Egypt international Mohamed Salah is on the men’s final three shortlist for the 2021 The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award alongside Paris St-Germain’s Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski.
The winners will be announced at the Best Fifa Football Awards in Zurich on 17 January.
The awards are voted for by international managers, captains of international teams, journalists and fans.
The final three in the running to be #TheBest FIFA Men's Player 2021!
Who should be crowned #TheBest in the world?
@lewy_official | @pzpn_pl
Lionel Messi | @Argentina
@MoSalah | @EFA pic.twitter.com/1kVGi5nRZ9
Messi will be hoping to add to his seventh Ballon d’Or, which he won in November, while Lewandowski, who won the award last year, will be looking to retain it.
The PSG forward helped Argentina win the Copa America, their first major trophy since 1993, and Lewandowski won the European Golden Shoe, with his 41 goals setting a new Bundesliga record. Salah enjoyed an exceptional 2021 and is the leading goal scorer in the Premier League with 16.
FIFA’s The Best award was first handed out in its present guise to Cristiano Ronaldo in 2016. Previously, the FIFA World Player of the Year award ran parallel to France Football’s Ballon d’Or from 1991 to 2009.
However, from 2010 to 2015, the two awards merged to become the FIFA Ballon d’Or.
Ronaldo is the only player to win the award twice, when he retained it in 2017, though both Messi and Lewandowski could equal his tally.