USMNT Stars Mauricio Pochettino and Tim Ream Reveal Their Picks for FIFA's Best Football Awards

Ousmane Dembélé made history as the first French player to claim the Best FIFA Men's Player award since its inception in 2016, receiving crucial support from the United States men's national team representatives.

The Paris Saint-Germain winger secured victory with 50 points, surpassing Lamine Yamal's 39 and Kylian Mbappé's 35, following the compilation of votes from national team managers, captains, media delegates, and fan polling.

Each year, FIFA publishes comprehensive voting breakdowns, revealing exactly how USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino and captain Tim Ream cast their ballots—both required to select their top three choices that contributed to determining the winner. FOX Sports soccer correspondent Doug McIntyre represented the U.S. media vote for the men's category.

Both Pochettino and Ream selected Dembélé as their number one choice. Pochettino's preference may have reflected his PSG connections from his time as both player (2001–03) and coach (2021–22), though Dembélé's performance merited recognition regardless. His remarkable 51 goals and assists were instrumental in PSG's treble triumph, crowned by Champions League success.

Pochettino and Ream aligned again for their second-place selection: Mbappé. However, they diverged when ranking the world's third-best player from the past year.

Pochettino selected Harry Kane, whose development he guided at Tottenham Hotspur ten years earlier, while Ream chose PSG left-back Nuno Mendes. Though seemingly unexpected, 62 other voters also included Mendes in their top three selections.

McIntyre's primary choice was Yamal, who received no votes from either Pochettino or Ream. The journalist still included Dembélé, placing the current Ballon d'Or winner in second position. His third selection went to Barcelona forward Raphinha, who received 104 total votes but missed selection for the separate Best FIFA Men's 11, prompting his wife's social media outcry of "Injustice!"

USMNT Best FIFA Men's Player Voting

The American trio also participated in voting for best coach and goalkeeper categories, reaching unanimous consensus on Luis Enrique and Gianluigi Donnarumma respectively.

USMNT Best FIFA Men's Coach Voting

USMNT Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper Voting

How the U.S. Voted for Best FIFA Women's Player

The voting procedure for The Best FIFA Women's Player follows identical protocols, requiring each nation's manager, captain and designated media representative to rank their top three female players annually.

Barcelona and Spain's Aitana Bonmatí secured her third consecutive award following previous victories in 2023 and 2024, despite receiving no backing from USWNT manager Emma Hayes or captain Lindsey Heaps.

Hayes and Heaps both selected Arsenal midfielder Mariona Caldentey for first place, who ultimately finished runner-up in the final rankings. Hayes ranked Alessia Russo second and Kansas City Current's Temwa Chawinga third, while Heaps positioned OL Lyonnes teammate Melchie Dumornay second and Russo third.

The media representative, ESPN writer Jeff Kassouf, selected Bonmatí first, allocating his second and third votes to Chawinga and Caldentey respectively.

USWNT Best FIFA Women's Player Voting

For the coaching category, all three unanimously placed England manager Sarina Wiegman at the top, as she earned her remarkable fifth FIFA title following Euro 2025 success last summer. In the goalkeeper award, requiring only first and second place selections, Heaps and Hayes favored Hannah Hampton first, while Kassouf preferred Gotham FC keeper Ann-Katrin Berger instead.

USWNT Best FIFA Women's Coach Voting

USWNT Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper Voting