- Lionel Messi won the FIFA Male Player of the Year award as rival rival Cristiano Ronaldo stayed away from the star-studded ceremony at Milan's prestigious La Scala Opera House.
- Barcelona striker Messi's win was a surprise as he edged out Virgil Van Dijk, who won the UEFA player's award after helping Liverpool to the Champions League last month.
- Juventus forward Ronaldo was also shortlisted for the award, but did not attend the ceremony as he was placed in FIFA's World 11 Best Team alongside Messi.
Lionel Messi won the FIFA Male Player of the Year award as rival rival Cristiano Ronaldo stayed away from the star-studded ceremony at the prestigious La Scala Opera House in Milan on Monday.
Barcelona striker Messi's win was a surprise as he edged out Virgil Van Dijk, who won the UEFA player's award after helping Liverpool to the Champions League last month.
Juventus forward Ronaldo was also shortlisted for the award, but did not attend the ceremony as he was placed in FIFA's World 11 Best Team alongside Messi.
Messi, 32 and 28-year-old Van Dejak, are now running for the iconic Ballon d'Or, which will be announced on 2 December.
"I want to thank the people who decided to give me this identity," Messi said.
"The most important thing for me are the collective awards, but today is also a very special night for me."
This is the first time that Messi has won the FIFA Best Award which was made in 2016. Ronaldo won for 2016 and 2017, with Croatian Luka Modric beating both of them last year.
Messi was the top scorer in the Champions League last season with 12 goals, after Barcelona were knocked out by Liverpool in the semi-finals.
Argentina won the European Golden Shoe after scoring 36 goals, helping La Argentina win the La Liga title with Barcelona and a bronze medal in 2019 Copa America.
Van Dijk was bidding to become a rare defender to win the FIFA player award, as Italian Fabio Canavero won the 2006 World Player of the Year, and in 2006 he won the Ballon d'Or.
The Netherlands captain also missed completing a treble for Liverpool with manager Jergen Klopp and won the men's coach's award and the Alison Baker goalkeeper's award.
Rapinoe 'lost for words'
Megan Rapino won the Women's Coaching Award along with her USA coach Jill Ellis by defeating Women's World Award winner Alex Morgan and England's Lucy Bronze.
Rapinoe, 34, was the joint top scorer in the Women's World Cup with six goals and won the Golden Boot, also won the Golden Ball for Best Player and became the face of the tournament for her outspoken views on US President Donald Trump and for her Promoted. LGBT Rights.
"I'm a bit at a loss for words, if you can believe it, it rarely happens to me," said Rapinoe.
“We have such an incredible opportunity as professional football players.
"We have incredible forums, the unique opportunity to use it to truly change the world for the better."
Klopp won the men's coaching award ahead of two other Premier League coaches - Mauricio Pochettino of Tottenham, whom the Germans defeated in June's Champions League final and Pep Guardiola of Manchester City.
"It's great, nobody expected 20, 10, five, four years ago that I would stand here," said the 52-year-old German who joined Liverpool in 2015.
"I have to say thank you to my excellent club Liverpool FC. Those who don't love it don't have heart."
"As a coach you can only be as good as your team. I'm really proud to be the coach of such an incredible group of players."
Two-time Women's World Cup winning coach Ellis defeated Dutch coach Sarina Weigman, France 2019 runner-up and England's Phil Neville for the award.
"The World Cup was really a showcase, the world fell in love with the game even more," said 53-year-old Ellis.
Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielassa won the fair game award when he ordered his team to allow Aston Villa to score the equalizer during their 1–1 draw in their championship match in April.
Byles' side was controversially pushed forward when a player was injured before Argentina's intervention.
Romanian-born Hungarian forward Daniel Zasori won the FIFA Puskas Award for best goal, beating Messi and Juan Fernando Quento.
On his debut, the 18-year-old forward played a superb overhead kick to win the game for his team to Debrecen against Ferencoverus in stackage time.
Highlights of the Best FIFA Football Awards 2019: Lionel Messi honors Cristiano Ronaldo, Virgil van Dzek, top male player, Megan Rapinoe
The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 Highlights: Catch all the live updates of FIFA's The Best Awards via News18 Sports' live blog, which is being held at La Scala in Milan, Italy. Lionel Messi and Megan Rapino took top honors at a star-studded ceremony at the famous Opera House in Milan. Messi defeated Virgil van Dzek and Cristiano Ronaldo to win the Best Male Player award, while Rapinoe defeated Alex Morgan and Lucy Bronze to win the Best Female Player award.
Messi won La Liga with Barcelona last season and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, where his team was defeated by Virgil van Dzek's Liverpool. Liverpool ultimately won the Champions League. On the other hand, Rapinoe won the Women's World Cup 2019 with the United States and also achieved the Golden Boot and Golden Shoe for being the tournament's best player and top scorer.
ℹ️ Full breakdown of voting results here: https://t.co/k4PksekZaJ#TheBest | #FIFAFootballAwards pic.twitter.com/cymNNO4lft— #TheBest 🏆 (@FIFAcom) September 23, 2019