PARIS — Lionel Messi and Aitana Bonmati were named as finalists for the FIFA best players of the year awards by world football’s governing body.
Messi was awarded a record-extending eighth Ballon d’Or crown in October in Paris, while Bonmati took the women’s prize after starring for Spain in their Women’s World Cup triumph.
Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe are the other nominees for the Fifa men’s best player award, with Bonmati’s Spain teammate Jenni Hermoso and Colombian teenage sensation Linda Caicedo also named on the women’s shortlist.
The awards ceremony will take place in London on January 15, AFP reported.
The men’s finalists were named based on performances from December 19, 2022 until August 20 this year, with the women’s decided by achievements between August 1, 2022 and August 20, 2023, the day of the World Cup final.
Messi won his second FIFA best player trophy last year after helping Argentina win the World Cup.
Haaland, who finished second to Messi in the Ballon d’Or voting, scored 52 goals in his first season at Manchester City last term to help the English club to a treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League titles.
France striker Mbappe scored 41 goals in all competitions to help Paris Saint-Germain win Ligue 1.
Bonmati and Hermoso both scored three goals in the tournament as Spain lifted the Women’s World Cup for the first time, while Bonmati also won the Women’s Champions League with Barcelona last season.
Hermoso was forcibly kissed by then-Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales following Spain’s 1-0 final win over England, sparking a huge controversy and his eventual resignation.
Caicedo, 18, starred in Colombia’s run to the World Cup quarter-finals and has since signed for Real Madrid.
Elsewhere, Tickets to see Messi in a Hong Kong friendly were snapped up in under an hour on Friday after nearly two million people queued online, organisers said.
The Argentine great and his Inter Miami side will face a Hong Kong XI at the 40,000-capacity Hong Kong Stadium on February 4.
Football fans in the finance hub of 7.5 million logging in to the ticketing app on Friday morning faced a mammoth queue for tickets.
“We are absolutely thrilled with the response from the fans,” said Michel Lamuniere, chairman and CEO of Tatler Asia, which is helping to stage the game.
Some social media users posted screenshots of the app showing an error message which cited “traffic overload”.
Messi last played in Hong Kong in 2014, also for a friendly game.
Miami co-owner David Beckham, who played in Hong Kong in 2003 soon after joining Real Madrid, previously said the MLS club was looking forward to playing in a “beautiful city with a great sports scene”.
Miami’s line-up in Hong Kong will also include Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, according to organisers.
The Hong Kong XI will be made up of players from the Chinese territory’s top division.
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