The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 took place on 23 September 2019 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi won the Best Player Award in men’s category as he left behind Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk who failed to win the top prize.

Best FIFA Football Awards,

It is also the sixth title for Messi at these awards as he previously won this award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.

Messi performed brilliantly this year for which he was duly rewarded at this ceremony. His nearest competitor for this award was van Dijk and it was also surprising to some fans as well that Messi was chosen over him. The Argentinian helped Barcelona win La Liga and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Lionel Messi | Credits: Twitter

One of the biggest competitors for Lionel Messi has always been Cristiano Ronaldo but this time it was not the case. One of the biggest reasons behind it can be his transfer to Juventus from Real Madrid. He was also not even present at the award ceremony and his absence became one of the talking points of this event as well.

Here is the complete list of all the award winners of The Best FIFA Football Award:

The Best FIFA Men’s Player: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

The Best FIFA Women’s Player: Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC)

The Best FIFA Men’s Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)

The Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Jill Ellis (USWNT)

The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)

The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper: Sari van Veenendaal (Arsenal / Atlético Madrid)

FIFA Puskas Award: Daniel Zsori (Debrecen FC vs Ferencvaros TC)

Apart from awarding the best performers, there was also a team formed of 11 players that consisted of the performers. Here is the Fifa Fifpro Men’s Team of the Year:

Goalkeeper- Alisson (Liverpool/Brazil)

Defenders- Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax and Juventus/Netherlands), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid/Spain), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool/Netherlands), Marcelo (Real Madrid/Brazil).

Midfielders- Luka Modric (Real Madrid/Croatia), Frenkie de Jong (Ajax and Barcelona/Netherlands), Eden Hazard (Chelsea and Real Madrid/Belgium)

Forwards- Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain/France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus/Portugal), Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina)

The Ballon d’Or is believed to be the greatest individual award in football which is entitled to the greatest player every year and it remains as a dream for many great players but sometimes they are unable to win the silverware. From the past few years, it was just the duopoly of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi who were constantly winning this until last year where Croatian skipper Luka Modric broke it to claim the title.

Just like every year, it remains really difficult to select the ultimate winner of this award as there are numerous wonderful performances witnessed so far. There are names who can easily beat the three players mentioned above to take the title home as apart from Messi, the other two names are missing from the list of top three contenders at this point of time.

Let’s look at all the three players who are there in this list of contenders with the maximum chances of this prestigious award.

#3 Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona FC)

Lionel Messi (Image Courtesy: Standard Media)

As expected, the number one player to feature in this list has to be Argentinian striker Lionel Messi but his name at the third spot shows that there have been performances in this year which are even better than his.

Messi ended his La Liga campaign with a total of 36 goals which helped him win his third consecutive ‘Golden Shoe’ title for which he won the Pichichi Award. These statistics also helped his team win their eighth overall title in this League. This puts him ahead of many other footballers in the list of contenders who can win the Ballon d’Or.

#2 Kylian Mbappe (France, Paris Saint-Germain)

Kylian Mbappe (Image Courtesy: Getty Images)

This year has been one of the best years in the career of the French forward as he scored 33 goals in the La Liga which was just Lionel Messi. Apart from this, Mbappe has scored a total of 39 goals and 17 assists which puts him way ahead amongst the other footballers.

Apart from the number of goals, the 20-year old also helped his team in winning the Ligue 1 title and that too in the absence of one of their biggest players Neymar. The only thing that could not take place for Mbappe was winning the French League title as his team lost in the ultimate match. But this does not makes us shy away from the fact that he has played wonderful football and has a great chance of winning the award.

#1 Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands, Liverpool)

Virgil van Dijk (Image Courtesy: PA Wire)

The player who has the maximum number of chances of winning the Ballon d’Or has to be no one but Virgil van Dijk from the Liverpool FC. The Dutch player is currently one of the most utility defenders in the world during the current scenario.

This can easily be witnessed as Liverpool has conceded only 22 goals in the current Premier League season and have also qualified for the finals. If his side manages to pull off the ultimate game, his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or will almost get assured.

Ace Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi has been handed over a ban of three months by the chiefs of the South American Soccer Organisation CONMEBOL during the ongoing Copa America League. Apart from the ban, Messi has also been penalized for a fine $50,000.

This ban is imposed on him because he is accused of corruption charges during the Copa America 2019 only. This came after his comments post the match against Chile in which Argentina emerged as the winners by 2-1 in the month of July during the third place match of the League.

Till now, no official statement or any sort of comments have come up neither from the Argentina Football Team nor Messi himself. But both the parties still have a chance of raising their voices against this decision as a window is still open for this.

This ban will stop the striker from playing four friendlies in the upcoming time which include two encounters in September and the other two in October. Argentina is lined up to play against Chile and Mexico which will be followed by Germany and one another clash in the following month.

If the ban does not get lifted, it will be a huge loss for Argentina as Messi is not only just their captain but also one of their best players as well and his presence in the side play a very crucial role.

All this got started after Messi spoke against the officials and went a step further to say that the officials are biased towards Brasil. He got booked for this statement and it would be interesting to see how this matter is further taken by him and his national team.

The La Liga is definitely one of the best football leagues all around the world at the moment where the quality of the game that is being offered is absolutely phenomenal. Over the years as well, this league has been able to produce some great performances from both players as well as teams.

This league has witnessed some of the all-time great players participating in it. This thing is still carried by players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo taking part with their respective clubs which makes it one of the most watched sporting leagues all over the world.

Here are five possible greatest players to play in this league who are selected on the basis of their La Liga numbers only and the kind of impact that they had on their clubs while playing.

La Liga Top 5 Greatest Players

#5 Andres Iniesta

One of the smartest footballers in the history of the game is Spanish midfielder Andres Iniesta and features in this list at number five. Iniesta has so far won eight La Liga titles and 29 overall trophies.

He is one of the best Spanish players as well as he creates a great contact with his teammates while on the field which plays a crucial role in setting up the stage for the striker to score the goal.

#4 Xavi Hernandez

Another player from Barcelona features in this list and it’s their another all-time great midfielder Xavi Hernandez. He is also one of the greatest midfielders in the history of La Liga and hence, appears in this list at four.

So far, Xavi has won eight La Liga titles and besides that, he has almost all possible club titles to his name that a football team can achieve. Also, it’s quite astonishing to believe that Xavi made around 180 successful assistances with Barcelona FC.

#3 Cristiano Ronaldo

It’s quite hard to believe that Ronaldo won just a single La Liga title in his entire career so far. This doesn’t do justice at all to the second highest goal scorer in the history of La Liga.

The Portuguese star made 252 appearances for La Liga in which he managed to net the ball for 274 times which makes him the only player to have a goal scoring ratio of more than 1 amongst the players with a minimum of 100 goals.

#2 Lionel Messi

The Barcelona players continue to rule this list as this time it’s one of the greatest players football has ever produced, Lionel Messi. With already 28 trophies in his cabinet, Messi is undoubtedly one of the best players of this generation.

The Argentinian is also the highest goal scorers of La Liga and has also won the award for Best Player for a staggering six times. He also has eight La Liga titles alongside Iniesta and Xavi.

#1 Francisco Gento

Francisco Gento is one of the fastest players in the history of football and it was almost a treat to watch him play on the field with the ball. He kept everyone awestruck on the field and is truly a legend of the game.

Gento has a staggering 12 titles to his name and not just that, he also captained Real Madrid to nine La Liga titles which definitely makes him the greatest La Liga players of all-time.

Football matches never fail to pull spectators as there are always some star attraction involved to it and the kind of fan following attached to this sport is quite massive. It is undoubted to say that football is definitely one of the most followed sports all around the world with its viewership breaking all kinds of records every year.

Watching a football match or any other sporting event live in the stadium is a different ball game altogether which cannot be achieved by watching it on TV sets. Here we will talk about the 10 best football stadiums where the experience of watching a game is better than watching it at any other stadium.

#10 First National Bank Stadium: Johannesburg, South Africa

Opened in 1989, First National Bank Stadium is one of the largest stadiums in Africa and has also hosted the final match of 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Host Teams- Kaizer Chiefs, South African National Football Team

Inaugural: 1989

Capacity: 94,736

#9 Estadio Azteca: Mexico City

This is one of the largest stadiums in the world and is famous for hosting the FIFA World Cup finals in the years 1970 and 1986. Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal also came at this ground only.

Host Teams- Club America FC, Mexican National Football Team

Inaugural- 1966

Capacity- 105,064

#8 Stadio Giuseppe Meazza: Milan, Italy

This stadium is also known as the San Siro and is famous for hosting notable fixtures like 1965 and 1970 European Cup finals and 2002 Champions League final.

Host Teams- AC Milan, Internazionale

Inaugural- 1926

Capacity- 80,018

#7 Signal Iduna Park: Dortmund, Germany

Home to Borussia Dortmund, Signal Iduna Park is quite a massive stadium and was also to host the matches during the group stage of 1974 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup matches.

Host Teams- Borussia Dortmund

Inaugural- 1974

Capacity- 80,645

#6 Allianz Arena: Munich

This is one of the most beautiful stadiums all over the world but the capacity is a bit less as compared to a lot of other stadiums. This ground hosted the final match of 2012 Champions League.

Host Teams- Bayern Munich, 1860 Munich

Inaugural- 2005

Capacity- 71,437

#5 The Maracana: Rio de Janeiro

This stadium hosted one of the most classical matches ever played in the history of football that was played between Brazil and Uruguay during 1950 FIFA World Cup and a record attendance of 1,99,854 was present at the stadium at that time.

Host Teams– Brazilian National Football Team

Inaugural- 1950

Capacity- 78,838

#4 Old Trafford: Manchester, England

This iconic stadium is also popularly known as ‘The Theatre of Dreams’ which is a home ground to The Red Devils and is located in the heart of Manchester City.

Host Teams- Manchester United

Inaugural- 1910

Capacity- 75,631

#3 Santiago Bernabeu: Madrid

It is home to one of the most successful clubs of Europe, Real Madrid which has some great players Ferenc Puskas, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo. This also hosted massive games like 1957, 1969 and 1980 European Cup finals, 2010 Champions League final and 1982 World Cup final.

Host Teams- Real Madrid, Spanish National Football Team

Inaugural- 1947

Capacity- 85,454

#2 Camp Nou: Barcelona, Spain

Camp Nou is definitely one of the most iconic stadiums in the history of football and there is a long, detailed history attached to it. This stadium also hosted the 1989 European Cup final and 1999 Champions League final.

Host Teams- FC Barcelona

Inaugural- 1957

Capacity- 98,757

#1 Wembley Stadium: London

The number one stadium to appear in this list is the Wembley Stadium in London which is without any doubt deserves to be at this spot. This iconic stadium is also popular for hosting the 2011 and 2013 Champions League finals and 2012 Olympic football final.

Host Teams- England National Football Team

Inaugural- 2007

Capacity- 90,000