Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has been shortlisted for the 2019 FIFA Men’s The Best award. Van Dijk who won the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award a few days ago made the final three candidates for the most coveted award in world football.
Not many surprises in the names that pop next to Van Dijk – Lionel Messi of Argentina along with his all-time nemesis, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal complete the final draft. The trio was also nominated for the UEFA award.
Two members of the United States World Cup-winning squad have been shortlisted for the FIFA Women’s The Best award – Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe with England’s Lucy Bronze also in contention.
Liverpool’s goalkeeper, Alisson Becker, Manchester City’s Ederson Santana de Moraes and Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen have been nominated for the Men’s Best Goalkeeper award. The Swedish Hedvig Lindahl, Chile’s Christiane Endler, and Netherlands’ Sari van Veenendaal are in contention for the Women’s Best Goalkeeper award.
The FIFA Best award has been around since 2016 and is a renovation of FIFA World Player of the Year honour, which had merged with the Ballon d’Or from 2010 to 2015.
Van Dijk helped Liverpool to the UEFA champions league trophy in the 2018/2019 season and came within touching distance of the English Premier League (EPL) title.