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 male or female 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.
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.
"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.
Until 2018, the winner was decided completely based on voting by fans on FIFA's official website. However, after a controversy in the 2018 award, 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 time-frame for the first award was 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 being the first prize winner.
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.).
- It should be awarded "without distinction of championship, gender or nationality".
- It should not be the result of luck, mistakes, deflection by another player or the player in an offside position.
- 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.
- The player cannot be nominated with two different goals.
Winners and nominees
- Scores and results list the player's club goal tally first.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the first recipient of the award for this long range goal from 40 yards out. Former Dutch international
Ruud Gullit called it a "perfect 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!"
2009
2010
2011
2012
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".
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.
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".
FIFA announced the list of 10 nominees on 12 November 2014.
2015
FIFA announced the list of 10 nominees on 12 November 2015.
2016
FIFA announced the list of 10 nominees on 21 November 2016.
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.
FIFA announced the list of 10 nominees on 22 September 2017.
2018
FIFA announced the list of 10 nominees on 3 September 2018.
2019
FIFA announced the list of 10 nominees on 19 August 2019.
2020
FIFA announced the list of 11 nominees on 25 November 2020.
2021
FIFA announced the list of 11 nominees on 17 January 2022.
2022
FIFA announced the list of 11 nominees on 12 January 2023.
2023
FIFA announced the list of 11 nominees on 22 September 2023.
Rank |
Player |
Team |
Opponent |
Score |
Competition |
1st |
Guilherme Madruga |
Botafogo-SP |
Novorizontino |
1–0 |
2023 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B |
2nd |
Nuno Santos |
Sporting CP |
Boavista |
1–0 |
2022–23 Primeira Liga |
3rd |
Julio Enciso |
Brighton & Hove Albion |
Manchester City |
1–1 |
2022–23 Premier League |
Unranked |
Álvaro Barreal |
FC Cincinnati |
Pittsburgh Riverhounds |
2–0 |
2023 U.S. Open Cup |
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 |
3–2 |
UEFA Euro 2024 qualification |
Bia Zaneratto |
Brazil |
Panama |
3–0 |
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup |
Awards won by nationality
Country |
Win(s) |
Year(s) |
Brazil |
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2011, 2015, 2023 |
Portugal |
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2009 |
Turkey |
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2010 |
Slovakia |
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2012 |
Sweden |
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2013 |
Colombia |
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2014 |
Malaysia |
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2016 |
France |
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2017 |
Egypt |
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2018 |
Hungary |
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2019 |
South Korea |
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2020 |
Argentina |
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2021 |
Poland |
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2022 |
Most nominations received
Lionel Messi has been nominated a record 7 times, more than any other in the award's history, but has never won the award.
See also
In Spanish: Premio Puskás para niños
- FIFA Ballon d'Or
- The Best FIFA Football Awards