Canada's Stephanie Labbé misses out on FIFA top goalkeeper honour

Chile's Christiane Endler was named The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper on Monday, beating out Canada's Stephanie Labbé and Germany's Ann-Katrin Berger.

Endler, the first South American to win the award, played for Paris Saint-Germain before transferring to Olympique Lyonnais. She helped PSG win the French title, conceding just four goals along the way.

Labbé was second in balloting by fans, media and the captains and head coaches of national teams from around the globe. She actually won the voting among media members but finished with 20 points to Endler's 26 in the final reckoning. Berger had 14.

Labbé was with Sweden's FC Rosengard before switching to PSG in late August. The 35-year-old from Stony Plain, Alta., has won 85 caps for Canada with 43 clean sheets, helping Canada to Olympic gold last summer in Tokyo.

A rib injury forced Labbé out of Canada's opening game against host Japan at the Olympics. Ultimately the verdict was she could continue playing, albeit in pain. Labbé missed just one game, returning to lead Canada to penalty shootout wins over Brazil in the quarterfinal and Sweden in the final.

Berger and the Chelsea women, whose roster includes Canadian international Jessie Fleming, won the domestic treble in 2021 — the FA Women's Super League title, FA Cup and League Cup. The Blue lost 4-0 to Barcelona in the Champions League final.

Sweden's Hedvig Lindahl (Atletico de Madrid Femenino) and American Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars) were also nominated but did not make the final three.

Senegal's Edouard Mendy (Chelsea) was named The Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper over Italy's Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan/Paris Saint-Germain), and Germany's Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich).

Brazil's Alisson Becker (Liverpool) and Denmark's Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City) had also been shortlisted for the award.

Two other Canadians — Bev Priestman (Best Coach) and Christine Sinclair (Best Women's Player) — were nominated for FIFA Awards in November but did not make the final three list.

Chelsea's Emma Hayes was named top women's coach.

Sinclair did receive a lifetime achievement award — The Best FIFA Special Award for Women's Football.

The winners were decided by an international jury comprising national team coaches and captains around the globe, one specialist journalist from each territory represented.

Lewandowski voted top men's player

Robert Lewandowski was voted the best men's player in the world, retaining the FIFA award he won last year.

The Bayern Munich forward overturned the result last month of the Ballon d'Or prize where he placed second behind Lionel Messi, who finally led Argentina to a senior title at the 2021 Copa America.

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool was also on the shortlist.

Lewandowski broke two Bundesliga records by scoring 41 goals for Bayern in its title-winning 2020-21 season and 43 in the calendar year of 2021. Both marks were held since 1972 by another Bayern great, Gerd Muller.

Alexia Putellas, who captained Barcelona to its first Women's Champions League title, was voted the best women's player ahead of teammate Jennifer Hermoso and Sam Kerr of beaten finalist Chelsea.

Chelsea swept the coaching awards in a year when its men's and women's teams led by Thomas Tuchel and Emma Hayes reached their Champions League finals.

Tuchel again edged Manchester City's Pep Guardiola for victory to repeat the result of their European title game. Guardiola led City to the English Premier League title, and his team is the runaway leader this season after beating Chelsea on Saturday.

Roberto Mancini was the other shortlisted candidate after leading Italy to win the European Championship.

Hayes seemed surprised to win the coaching award for women's soccer ahead of Lluis Cortes. His Barcelona team beat Chelsea 4-0 in the Champions League final.

Sarina Wiegman, who moved from 2017 European champion Netherlands to take over at England, was the other candidate.

Voting in each player and coach category was by national team coaches and captains worldwide, specialist media, and fans making their choices on FIFA's website.

The Puskas Award for best goal went to Erik Lamela for the rabona flick he scored for Tottenham against Arsenal in the Premier League in March.