The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020: Time, broadcast listings, and candidates for December 17 event

December 16, 2020 By Ali M.

Topics: TV Schedules, The Best FIFA Football Awards, Messi, Lewandowski, Cristiano, Bronze, r

The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 is upon us! Lewandowski looks to beat Cristiano and Messi to the men’s prize while Bronze, Harder, and Renard aim to sweep up the women’s accolade. Here’s everything you need to know about Thursday’s event.

What is The Best FIFA Football Awards?

The Best FIFA Football Awards is an annual award show held by world football's governing body. The top prizes of this event are The Best FIFA Men's Player, Women's Player, Men's Coach, and Women's Coach. However, it is not limited to that, with the best men's and women's goalkeeper also being honored – other categories include the FIFA FIFPro Men's and Women's World11, the FIFA Puskas Award, and the FIFA Fan Award.

When and where will The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 be held?

The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 will be held on Thursday, December 17. The event commences at 1:00 PM ET/7:00 PM CET and will be aired live on FIFA.com, FIFA's Youtube channel, and Facebook page. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show will be held virtually.

Who are the nominees for The Best FIFA Men's Player prize?

The 11-man shortlist for this award was revealed in late November only for it to be cut down to three names a while later. The three finalists are Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Will Lewandowski beat Messi and CR7 to the award?

The Best FIFA Football Awards, Cristiano, Lewandowski, Messi, The Best FIFA Men's Player

Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski earned his spot on this list after guiding his club to the treble, getting his hands on the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, and UEFA Champions League titles. As for the Portuguese and Argentine legends, they have enjoyed a few feats to varying levels.

Who are the nominees for The Best FIFA Women's Player award?

Just like before, the 11-woman shortlist was unveiled in late November. The FA Women's Super League stars Sam Kerr and Vivianne Miedema were nominated but neither made the last cut, with Lucy Bronze, Pernille Harder, and Wendie Renard being named as the finalists.

These are the 2020 #TheBest FIFA Women's Player finalists!

The results will be out on Thursday. Check pout their accolades below pic.twitter.com/uPFjDqsJ1l
— LiveSoccerTV.com (@LiveSoccerTV) December 16, 2020

Who are the favorites to win The Best FIFA Men's and Women's Player awards?

The obvious choice for The Best FIFA Men's Player award is Robert Lewandowski, having led Bayern Munich to an unforgettable treble. He was also the favorite to win the Ballon d'Or but the cancellation of the 2020 edition of France Football's coveted prize meant he missed out. Cristiano has enjoyed an incredible calendar year on an individual level but only got his hands on the Serie A crown and nothing else. Messi, meanwhile, has endured a rough 2020 and failed to get his hands on any piece of silverware this year.

As for the women's award, both Lucy Bronze and Wendie Renard have strong claims after winning the treble with Lyon, with the latter captaining the team to this feat. Pernille Harder, on the other hand, finished the recent Bundesliga season as the top scorer, and as a result, helped her club Wolfsburg win the league crown. The Danish sensation was subsequently named the Women's Footballer of the Year in Germany, becoming the very-first foreign player to receive this accolade.

How will the winners be chosen?

The recipients of these awards will be chosen by "an international jury consisting of national team captains, national coaches, members of the media and football fans".