FIFA Puskás Award

The FIFA Puskás Award [ˈpuʃkaːʃ] is an award established on 20 October 2009 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), at the behest of then-president Sepp Blatter, to be awarded to the player judged to have scored the most aesthetically significant, or "most beautiful", goal of the calendar year. The Puskás Award is announced yearly and is considered by voting. From 2024, only male players are eligible to win, with the FIFA Marta Award established for female players instead.^[1]

FIFA Puskás Award

The award is in honour of Ferenc Puskás, the striker of Real Madrid during the late 1950s to the late 1960s, and central member of the highly successful Hungarian side of the same era. Puskás is widely considered by many to be the most powerful and prolific forward Europe produced in first-division football and was honoured by IFFHS in 1997 as the best top-tier goalscorer of the 20th century. Puskás scored 806 goals in 793 games and his 86 national team goals in 90 outings was a world record at the time.^[2][3]

"It is important to preserve the memory of those footballing greats who have left their mark on our history. Ferenc Puskás was not only a player with immense talent who won many honours, but also a remarkable man. FIFA is therefore delighted to pay tribute to him by dedicating this award to his memory," said Blatter at the inauguration of the award in Budapest. ^{[citation needed]}

Until 2018, the winner was decided completely based on votes from fans on FIFA's official website.^[4] However, after a controversy in the 2018 award,^[5] FIFA changed the procedure. Now, the award is decided by pundits selected by FIFA, who will choose the winner based on the top three goals voted for by the public.

The first award was presented from July 2008 to July 2009. The annual award was presented for the first time during the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year Gala on 21 December in Switzerland, with Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo as the first prize winner.

Lionel Messi holds the record for the most nominations for the FIFA Puskás Award. He has been nominated a total of 7 times^[6] (in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019), though surprisingly, he has never won the award. He came the closest to winning the award in 2011, 2015, and 2019 with second place rankings.

The award has seen a wide variety of winners, from lesser-known players to global superstars, highlighting the best goals across all levels of competition.

Award criteria

• It should be an "absolutely beautiful goal" (subjective, but decided by voting and judgement from experts  — the spread of goals should include long-range shots, team goals, rabona, overhead kicks, individual plays, scorpion kicks, etc.).^{[citation needed]}
• It should be awarded "without distinction of championship, gender or nationality".^[7]
• It should not be the result of luck, mistakes, or deflection by another player or the player in an offside position. ^{[citation needed]}
• It should support fair play, i.e. the player should not have behaved badly in the game or have been charged with doping, for example. ^{[citation needed]}
• The player cannot be nominated with two different goals.^{[citation needed]}

Winners and nominees

Scores and results list the player's club goal tally first.

2009

Cristiano Ronaldo was the first recipient of the award for his long-range goal against Porto from 40 yards out. Former Dutch international Ruud Gullit called it a "strike", while former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said, "I would have to go a long way back in the memory bank to find another one like that!"^[8]

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Vote percentage[9]
1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	Porto	1–0	2008–09 UEFA Champions League	17.68%
2nd	Andrés Iniesta	Barcelona	Chelsea	1–1	2008–09 UEFA Champions League	15.64%
3rd	Grafite	VfL Wolfsburg	Bayern Munich	5–1	2008–09 Bundesliga	13.39%
4th	Eliran Atar	Bnei Yehuda	Maccabi Netanya	1–1	2008–09 Israeli Premier League	13.36%
5th	Fernando Torres	Liverpool	Blackburn Rovers	4–0	2008–09 Premier League	9.44%
6th	Nilmar	Internacional	Corinthians	1–0	2009 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A	8.71%
7th	Michael Essien	Chelsea	Barcelona	1–0	2008–09 UEFA Champions League	7.89%
8th	Luis Ángel Landín	Cruz Azul	Morelia	1–1	Liga MX Clausura 2009	7.30%
9th	Emmanuel Adebayor	Arsenal	Villarreal	1–1	2008–09 UEFA Champions League	4.04%
10th	Katlego Mphela	South Africa	Spain	2–2	2009 FIFA Confederations Cup	2.59%

2010

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Vote percentage [citation needed]
1st	Hamit Altıntop	Turkey	Kazakhstan	2–0	UEFA Euro 2012 qualification	40.55%
2nd	Linus Hallenius	Hammarby IF	Syrianska FC	2–0	2010 Superettan	13.23%
3rd	Giovanni van Bronckhorst	Netherlands	Uruguay	1–0	2010 FIFA World Cup	10.61%
Unranked	Matty Burrows	Glentoran	Portadown	1–0	2010–11 IFA Premiership	N/A
	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	Valencia	3–0	2009–10 La Liga
	Samir Nasri	Arsenal	Porto	3–0	2009–10 UEFA Champions League
	Neymar	Santos	Santo André	2–1	2010 Campeonato Paulista
	Arjen Robben	Bayern Munich	Schalke 04	1–0	2009–10 DFB-Pokal
	Siphiwe Tshabalala	South Africa	Mexico	1–0	2010 FIFA World Cup
	Kumi Yokoyama	Japan	North Korea	2–1	2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

2011

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition
1st	Neymar	Santos	Flamengo	4–5	2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	Arsenal	1–0	2010–11 UEFA Champions League
3rd	Wayne Rooney	Manchester United	Manchester City	2–1	2010–11 Premier League
Unranked	Benjamin De Ceulaer	Lokeren	Club Brugge	1–2	2011–12 Belgian Pro League
	Giovani dos Santos	Mexico	United States	4–2	2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup
	Julio Gómez	Mexico	Germany	3–2	2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup
	Zlatan Ibrahimović	Milan	Lecce	1–0	2010–11 Serie A
	Lisandro López	Arsenal de Sarandí	Olimpo	2–2	Argentine Primera División Apertura 2011
	Heather O'Reilly	United States	Colombia	1–0	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup
	Dejan Stanković	Inter Milan	Schalke 04	1–0	2010–11 UEFA Champions League

2012

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Vote percentage[10]
1st	Miroslav Stoch	Fenerbahçe	Gençlerbirliği	6–1	2011–12 Süper Lig	78%
2nd	Radamel Falcao	Atlético Madrid	América de Cali	1–0	Club friendly	15%
3rd	Neymar	Santos	Internacional	3–1	2012 Copa Libertadores	7%
Unranked	Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu	Ghana	Guinea	1–0	2012 Africa Cup of Nations	N/A
	Hatem Ben Arfa	Newcastle United	Blackburn Rovers	1–1	2011–12 FA Cup
	Eric Hassli	Vancouver Whitecaps	Toronto FC	1–1	2012 Canadian Championship
	Olivia Jiménez	Mexico	Switzerland	2–0	2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
	Gastón Mealla	Nacional Potosí	The Strongest	2–2	2011–12 Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano
	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Brazil	4–3	International friendly
	Moussa Sow	Fenerbahçe	Galatasaray	1–0	2011–12 Süper Lig

2013

Zlatan Ibrahimović's 35-yard overhead kick with his back to goal won him praise from players and pundits, with the BBC describing it as a goal that "combined unfathomable imagination and expert technique".^[11]

The following list includes the nominees for the 2013 award. Voting was possible through the FIFA.com website until 9 December 2013, after a second voting round was held between the top three goals from the first round. The award to the winning goal from the second round was presented on 13 January 2014.

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Vote percentage[12]
1st	Zlatan Ibrahimović	Sweden	England	4–2	International friendly	48.7%
2nd	Nemanja Matić	Benfica	Porto	1–1	2012–13 Primeira Liga	30.8%
3rd	Neymar	Brazil	Japan	1–0	2013 FIFA Confederations Cup	20.5%
Unranked	Peter Ankersen	Esbjerg	Aarhus	5–1	2013–14 Danish Superliga	N/A
	Louisa Cadamuro	Lyon	Saint-Étienne	5–0	2012–13 Division 1 Féminine
	Lisa De Vanna	Sky Blue	Boston Breakers	5–1	2013 National Women's Soccer League
	Antonio Di Natale	Udinese	Chievo	3–1	2012–13 Serie A
	Panagiotis Kone	Bologna	Napoli	2–3	2012–13 Serie A
	Daniel Ludueña	Pachuca	UANL	2–1	Liga MX Apertura 2013
	Juan Manuel Olivera	Náutico	Sport Recife	2–0	2013 Copa Sudamericana

2014

James Rodríguez's volley was described as "one of the greatest goals the World Cup has ever seen" by Uruguayan manager Óscar Tabárez, who also called Rodríguez "the best player in the World Cup".^[13]

FIFA announced the list of 10 nominees on 12 November 2014.^[14]

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Vote percentage[15]
1st	James Rodríguez	Colombia	Uruguay	2–0	2014 FIFA World Cup	42%
2nd	Stephanie Roche	Peamount United	Wexford Youths	2–0	2013–14 Women's National League	33%
3rd	Robin van Persie	Netherlands	Spain	1–1	2014 FIFA World Cup	11%
Unranked	Tim Cahill	Australia	Netherlands	1–1	2014 FIFA World Cup	N/A
	Diego Costa	Atlético Madrid	Getafe	5–0	2013–14 La Liga
	Marco Fabián	Cruz Azul	Puebla	1–0	Liga MX Clausura 2014
	Zlatan Ibrahimović	Paris Saint-Germain	Bastia	1–0	2013–14 Ligue 1
	Pajtim Kasami	Fulham	Crystal Palace	1–1	2013–14 Premier League
	Camilo Sanvezzo	Vancouver Whitecaps	Portland Timbers	2–2	2013 Major League Soccer
	Hisato Satō	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Kawasaki Frontale	2–1	2014 J.League Division 1

2015

FIFA announced the list of 10 nominees on 12 November 2015.^[16]

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Vote percentage[17]
1st	Wendell Lira	Goianésia	Atlético Goianiense	1–0	2015 Campeonato Goiano	46.7%
2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	Athletic Bilbao	1–0	2014–15 Copa del Rey	33.3%
3rd	Alessandro Florenzi	Roma	Barcelona	1–1	2015–16 UEFA Champions League	7.1%
Unranked	David Ball	Fleetwood Town	Preston North End	2–2	2014–15 League One	N/A
	Chory Castro	Real Sociedad	Deportivo La Coruña	2–1	2014–15 La Liga
	Carli Lloyd	United States	Japan	4–0	2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
	Philippe Mexès	Milan	Inter Milan	1–0	2015 International Champions Cup
	Marcel Ndjeng	SC Paderborn	Bolton Wanderers	3–1	Club friendly
	Esteban Ramírez	Herediano	Saprissa	3–1	Liga FPD Invierno 2014
	Carlos Tevez	Juventus	Parma	4–0	2014–15 Serie A

2016

FIFA announced the list of 10 nominees on 21 November 2016.^[18]

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Vote percentage[19]
1st	Mohd Faiz Subri	Penang	Pahang	4–1	2016 Malaysia Super League	59.46%
2nd	Marlone	Corinthians	Cobresal	3–0	2016 Copa Libertadores	22.86%
3rd	Daniuska Rodríguez	Venezuela	Colombia	1–0	2016 South American U-17 Women's Championship	10.01%
Unranked	Mario Gaspar	Spain	England	1–0	International friendly	N/A
	Hlompho Kekana	South Africa	Cameroon	2–1	2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
	Lionel Messi	Argentina	United States	2–0	Copa América Centenario
	Neymar	Barcelona	Villarreal	3–0	2015–16 La Liga
	Hal Robson-Kanu	Wales	Belgium	2–1	UEFA Euro 2016
	Saúl	Atlético Madrid	Bayern Munich	1–0	2015–16 UEFA Champions League
	Simon Skrabb	Åtvidabergs FF	Gefle IF	1–0	2015 Allsvenskan

2017

Olivier Giroud's backheeled "scorpion kick" volley was described by then-Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger as one of the five best in his Arsenal reign.^[20]

FIFA announced the list of 10 nominees on 22 September 2017.^[21]

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Vote percentage[22]
1st	Olivier Giroud	Arsenal	Crystal Palace	1–0	2016–17 Premier League	36.17%
2nd	Oscarine Masuluke	Baroka	Orlando Pirates	1–1	2016–17 South African Premier Division	27.48%
3rd	Deyna Castellanos	Venezuela	Cameroon	2–1	2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup	20.47%
Unranked	Kevin-Prince Boateng	Las Palmas	Villarreal	1–0	2016–17 La Liga	N/A
	Alejandro Camargo	Universidad de Concepción	O'Higgins	3–1	Chilean Primera División Apertura 2016
	Moussa Dembélé	Celtic	St Johnstone	5–2	2016–17 Scottish Premiership
	Avilés Hurtado	Tijuana	Atlas	1–1	Liga MX Clausura 2017
	Mario Mandžukić	Juventus	Real Madrid	1–1	2016–17 UEFA Champions League
	Nemanja Matić	Chelsea	Tottenham Hotspur	4–2	2016–17 FA Cup
	Jordi Mboula	Barcelona	Borussia Dortmund	4–1	2016–17 UEFA Youth League

2018

FIFA announced the list of 10 nominees on 3 September 2018.^[23]

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Vote percentage[24]
1st	Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	Everton	1–0	2017–18 Premier League	38%
2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Juventus	2–0	2017–18 UEFA Champions League	22%
3rd	Giorgian de Arrascaeta	Cruzeiro	América Mineiro	1–0	2018 Campeonato Mineiro	17%
Unranked	Gareth Bale	Real Madrid	Liverpool	2–1	2017–18 UEFA Champions League	23%
	Denis Cheryshev	Russia	Croatia	1–0	2018 FIFA World Cup
	Lazaros Christodoulopoulos	AEK Athens	Olympiacos	2–2	2017–18 Super League Greece
	Riley McGree	Newcastle Jets	Melbourne City	1–1	2017–18 A-League
	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Nigeria	1–0	2018 FIFA World Cup
	Benjamin Pavard	France	Argentina	2–2	2018 FIFA World Cup
	Ricardo Quaresma	Portugal	Iran	1–0	2018 FIFA World Cup

2019

FIFA announced the list of 10 nominees on 19 August 2019.^[25]

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition
1st	Dániel Zsóri	Debrecen	Ferencváros	2–1	2018–19 Nemzeti Bajnokság I
2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	Real Betis	4–1	2018–19 La Liga
3rd	Juan Fernando Quintero	River Plate	Racing	1–0	2018–19 Argentine Primera División
Unranked	Matheus Cunha	RB Leipzig	Bayer Leverkusen	4–2	2018–19 Bundesliga
	Zlatan Ibrahimović	LA Galaxy	Toronto FC	1–3	2018 Major League Soccer
	Ajara Nchout	Cameroon	New Zealand	2–1	2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
	Fabio Quagliarella	Sampdoria	Napoli	3–0	2018–19 Serie A
	Amy Rodriguez	Utah Royals FC	Sky Blue FC	1–0	2019 National Women's Soccer League
	Billie Simpson	Cliftonville Ladies	Sion Swifts Ladies	1–2	2018 Women's Premiership
	Andros Townsend	Crystal Palace	Manchester City	2–1	2018–19 Premier League

2020

FIFA announced the list of 11 nominees on 25 November 2020.^[26]

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Points[27]
1st	Son Heung-min	Tottenham Hotspur	Burnley	3–0	2019–20 Premier League	24
2nd	Giorgian de Arrascaeta	Flamengo	Ceará	3–0	2019 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A	22
3rd	Luis Suárez	Barcelona	Mallorca	4–1	2019–20 La Liga	20
Unranked	Shirley Cruz	Costa Rica	Panama	3–1	2020 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship	N/A
	Jordan Flores	Dundalk	Shamrock Rovers	2–3	2020 League of Ireland Premier Division
	André-Pierre Gignac	UANL	UNAM	3–0	Liga MX Clausura 2020
	Sophie Ingle	Chelsea	Arsenal	3–0	2019–20 FA WSL
	Zlatko Junuzović	Red Bull Salzburg	Rapid Wien	6–1	2019–20 Austrian Bundesliga
	Hlompho Kekana	Mamelodi Sundowns	Cape Town City	1–0	2019–20 Premier Soccer League
	Leonel Quiñónez	Macará	Universidad Católica	1–0	2019 Ecuadorian Serie A
	Caroline Weir	Manchester City	Manchester United	1–0	2019–20 FA WSL

2021

FIFA announced the list of 11 nominees on 17 January 2022.

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Points[28]
1st	Erik Lamela	Tottenham Hotspur	Arsenal	1–0	2020–21 Premier League	22
2nd	Mehdi Taremi	Porto	Chelsea	1–0	2020–21 UEFA Champions League	21
3rd	Patrik Schick	Czech Republic	Scotland	2–0	UEFA Euro 2020	21
Unranked	Luis Díaz	Colombia	Brazil	1–0	2021 Copa América	N/A
	Gauthier Hein	Auxerre	Niort	3–0	2020–21 Ligue 2
	Valentino Lazaro	Borussia Mönchengladbach	Bayer Leverkusen	3–4	2020–21 Bundesliga
	Riyad Mahrez	Algeria	Zimbabwe	2–0	2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
	Sandra Owusu-Ansah	Supreme Ladies	Kumasi Sports Academy Ladies	1–1	2020–21 Ghana Women's Premier League
	Vangelis Pavlidis	Willem II	Fortuna Sittard	1–0	2020–21 Eredivisie
	Daniela Sánchez	Querétaro	Atlético San Luis	3–2	Liga MX Femenil Guardianes 2021
	Caroline Weir	Manchester City	Manchester United	3–0	2020–21 FA WSL

2022

FIFA announced the list of 11 nominees on 12 January 2023.^[29]

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Points[30]
1st	Marcin Oleksy	Warta Poznań	Stal Rzeszów	1–0	2022 PZU Amp Futbol Ekstraklasa	21
2nd	Dimitri Payet	Marseille	PAOK	2–0	2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League	20
3rd	Richarlison	Brazil	Serbia	2–0	2022 FIFA World Cup	17
Unranked	Mario Balotelli	Adana Demirspor	Göztepe	7–0	2021–22 Süper Lig	N/A
	Francisco González Metilli	Central Córdoba	Rosario Central	1–0	2022 Argentine Primera División
	Amandine Henry	Lyon	Barcelona	1–0	2021–22 UEFA Women's Champions League
	Théo Hernandez	Milan	Atalanta	2–0	2021–22 Serie A
	Alou Kuol	Australia	Iraq	1–0	2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup
	Kylian Mbappé	France	Argentina	2–2	2022 FIFA World Cup
	Salma Paralluelo	Villarreal	Barcelona	1–0	2021–22 Liga F
	Alessia Russo	England	Sweden	3–0	UEFA Women's Euro 2022

2023

FIFA announced the list of 11 nominees on 22 September 2023.^[31]

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Points[32]
1st	Guilherme Madruga	Botafogo-SP	Novorizontino	1–0	2023 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B	22
2nd	Nuno Santos	Sporting CP	Boavista	1–0	2022–23 Primeira Liga	18
3rd	Julio Enciso	Brighton & Hove Albion	Manchester City	1–1	2022–23 Premier League	17
Unranked	Álvaro Barreal	FC Cincinnati	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	2–0	2023 U.S. Open Cup	N/A
	Linda Caicedo	Colombia	Germany	1–0	2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
	Kang Seong-jin	South Korea	Jordan	2–0	2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup
	Sam Kerr	Australia	England	1–1	2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
	Brian Lozano	Atlas	América	2–2	Liga MX Clausura 2023
	Iván Morante	Ibiza	Burgos	1–0	2022–23 Segunda División
	Askhat Tagybergen	Kazakhstan	Denmark	2–2	UEFA Euro 2024 qualification
	Bia Zaneratto	Brazil	Panama	3–0	2023 FIFA Women's World Cup

2024

FIFA announced the list of 11 nominees on 28 November 2024.^[33]

Beginning this year, FIFA also established the FIFA Marta Award as a separate category for female players, named after the Brazil women's forward and captain for over two decades from 2002 until 2024.^[34]

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Score	Competition	Points[35]
1st	Alejandro Garnacho	Manchester United	Everton	1–0	2023–24 Premier League	26
2nd	Yassine Benzia	Algeria	South Africa	3–3	2024 FIFA Series	22
3rd	Denis Omedi	Kitara	KCCA	3–3	2024 Super 8	16
4th	Mohammed Kudus	West Ham United	SC Freiburg	4–0	2023–24 UEFA Europa League	13
5th	Walter Bou	Lanús	Tigre	3–2	2024 Argentine Primera División	13
6th	Federico Dimarco	Inter Milan	Frosinone	1–0	2023–24 Serie A	12
7th	Jaden Philogene	Hull City	Rotherham United	1–1	2023–24 EFL Championship	12
8th	Terry Antonis	Melbourne City	Western Sydney Wanderers	7–0	2023–24 A-League	8
9th	Michaell Chirinos	Honduras	Costa Rica	1–0	2024 Copa América qualifying play-offs	7
10th	Hassan Al-Haydos	Qatar	China	1–0	2023 AFC Asian Cup	7
11th	Paul Onuachu	Trabzonspor	Konyaspor	2–1	2023–24 Süper Lig	4

Awards won by nationality

Country	Wins	Years
Brazil	3	2011, 2015, 2023
Argentina	2	2021, 2024
Portugal	1	2009
Turkey	1	2010
Slovakia	1	2012
Sweden	1	2013
Colombia	1	2014
Malaysia	1	2016
France	1	2017
Egypt	1	2018
Hungary	1	2019
South Korea	1	2020
Poland	1	2022

Most nominations received

Lionel Messi has been nominated a record seven times, more than any other in the award's history, but has never won the award.^[6]

Player	Nominations
Lionel Messi	7
Neymar	5
Zlatan Ibrahimović	4
Nemanja Matić	2
Cristiano Ronaldo	2
Giorgian de Arrascaeta	2
Hlompho Kekana	2
Caroline Weir	2

See also

• FIFA Ballon d'Or
• FIFA Marta Award
• The Best FIFA Football Awards