Summary

The FIFA Puskás Award [ˈpuʃkaːʃ] is an award established on 20 October 2009 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), at the behestt of then-president Sepp Blatter, to be awarded to the male or female judged to have scored the most aesthetically significant, or "most beautiful", goal of the calendar year. The Puskás award is announced yearly and is considered by voting.

The award is in honour of Ferenc Puskás, the striker of Real Madrid during the late 1950s to the late 1960s, and central member of the highly successful Hungarian side of the same era. Puskás is widely considered by many to be the most powerful and prolific forward Europe produced in first-division football, and was honoured by IFFHS in 1997 as the best top-tier goalscorer of the 20th century. Puskás scored 806 goals in 793 games and his 86 national team goals in 90 outings was a world record at the time.

"It is important to preserve the memory of those footballing greats who have left their mark on our history. Ferenc Puskás was not only a player with immense talent who won many honours, but also a remarkable man. FIFA is therefore delighted to pay tribute to him by dedicating this award to his memory," said Blatter at the inauguration of the award in Budapest.

Until 2018, the winner was decided completely based on voting by fans on FIFA's official website. However, after a controversy in the 2018 award, FIFA changed the procedure. Now, the award is decided by pundits selected by FIFA, who will choose the winner based on the top three goals voted for by the public.

The time-frame for the first award was July 2008 to July 2009. The annual award was presented for the first time during the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year Gala on 21 December in Switzerland, with Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo being the first prize winner.

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