Cristiano Ronaldo, Carli Lloyd and Claudio Ranieri, Silvia Neid were The Best in 2016, according to FIFA.
Ronaldo beat Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid, FRA) and Lionel Messi (Barcelona, ARG) to win his fourth FIFA Award, after 2008, 2013 and 2014, thanks to his contributions to Real Madrid's Undécima and Portugal's unlikely victory in the Euro 2016. Messi won La Liga, but missing the deciding penalty against Chile in the Copa Centenário final and Barcelona's defeat at the hands of Atlético Madrid in the Champions League Quarter-finals might have weighted against him, while Griezmann was at the unlucky position of losing both finals to Ronaldo's teams, and now voted a long third.
Ronaldo makes this a hat-trick, as the award split from France Football's Ballon d'Or for the Best Footballer in Europe, also won by him a month ago [autoplays loud video], and also had won the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award back in August. This makes the 9th year in a row FIFA's top award is split between Ronaldo and Messi, with the Argentinian leading by one.
On the managers' side, the competition seemed set between two managers: Claudio Ranieri, who took Leicester City to an unprecedented Premier League title, and Portugal's Fernando Santos, who despite only managing three draws in the group stage taking advantage of the "best thirds" the competition with 24 teams provided, managed to quietly advance to the final, where a goal in overtime settled the score. A Ballon d'Or winner as player, Zinedine Zidane added a Champions League title and the Club World Cup as a manager was still looking for a surprise, but while he took France Football's award earlier, Claudio Ranieri won the award.
The players also selected their world XI, dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona, with Manuel Neuer (Bayern, GER); Dani Alves (Barcelona/Juventus, BRA), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid, SPA), Gerard Pique (Barcelona, SPA), Marcelo (Real Madrid, BRA); Luka Modric (Real Madrid, CRO), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid, GER), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona, SPA); Lionel Messi (Barcelona, ARG), Luis Suarez (Barcelona, URU) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, POR).
On the Women's side, Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash, USA) won FIFA's award for the second consecutive time, beating Gold medal winner Melanie Behringer (Bayern, GER) and 5-time winner and now 12-time finalist Marta (FC Rosengard, BRA). While the US had crashed early in Rio in the middle of some controversy, Lloyd remains one of the best and most popular players in the game, and is using that as leverage to increase pay for the Women's game. The results from Rio were more important in the coaches award, and Silvia Neid retired after an incredible career with the German national football team that started in 1982 as a player, winning the gold medal in Rio and now the best women's coach accolade for the third time, beating former winners Jill Ellis (USA) and Pia Sundhage, who took Sweden to a surprising Silver Medal at the Olympics.
For the best goal, three goals were selected: Marlone with a spectacular volley, Daniuska Rodríguez with a thundering shot after dribbling past two defenders and Mohd Faiz Subri with an impossible-looking swerve from a freekick. The physics-defying kick might have surprised the goalkeeper, but winning the award was no surprise.
Also without surprise, Atlético Nacional from Colombia won the FIFA Fair Play Award, after requesting CONEMBOL to give the Copa Sudamericana title to Chapecoense, who lost most of their squad on a plane crash en route to the first leg of the final.
The Fan Award was given to Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool FC supporters, after their rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone, in a Europa League match days before the 27th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster. They outvoted Iceland's fans passionate support during their national teams' unlikely run in the Euro 2016 to the very end, and ADO Den Haag fans who showered Feyenoord fans from a children's hospital in the below tier with stuffed toys.
Outside voting, the Brazilian futsal magician Falcão won the Outstanding Career Award, capping a career that saw him retire as arguably the best futsal player ever.