FIFA’s ‘The Best’ Awards: Liverpool duo, Salah and Mane, shortlisted

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 03:30 pm

Two African players have been shortlisted for football world governing body, FIFA’s, “The Best FIFA Football Awards.”
The shortlist revealed on Wednesday (July 31) listed Liverpool duo of Mohamed Salah (Egypt) and Sadio Mane (Senegal) in a list of ten players. The list will be whittled down to three before a winner is announced in September.
Mane’s record for the year under review spanned his club and country commitments. He won 2018 UEFA Champions League and was joint top-scorer in Premier League.
Outside club football, he was instrumental in Senegal’s progress to the African Cup of Nations in Egypt even though the Teranga Lions eventually lost to Algeria in the finals.
Salah on the other hand had most of his achievements at the club level. Like Sadio he helped Liverpool win the UEFA Champions League, the sixth in the club’s history.
He became the club’s top goalscorer in all competitions in 2018 /2019 season and was joint top-scorer in Premier League along with Mane and Arsenal and Gabonese international Pierre Emerick Aubameyang.

Others who made the shortlist included:

• Kylian Mbappe = France / Paris St-Germain
• Virgil Van Dijk = Netherlands / Liverpool
• Eden Hazard = Belgium / Chelsea now Real Madrid
• Frenkie de Jong = Netherlands / Ajax
• Matthijs de Ligt = Netherlands / Ajax
• Harry Kane = England / Tottenham
• Cristiano Ronaldo = Portugal / Juventus
• Lionel Messi = Argentina / Barcelona

The Voting Process
The ten-man shortlist for The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2019 award – based on their respective achievements during the period from 16 July 2018 to 19 July 2019 inclusive – has been compiled by a panel of experts in men’s football.
Fans now have a say and can vote for their personal top three (First choice: 5 points, second choice: 3 points and third choice: 1 point).
The fan vote will be equally weighted alongside the votes of other key members of the footballing community – namely journalists, national team coaches and captains.
The three finalists for each award will be revealed at a later date, with all award winners revealed at The Best FIFA Football Awards show in Milan on 23 September.