Izuchukwu Okosi
On the occasion marking the one year countdown to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the duo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo headline the list of Illustrious football stars shortlisted by FIFA for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2021.
Pep Guardiola, Hansi Flick, Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini are in the hat for the Men’s Coach of the Year award.
The winners will be revealed at an online ceremony on 17 January 2022.
Two expert panels – one for women’s football and one for men’s football – selected the candidates for each category.
The nominees as published by FIFA are listed below in alphabetical order:
The Best FIFA Women’s Player: *
- Stina Blackstenius (Sweden / BK Häcken)
- Aitana Bonmatí (Spain / FC Barcelona)
- Lucy Bronze (England / Manchester City WFC)
- Magdalena Eriksson (Sweden / Chelsea FC Women)
- Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway / FC Barcelona)
- Pernille Harder (Denmark / Chelsea FC Women)
- Jennifer Hermoso (Spain / FC Barcelona)
- Ji Soyun (Korea Republic / Chelsea FC Women)
- Sam Kerr (Australia / Chelsea FC Women)
- Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands / Arsenal WFC)
- Alexia Putellas (Spain / FC Barcelona)
- Christine Sinclair (Canada / Portland Thorns FC)
- Ellen White (England / Manchester City WFC)
The Best FIFA Men’s Player:
- Karim Benzema (France / Real Madrid CF)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium / Manchester City FC)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal / Juventus FC / Manchester United FC)
- Erling Haaland (Norway / BV Borussia 09 Dortmund)
- Jorginho (Italy / Chelsea FC)
- N’Golo Kanté (France / Chelsea FC)
- Robert Lewandowski (Poland / FC Bayern München)
- Kylian Mbappé (France / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Lionel Messi (Argentina / FC Barcelona / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Neymar (Brazil / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt / Liverpool FC)
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach:
- Lluís Cortés (Spain / FC Barcelona)
- Peter Gerhardsson (Sweden / Swedish national team)
- Emma Hayes (England / Chelsea FC Women)
- Beverly Priestman (England / Canadian national team)
- Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands / Dutch national team / English national team)
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach: *
- Antonio Conte (Italy / FC Internazionale Milano / Tottenham Hotspur FC)
- Hansi Flick (Germany / FC Bayern München / German national team)
- Pep Guardiola (Spain / Manchester City FC)
- Roberto Mancini (Italy / Italian national team)
- Lionel Sebastián Scaloni (Argentina / Argentinian national team)
- Diego Simeone (Argentina / Atlético de Madrid)
- Thomas Tuchel (Germany / Chelsea FC)
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper:
- Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany / Chelsea FC Women)
- Christiane Endler (Chile / Paris Saint-Germain / Olympique Lyonnais)
- Stephanie Lynn Marie Labbé (Canada / FC Rosengård / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Hedvig Lindahl (Sweden / Atlético de Madrid Femenino)
- Alyssa Naeher (USA / Chicago Red Stars)
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper:
- Alisson Becker (Brazil / Liverpool FC)
- Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy / AC Milan / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Édouard Mendy (Senegal / Chelsea FC)
- Manuel Neuer (Germany / FC Bayern München)
- Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark / Leicester City FC)
- FIFA on its website gave the following information :
“These shortlists contain more candidates, in accordance with article 5 of the Rules of Allocation. Note: the shortlist with the nominees for the FIFA Puskás Award (awarded for the best goal) will be announced at a later stage.”
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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