The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 – Robert Lewandowski wins best player of the year Updated for September 2024

Updated: 17th September 2024

The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 winners review.

It was time for more rejoicing at Bayern Munich as ace striker Robert Lewandowski bagged the coveted prize for the best individual men's player at the Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 held in Zurich, Switzerland on the evening of December 17th.

The Polish forward beat the likes of Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo who have been sharing the award between them for the last 10 years.

The ace Bayern marksmen scored a record 55 goals last season from 47 appearances helping his club win the Champions League and Bundesliga titles for 2020-21.

Lewandowski, in fact, has left off where he finished last season and has already found 18 goals from 17 appearances in the current edition underlining his position as the world's apex player.

Lewandowski has become the first player outside the Spanish La Liga to win the award.

Twenty-nine year old English international Lucia Roberta Tough Bronze aka Lucy Bronze was voted the Best Women's Player over the likes of US legend Megan Rapinoe and Best Goalkeeper of the Year Sarah Bouhaddi.

Jurgen Klopp picked up his second Best Manager award in two years. The Liverpool coach beat Hansi Flick and Marcelo Bielsa to the best manager award in men's football category.

Tottenhaam Hotspur forward and South Korean international Son Heung-Min's solo effort against Burnley last year won the Puskas award for the best goal while Manuel Neuer added another one for Bayern Munich by winning the best goalkeeper award.

The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 Categories and Winners:

Men’s Player: Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich)

Women’s Player: Lucy Bronze (England/Lyon)

Women’s Coach: Sarina Wiegman (The Netherlands)

Men’s Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)

Women’s Goalkeeper: Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon)

Men’s Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer (Germany/Bayern Munich)

The FIFA awards 2020 threw up some interesting information as to which players the main candidates voted for. Most of the times players end up voting for a teammate of theirs or for a player who is not likely to win at the final count. Here are the voting patterns of some of the top rated players:

Robert Lewandowski: 1) Thiago Alcantara, 2) Neymar Jr., 3) Kevin de Bruyne

Lionel Messi: 1) Neymar Jr., 2) Kylian Mbappe, 3) Kevin de Bruyne

Cristiano Ronaldo: 1) Robert Lewandowski, 2) Lionel Messi, 3) Kylian Mbappe

Sergio Ramos: 1) Robert Lewandowski, 2) Thiago Alcantara, 3) Neymar Jr.

Luka Modric: 1) Robert Lewandowski, 2) Sergio Ramos, 3) Mohamed Salah

Virgil Van Dijk: 1) Sadio Mane, 2) Mohamed Salah, 3) Thiago Alcantara

Gareth Bale: 1) Robert Lewandowski, 2) Kevin de Bruyne, 3) Sadio Mane

While Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi chose to go with players who didn't have much of a chance of making it to the top, Cristiano Ronaldo was more generous towards his competitors, casting them his first and second vote.

To conclude, the ceremony paid tribute to two legends of the game the world lost in 2020 – Argentine World Cup winner of 1986, Diego Maradona, and Paulo Rossi the winner of the World Cup 1982.

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