Carli Lloyd, the co-captain of the U.S. Women’s National Team, has been named the Best FIFA Women’s Player for 2016. This marks the second consecutive year that Lloyd has been honored and joins a highly elite club of just four players to win consecutive FIFA Women’s Player of the Year awards.
“I’m very honored to win this award again,” Lloyd said. “I play on the best team in the world and this award would not be possible without my extraordinary teammates, who are fantastic competitors. We push each other to be better every day. I want to thank Jill Ellis and the entire coaching staff for believing in me and helping me constantly evolve my game. Thank you to the people who voted for me and the fans for showing me such strong support throughout 2016. I want to also thank my husband Brian for the unconditional support he’s provided throughout this special year. I am looking forward to the start of 2017 and long term, towards qualifying for the 2019 World Cup.”
This marks the fifth time an American woman has been named FIFA Women’s Player of the Year, following Abby Wambach in 2012, Mia Hamm in 2001 and 2002, and Lloyd in 2015 and 2016.
Lloyd finished first in voting by coaches and captains of women’s national teams from around the world with 20.68% of the total votes, followed by Marta of Brazil with 16.60% and Melanie Behringer of Germany with 12.34%.
A 12-year veteran of the U.S. National Team, Lloyd, 34, currently has 232 caps, the seventh most in U.S. history, and tied for the U.S. lead (with Alex Morgan) for goals scored in 2016, finding the net 17 times, including twice during the 2016 Olympics. She also led the team in assists with 11, her career high for a calendar year and had four goals and two assists during the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament.
She currently has 96 career goals, just four from becoming the sixth player in U.S. history to score 100 or more international goals.
Ellis, who was second in voting for 2016 FIFA Coach of the Year, Lloyd and the rest of the U.S. Women’s National Team kick off the 2017 programing with the January training camp in Carson, Calif. The USA will play its first matches of 2017 at the SheBelieves Cup in early March, as U.S. soccer hosts four of the top five teams in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings: the USA, Germany, France and England.
Additional Notes:
- Lloyd helped lead the American women to a 22-0-3 record in 2016.
- Representatives from Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool accepted the FIFA Fan Award upon behalf of their supporters, paying tribute to those lost in the Hillsborough disaster.
- Colombia club Atletico Nacional won the FIFA Fair Player Award for their numerous ways in which they honored the victims from Chapecoense of Brazil after the air disaster that claimed so many lives.
- Mohd Faiz Subri of Malaysia won the Puskas Award for the Best Goal of the Year.
Neid garnered 29.99% of the votes for Best FIFA Women’s Coach while Ellis had 16.68% and Sundhage had 16.47%.