Victor Osimhen has made it to the top 12 of the nominees for the prestigious FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award. The list, released by the World Cup on Thursday, saw the Napoli striker remain the only African on the list.
Oshoala, who is from Nigeria, did not make it to the final list for the women’s category of the awards. The qualifying period for this year’s award runs from December 19, 2022, to August 10th, 2023.
Osimhen was named as last season’s top scorer at Napoli and was named to the team of the season. He scored 29 goals in that time, helping the club to win its first Serie A title in 40 years.
Other nominees for the award include Argentina’s Lionel Messi, France’s Kylian Mbappe and Norway’s Erling Haarland. FIFA’s shortlist for the Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper award includes Oshoala and his Barcelona Femini teammates Jennifer Hermoso, Yassine Bonmati, Linda Caicedo and Rachel Daly.
Other nominees include Mary Fowler and Alex Greenwood, as well as Lindsey Horan and Amanda Ilestedt. In the women’s category, there are a number of players on the shortlist, including Lauren James and Sam Kerr.
The nominees for the keeper’s award include Yassine Boudjic from Cameroon and Yassine Onana from Morocco.
Boudjic was named in the Team of The Season after winning the Europa League in 2022/23 with Sevilla, while Onana was named in the Best FIFA Goalkeeper award after winning the Supercoppa Italiano and Coppa Italia in 2022/23.
The other nominees for the Keeper’s Award include Thibaut Conte and Ederson, as well as Marc-André Ter Stegen and Mapi León.
