Lionel Messi saw off competition from Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil Van Dijk to win his record sixth FIFA Men's Player of the year award, while USWNT star and the Golden Boot winner at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, Megan Rapinoe, bagged the FIFA Women's Player award of the year at The Best awards held in Milan on Tuesday.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who led the Reds to Champions League glory this year, beat Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino to win the FIFA Men's Coach award. Eighteen-year-old Daniel Zsori won the Puskas award for his stunning overhead goal he scored in February.
- First for Messi since 2016 -
It is the first time Messi has won FIFA's flagship individual award since it split from the Ballon d'Or and rebranded in 2016. The Barcelona and Argentina superstar came second behind Ronaldo in 2016 and 2017, before missing out on the top three altogether last time around.
A five-time winner of the Ballon d'Or, Messi now has six FIFA awards to his name overall and was honoured for guiding Barcelona to the LaLiga title in 2018-19 – scoring 36 times in 34 outings.
He suffered semifinal heartache in the Champions League at the hands of Liverpool, who went on to win the European title. That success contributed towards Van Dijk being named UEFA's Men's Player of the Year last month, but Messi prevailed on this occasion and all eyes will now be on where the Ballon d'Or lands.
- Rapinoe named best women's player -
Rapinoe received the individual honour after playing a starring role in the United States’ triumph at the 2019 Women’s World Cup. The 34-year-old scooped the Golden Boot after scoring six goals, while she was also lifted the Golden Ball after being judged the best player at the tournament.
Alex Morgan also finished with the same number of goals in France, though missed out on the scoring crown by virtue of playing more minutes than her compatriot.
The 30-year-old striker – who has surpassed a century of goals in her illustrious international career – was the only one of the trio to previously be nominated, finishing third in 2012.
Meanwhile, the coach's award went to Jill Ellis, who made history at the Women’s World Cup. The USA boss became the first coach to win the tournament for a second time, having also led the USWNT to glory in the 2015 edition in Canada.
- Klopp beats Guardiola and Pochettino to The Best FIFA Men's Coach award -
Klopp's phenomenal season with the Reds saw him pick up the Best FIFA Men's Coach award. Liverpool narrowly missed out on a first domestic league title since 1990, finishing just a point behind Manchester City in the Premier League, after amassing the second-highest points total in the competition's history.
Klopp claimed the prize ahead of Pochettino, who took Spurs to a first ever Champions League final, and Guardiola, who won an unprecedented English domestic treble with City. Didier Deschamps won the award last year after France triumphed at the World Cup in Russia.
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