In a short speech at the start of the program, Gianni Infantino, the president of the World Football Federation, in addition to welcoming the guests and followers of the “The Best” program, said: “Welcome to Paris. Tonight we are going to celebrate football. Welcome to the millions of people around the world watching this wonderful night, the fans who are the heart and soul of football. The World Cup was held last year and once again I thank Qatar for its wonderful hosting. This year is also the year of the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.”
He continued: “Football is joy and happiness, but last year we were sad because of the loss of our loved ones. Last year we lost good friends, including Sinisha Mihajlovic, Luca Vialli, but the loss of someone like Pele was the highlight. “Pele was football and he will always remain in our minds and hearts.”
In the continuation of the ceremony, after Ronaldo appeared on stage and spoke in praise of Pele, a special FIFA award was given to Pele’s wife, who was present at the ceremony. This award was presented by the ex-Seleção striker to Pele’s wife.
Alexia Potias was also the best female player of the year in this section.
The candidates who competed with him included well-known figures including Beth Meade (England/Arsenal), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Alexia Potias (Spain/Barcelona), but in the end, Alexia Potias went home with the award of this section.
Lionel Messi, the Argentine superstar, was chosen as the best FIFA player of the year again this year.
The candidates for this competition were Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (France/Paris Saint-Germain) and Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain).
In the other part of this ceremony, Sarina Wigman was chosen as the best women’s football coach.
Other candidates were Sonia Bompastor (France/Olympic Lyon), Pia Marian Sundhage (Sweden/Brazilian national team) and Sarina Wigman (Netherlands/England national team).
And the candidates for the best head coach in the men’s section were Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid), Pep Guardiola (Spain/Manchester City) and Lionel Scaloni (Argentina/Argentina National Team), and Lionel Scaloni won the award as the best coach of the year.
In other parts of the ceremony, Mary Earps was chosen as the best female goalkeeper of the year and Emiliano Martinez as the best male goalkeeper of the year.
The Puskas Award for scoring the most beautiful goal of the year went to Marcin Oleski from Poland, who was presented with this award by Alessandro Del Piero.
Kermonze’s defender Louka Lukoshvili received the FIFA fair play award from Ali Daei, the legend of Iranian football.
