Who among the following won the Best Men's Player Award of FIFA Football Awards, 2019?
- (a)Cristiano Ronaldo
- (b)Virgil van Dijk
- (c)Lionel Messi
- (d)Xavi
Correct — C, Lionel Messi. Messi took The Best FIFA Men's Player award for 2019 with 46 points, ahead of Virgil van Dijk on 38 and Cristiano Ronaldo on 36 — a narrow result, and one that came after van Dijk had won the UEFA award for the season and lifted the Champions League with Liverpool. The same 2019 ceremony gave Alisson the goalkeeper's award and Jurgen Klopp the men's coach award, so Liverpool carried off two of the three and lost the third by eight points. Do not confuse this award with the Ballon d'Or, which is run separately by France Football; Messi won that for 2019 as well, but the two are different trophies with different voting bodies.
- (a)Cristiano Ronaldo — Third in the 2019 vote with 36 points. He had won this award in 2016 and 2017, which is what makes him the reflex answer for anyone who has not checked the year.
- (b)Virgil van Dijk — Runner-up with 38 points, and the closest anyone came to breaking the Messi-Ronaldo hold on the award that year. Note the spelling as this paper prints it.
- (d)Xavi — The Barcelona midfielder had retired from European club football in 2015 and was playing in Qatar by 2019. He was never in contention for a 2019 award.
The Best FIFA Football Awards were created in 2016, when FIFA and France Football ended the joint FIFA Ballon d'Or and each went back to its own trophy. The men's player award is voted by national team captains, national team coaches, a selected journalist from each country and, since 2016, registered fans, with the four groups weighted equally.
Sports current-affairs questions in this paper are always tied to a stated year, so the work is to fix the year rather than to name the best player in the abstract. For 2019 the useful anchor is that Liverpool dominated everything except the player award: Champions League winners, Alisson as goalkeeper, Klopp as coach, and van Dijk beaten into second place by eight points. Present-day note for a student reading this now: the men's award has since gone to Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi again, and Erling Haaland and others in later editions, so the 2019 result is a historical fact rather than a current one.
- Lionel Messi won The Best FIFA Men's Player award for 2019 with 46 points.
- Virgil van Dijk was second with 38 points and Cristiano Ronaldo third with 36.
- Alisson won the goalkeeper's award and Jurgen Klopp the men's coach award in the same 2019 edition.
- The Best FIFA Football Awards began in 2016, after FIFA and France Football ended the joint FIFA Ballon d'Or.
- The Ballon d'Or is a separate France Football award; Messi also won that for 2019.
- Answering Ronaldo out of habit; he won in 2016 and 2017, not 2019.
- Treating The Best FIFA Men's Player and the Ballon d'Or as one award.
As a who-won-in-year-X item, usually in the sports block, with the previous winners supplied as distractors.
Which country won the FIFA World Cup (Men) for maximum number of times?
- (a) Argentina
- (b) Brazil
- (c) France
- (d) Spain
Answer(b) Brazil
The same corner of the sports block three years later. Football recurs in this paper in two forms — a named annual award, and a standing record such as the country with the most World Cup titles — and both reward keeping a short list rather than following the season.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Best FIFA Football Awards were instituted in which year?
- (a)2010
- (b)2013
- (c)2016
- (d)2019
Answer(c) 2016 — FIFA and France Football ended the joint FIFA Ballon d'Or that year and each resumed its own award.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which club's players and manager took the goalkeeper's and the men's coach awards at the 2019 Best FIFA Football Awards?
- (a)Barcelona
- (b)Liverpool
- (c)Real Madrid
- (d)Bayern Munich
Answer(b) Liverpool — Alisson won the goalkeeper's award and Jurgen Klopp the coach's, while Virgil van Dijk finished second for the player award.