Best Fifa Awards: Who have been named the best players by Fifa in 2021?

Image source, Twitter/Getty

There was tough competition in both the men's and women's Best Fifa Awards categories when the nominees were announced earlier this month.

But it was Barcelona star Alexia Putellas and Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski who took the Best Player top prizes this year.

Lewandowski beat off the competition from Liverpool star Mo Salah and Paris Saint-Germain's Lionel Messi, to keep the trophy which he also won last year.

For Putellas, this was also a second trophy win after securing a Ballon d'Or at the end of last year.

She had been nominated for the Fifa Best Player award against Australian Sam Kerr who plays for Chelsea and Jennifer Hermoso who plays for Barcelona.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Edouard Mendy was named Goalkeeper of the Year

Although Chelsea might have been disappointed on Sam Kerr's behalf there were lots of wins to celebrate in the other categories.

The team received three other awards; two for Best Coach, while Edouard Mendy picked up the prize for Goalkeeper of the Year.

Chile's Christiane Endler won the women's goalkeeper award.

Image source, Getty Images

While Cristiano Ronaldo might have been disappointed to have been left off the Best Player shortlist, he instead won a special Fifa award after becoming the men's all-time top goal scorer in September last year.

He scored twice for Portugal against the Republic of Ireland, which means he has 115 goals in 184 appearances for his country.

Canada captain Christine Sinclair also received a special award for record goal-scoring, with her 188 goals making her top international scorer among both men and women.

Argentina's Erik Lamela won the Pukas Award for for his sensational goal in Spurs v Arsenal!

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Fans from Denmark and Finland were praised for their conduct at the Euro 2020 game were the game was suspended after Danish player Christian Eriksen was taken to hospital

Denmark's national team, Danish medical team and staff have won the Fifa Fair Play 2021 Award, following their actions to support Christian Eriksen.

The Danish player collapsed in Denmark's opening Euro 2020 game against Finland back in June and was given life-saving treatment on the pitch, before later recovering.

Both the Denmark and Finland fans at that game were also named the winners of the Fifa Fan Award.