Villamil.

The BEST FIFA MEN’S GOALKEEPER 2022

Nigerian captain Ahmed Musa voted for Emiliano Martínez, Yassine Bounou and Thibaut Courtois.

Nigerian coach José Vítor voted for Yassine Bounou, Emiliano Martínez and Ederson.

From media Ibikunle Solaja voted for Thibaut Courtois, Emiliano Martínez and Yassine Bounou.

THE BEST FIFA WOMEN’S COACH 2022

Nigerian captain Onome Ebi voted for Sarina Wiegman, Emma Hayes and Sonia Bompastor.

Nigerian coach Randy Waldrum voted for Sarina Wiegman, Bev Priestman and Emma Hayes.

From media Ibikunle Solaja voted for Sarina Wiegman, Pia Sundhage and Sonia Bompastor.

THE BEST FIFA MEN’S COACH 2022

Nigerian captain Ahmed Musa voted for Lionel Scaloni, Walid Regragui and Didier Deschamps.

Nigerian coach José Vítor voted for Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola, and Lionel Scaloni.

From media Ibikunle Solaja voted for Carlo Ancelotti, Lionel Scaloni and Pep Guardiola.