Another year, another Best FIFA Men's Player award for Robert Lewandowski.
The Bayern Munich and Poland forward claimed his second consecutive award as the best men's player in the world according to FIFA, a little under two months after finishing second in voting for the Ballon d'Or. On Monday, Lewandowski topped Messi and fellow finalist Mohamed Salah to earn the trophy, which comes following a calendar year in which he scored a stunning 69 goals across all competitions.
Meanwhile, Barcelona and Spain star Alexia Putellas claimed the women's award, becoming the first Spaniard to do so. Putellas had a banner 2021, most notably leading Barcelona to its first UEFA Women's Champions League title. With Putellas pulling the strings, the Catalans were dominant throughout the tournament and scored three or more goals in six of their nine matches.
Other winners on Monday included Chelsea's Thomas Tuchel and Emma Hayes as men's and women's coach of the year, respectively, and Cristiano Ronaldo and Christine Sinclair, who each received a special award as the all-time men's and women's international scoring leaders.
Full list of The Best FIFA Football Awards 2021 winners
- Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich and Poland (Best FIFA Men's Player)
- Eduoard Mendy, Chelsea and Senegal (Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper)
- Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea (Best FIFA Men's Coach)
- Alexia Putellas, Barcelona and Spain (Best FIFA Women's Player)
- Christiane Endler, PSG and Chile (Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper)
- Emma Hayes, Chelsea (Best FIFA Women's Coach)
- Erik Lamela, Tottenham (FIFA Puskás Award)
- Denmark and Finland fans (FIFA Fan Award)
- Denmark men's team and medical staff (FIFA Fair Play Award)