Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar are the three finalists for the Ballon d’Or trophy, FIFA announced today.
Ronaldo has won the award, given each year to the world’s best player, for the past two seasons. Messi won it for four straight years before that.
Those awards, and a few others, will be given out at FIFA’s Ballon d’Or Gala in Zurich on Jan. 11. So, let’s go through the nominees and make a few predictions on who will win:
Men’s Ballon d’Or
Nominees: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar
Sorting out the field: Ronaldo (45), Lionel Messi (44) and Neymar (41) are the top three scorers in 2015 in Europe’s top leagues. Silverware is always a factor in winning this award, and with only a Spanish Super Cup on his resume, that hurts Ronaldo a bit.
Prediction: Messi will reclaim the trophy, edging out Ronaldo. That would mark the eighth straight year that either Ronaldo or Messi has won this award.
Women’s Ballon d’Or
Nominees: Carli Lloyd (USA), Aya Niyama (Japan) and Celia Sasic (Germany)
Sorting out the field: In World Cup years, the victors get the spoils. Lloyd was tied with Sasic for the Golden Boot (leading scorer) at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup with six goals. And you might recall Lloyd’s stunning hat trick in the final against Japan.
Prediction: Lloyd is a lead-pipe cinch for this award.
Puskas Award (Goal of the Year)
Nominees: Alessandro Florenzi (Roma vs. Barcelona), Messi (Barcelona vs. Atletico Bilbao) and Wendell Lira (Goianesia vs. Atletico-GO)
Sorting out the field: Let’s have a look:
Prediction: A small lean to Messi, simply because he’s Messi.
Men’s Coach of the Year
Nominees: Pep Guardiola (Bayern Munich), Luis Enrique (Barcelona) and Jorge Sampaoli (Chile)
Sorting out the field: Champions League success is a big deal for this award in a non-World Cup year, so Enrique would likely be favored here.
Prediction: Enrique takes home the hardware.
Women’s Coach of the Year
Nominees: Jill Ellis (USA), Mark Sampson (England) and Norio Sasaki (Japan)
Sorting out the field: The United States won the World Cup under Ellis. There really isn’t much else to say here.
Prediction: Ellis by a mile.
