Canadians Sinclair, Labbe and women's coach Priestman up for FIFA awards
Award winners to be announced Jan. 17 at online ceremony
Canada captain Christine Sinclair, goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe and coach Bev Priestman are up for The Best FIFA Football Awards.
Sinclair, who led the Canadian women to Olympic gold in Tokyo, is one of 13 finalists for The Best FIFA Women's Player while Labbe is one of five nominees for The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper. Priestman, in her first full year at the helm of the Canadian team, is one of five finalists for The Best FIFA Women's Coach.
"These acknowledgments don't happen without an unbelievable team behind us," Priestman said via social media.
"These nominations truly represent an entire team effort," Sinclair echoed in a Twitter post.
Thanks coach! These nominations truly represent an entire team effort 🇨🇦🥇🇨🇦 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/thebest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#thebest</a> <a href="https://t.co/1nHayCLfQ6">https://t.co/1nHayCLfQ6</a>
—@sincy12The shortlists were selected by separate men's and women's soccer panels. The men's panel included former Toronto FC coach Ryan Nelsen and goalkeeper Julio Cesar, among others.
Winners will be announced at an online ceremony Jan. 17. They will be decided by an international jury comprising national team coaches and captains around the globe, one specialist journalist from each territory represented by a national team, and fans via an online poll on FIFA.com.
Sinclair, who also captains the NWSL Portland Thorns, is also up for the Ballon d'Or, presented by France Football to the world's top soccer player, along with fellow Canadians Ashley Lawrence (Paris Saint-Germain) and Jessie Fleming (Chelsea).
FIFA calls Sinclair the "most successful Canadian player of all time," saying she reinforced "her legendary status" by leading Canada to Olympic gold in August.
Priestman "masterminded" Canada's Olympic run while Labbe made "crucial penalty saves" in shootout wins over Brazil in the quarter-finals and Sweden in the gold medal game, FIFA noted.
FIFA awards — list of nominees
Best FIFA women's player
- Stina Blackstenius (Sweden / BK Häcken)
- Aitana Bonmatí (Spain / FC Barcelona)
- Lucy Bronze (England / Manchester City WFC)
- Magdalena Eriksson (Sweden / Chelsea FC Women)
- Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway / FC Barcelona)
- Pernille Harder (Denmark / Chelsea FC Women)
- Jennifer Hermoso (Spain / FC Barcelona)
- Ji Soyun (Korea Republic / Chelsea FC Women)
- Sam Kerr (Australia / Chelsea FC Women)
- Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands / Arsenal WFC)
- Alexia Putellas (Spain / FC Barcelona)
- Christine Sinclair (Canada / Portland Thorns FC)
- Ellen White (England / Manchester City WFC)
Best FIFA men's player
- Karim Benzema (France / Real Madrid CF)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium / Manchester City FC)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal / Juventus FC / Manchester United FC)
- Erling Haaland (Norway / BV Borussia 09 Dortmund)
- Jorginho (Italy / Chelsea FC)
- N'Golo Kanté (France / Chelsea FC)
- Robert Lewandowski (Poland / FC Bayern München)
- Kylian Mbappé (France / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Lionel Messi (Argentina / FC Barcelona / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Neymar (Brazil / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt / Liverpool FC)
Best FIFA women's coach
- Lluís Cortés (Spain / FC Barcelona)
- Peter Gerhardsson (Sweden / Swedish national team)
- Emma Hayes (England / Chelsea FC Women)
- Beverly Priestman (England / Canadian national team)
- Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands / Dutch national team / English national team)
Best FIFA men's coach
- Antonio Conte (Italy / FC Internazionale Milano / Tottenham Hotspur FC)
- Hansi Flick (Germany / FC Bayern München / German national team)
- Pep Guardiola (Spain / Manchester City FC)
- Roberto Mancini (Italy / Italian national team)
- Lionel Sebastián Scaloni (Argentina / Argentinian national team)
- Diego Simeone (Argentina / Atlético de Madrid)
- Thomas Tuchel (Germany / Chelsea FC)
Best FIFA women's goalkeeper
- Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany / Chelsea FC Women)
- Christiane Endler (Chile / Paris Saint-Germain / Olympique Lyonnais)
- Stephanie Lynn Marie Labbé (Canada / FC Rosengård / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Hedvig Lindahl (Sweden / Atlético de Madrid Femenino)
- Alyssa Naeher (USA / Chicago Red Stars)
Best FIFA men's goalkeeper
- Alisson Becker (Brazil / Liverpool FC)
- Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy / AC Milan / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Édouard Mendy (Senegal / Chelsea FC)
- Manuel Neuer (Germany / FC Bayern München)
- Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark / Leicester City FC)
