Vinicius Junior Named Best Male Footballer at the Best FIFA Football Awards

Vinicius Junior Playing for Real Madrid

Image: canno73, Bigstockphoto.

On Tuesday, Brazil and Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior was named the best male footballer in the world at the annual The Best FIFA Football Awards (is it just us or do they need to work on that name?). He gained some degree of redemption after what was perceived as something of a snub at the Ballon d’Or earlier in the year when Spaniard Rodri got the top prize, with Vinicius finishing second.

This time around the roles were reversed, with the Real Madrid attacker garnering 48 points across the slightly convoluted system. That saw him finish reasonably well clear of the Ballon d’Or winner, who collected 43 points through the combined score of the coaches, captains, media and fans. Jude Bellingham had to settle for the bronze medal with 37 points, replicating his finish in the 2024 Ballon d’Or.

Dani Carvajal finished fourth in both awards but beyond the top four there were marked differences in the top 10. Nonetheless, all that Vini and his many fans will care about is that he won and gained the recognition and glory they – and he – thought he deserved. It was the first time the 24-year-old had been nominated but it seems highly unlikely it will be the last and on balance he was a worthy victor.

What is The Best FIFA?

Over the years there have been various prizes and awards, going by different names, to recognise the best stars of world football. The Ballon d’Or, for a long time known as the European Footballer of the Year, dates back to the 1950s and is the oldest of these. However, it was created and is still presented by French football magazine, France Football.

FIFA began their own award in 1991, the FIFA World Player of the Year, won in that inaugural year by German midfielder Lothar Matthaus. For a brief period in the 21st century, the two merged, creating the FIFA Ballon d’Or; however, since 2015 they parted once again. FIFA created a new scheme of awards with a range of honours and called this, for reasons we can’t understand “The Best FIFA Football Awards”.

In January 2017 Cristiano Ronaldo won the main men’s award for 2016 ahead of Lionel Messi. Messi now boasts three wins, with Ronaldo having two, along with Robert Lewandowski. Luka Modric won in 2018 and Vinicius is the only other player to have landed this relatively new prize.

As of the latest awards, the prizes are given based on performances between specified dates in August to August. In the case of Vini’s win, this was from the 21st of August 2023 to the 10th of August the following year. Those voting should consider footballing performance and achievements, as well as conduct both on and off the field of play.

The vote is split equally four ways, with a select group of media representatives, plus fans, national-team coaches and national captains all having 25% of the vote. Since 209 a points system has been used, with those balloted selecting a top three, who gained five points (for first), then three, then one.

What did Vinicius do to Win?

Vinicius may have been denied the Ballon d’Or, leading to a rather childish “boycott” of the awards from him and his team but he beat Rodri to the top FIFA prize. Interestingly the coaches’ vote favoured the Spaniard, with captains and fans being more firmly in Vini Jr’s camp as we can see below in a breakdown of the unadjusted points the top three scored in each category.

Player Coaches Captains Media Fans
Vinicius Jr 438 617 538 1,147,276
Rodri 461 373 543 264,835
Jude Bellingham 191 164 183 460,887

Clearly all players who made the top 11 nominations had a fabulous year. However, Vinicius was the star amongst stars who shone brightest at the biggest club of them all. He was a key part of the Real side that won the Champions League and La Liga double, registering 24 goals and 11 assists from 39 games in all competitions.

His form on the biggest stage of all was especially strong as he had 11 goal involvements in 10 games in the UCL. With six of those, including a goal in the final and two in the semis, coming in the knockout phase, he really drove his side on when it mattered most. For the second year in a row he was named in the CL and La Liga Teams of the Season and as well as the incredible stats, he also excites and delights fans, something perhaps reflected in his huge share of the fan vote.

Who Else Won Awards?

There were a whole host of other awards handed out on the night, with the FIFA jamboree covering coaches, goalkeepers and great goals. It recognises both men’s and women’s football and also has a World 11 amongst other prizes. The full list of winners is below:

  • Men’s Player – Vinicius Jr
  • Women’s Player – Aitana Bonmati
  • Men’s Goalkeeper – Emi Martinez
  • Women’s Goalkeeper – Alyssa Naeher
  • Men’s Coach – Carlo Ancelotti
  • Women’s Coach – Emma Hayes
  • Puskas Award (best men’s goal) – Alejandro Garnacho, Man United v Everton, 23rd November 2023
  • Marta Award (best women’s goal) – Marta, Brazil v Jamaica, 1st June 2024
  • Fan Award – Guilherme Gandra Moura
  • Fair Play Award – Thiago Maia

Men’s and Women’s Team

The Best also create “dream teams”, akin to the FIFPRO World 11 awards, with fans voting from a group of 77 initial nominees (for the men). Any registered FIFA.com website user was allowed to vote and the masses came up with the following rather tidy XI.

Player Position Club Country
Emi Martinez Goalkeeper Aston Villa Argentina
Dani Carvajal Defender Real Madrid Spain
Antonio Rudiger Defender Real Madrid Germany
Ruben Dias Defender Manchester City Portugal
William Saliba Defender Arsenal France
Jude Bellingham Midfielder Real Madrid England
Rodri Midfielder Manchester City Spain
Toni Kroos Midfielder Real Madrid Germany
Lamine Yamal Forward Barcelona Spain
Erling Haaland Forward Manchester City Norway
Vinicius Jr Forward Real Madrid Brazil

The women’s team was as follows:

Player Position Club Country
Alyssa Naeher Goalkeeper Chicago Red Stars USA
Lucy Bronze Defender Chelsea/Barca England
Naomi Girma Defender San Diego Wave USA
Irene Paredes Defender Barcelona Spain
Ona Batlle Defender Barcelona Spain
Gabi Porthilo Midfielder Corinthians Brazil
Patri Guijarro Midfielder Barcelona Spain
Lindsay Horan Midfielder Lyon USA
Aitana Bonmati Midfielder Barcelona Spain
Caroline Graham Hansen Forward Barcelona Norway
Salma Paralluelo Forward Barcelona Spain