Puskas Award: Has Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi ever won the FIFA honour for best goal?
The Puskas Award has quickly become a coveted individual prize in world football.
The award is given to the player who scores the best goal in a calendar year and it is not easy to earn this honor as hundreds of spectacular strikes are considered worthy winners each year.
The Puskas Prize, which has been awarded since 2009, coincided with an era dominated by two players in particular – Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Both are no strangers to finding the back of the net, but have either managed to claim the honors to date? The sports news takes a look at how they dressed up.
MORE: Who is Marcin Oleksy? The amputee footballer was nominated for a Puskas
History of the Ronaldo Puskas Prize
Fittingly, as one of the most prolific forwards football has ever seen, Ronaldo won the first-ever Puskas Award in 2009.
The Portuguese forward received the credit for his Champions League goal against Porto while playing for Manchester United.
Ronaldo’s goal fell from 40 yards after six minutes of play, stunningly hitting the top left corner as the Red Devils won the game 1-0.
Since then, Ronaldo has only been nominated once for a Puskas, in 2018.
Another crazy Champions League goal, this one scored for Real Madrid against Juventus and saw Ronaldo finish second to Mohamed Salah that year.
History of the Messi Puskas Prize
Unlike Ronaldo, Messi has yet to win a Puskas award but has been nominated a remarkable seven times.
In 2011, the Argentine finished second to Neymar and scored a stylish finish against Arsenal in the Champions League.
Messi would come second again in 2015 with his stunning solo Copa del Rey goal against Athletic Bilbao, beaten by another Brazilian player in the form of Wendell Lira.
Hungarian Daniel Zsori would then also beat Messi to a Puskas in 2019 as the Barcelona star’s battered goal in La Liga against Real Betis failed to secure him one of the few trophies he has alluded to so far.
Messi hasn’t been nominated for the Puskas Award for 2022, but you’d be brave to bet against him not winning one before hanging up the boots.
List of All-Time Puskas Award Winners
The first winner was none other than the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo, with the likes of Neymar, James Rodriguez and Mohamed Salah being some of the other recognizable names on the list of previous winners.
No player has ever won the Puskas Award twice.
| Year | player | team | game / goal |
| 2021 | Eric Lamela | Tottenham | vs Arsenal (1-0) |
| 2020 | son Heung Min | Tottenham | v Burnley (3-0) |
| 2019 | Daniel Zsoori | Debrecen | vs. Ferencvaros (2-1) |
| 2018 | Mohammed Salah | Liverpool | v Everton (1-0) |
| 2017 | Oliver Giroud | arsenal | vs. Crystal Palace (1-0) |
| 2016 | Mohd Faiz Subri | Penang | v Pahang (4-1) |
| 2015 | Wendell Lira | Goianesia | against Atlético Goianiense (1:0) |
| 2014 | James Rodriguez | Colombia | against Uruguay (1-0) |
| 2013 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Sweden | v England (4-2) |
| 2012 | Miroslav Stoch | Fenerbahçe | against Genclerbirligi (6-1) |
| 2011 | neymar | santos | vs. Flamengo (4-5) |
| 2010 | Hamit Altintop | Turkey | vs. Kazakhstan (2-0) |
| 2009 | Cristiano Ronaldo | man united | v Porto (1-0) |
Why is it called the Puskas Award?
The Puskas Prize is awarded to the individual, male or female, who has scored the best goal of the calendar year.
Unlike the other The Best awards, the Puskas Prize has been awarded since 2009, originally created as a standalone award given out each year by FIFA before being incorporated into The Best process.
The award is named after Ferenc Puskas, a legendary Hungarian striker who is considered one of the all-time greatest goalscorers, scoring 514 goals in his career at Budapest Honved and Real Madrid.