Lamine Yamal Nominated for Puskas Award, Mariona Caldentey for Marta

Lamine Yamal and Mariona Caldentey are in the running for the awards for the best goals of the year. The Barcelona winger and Arsenal midfielder are on the list of nominees for the Puskas and Marta awards revealed by FIFA this Thursday, marking the start of the voting process to determine the winners in the male and female categories until December 3rd.

These awards pay tribute to the best goals scored in men's and women's football between August 11, 2024, and August 2, 2025. Fans and a panel of experts will decide who will take home both trophies. The announcement of the winners will be made during the Best Awards 2025 gala.

Lamine Yamal is among the candidates for the Puskas Award thanks to the stunning goal he scored during the Espanyol-Barcelona match on May 15 of this year in Cornellà. It was the 36th matchday of La Liga, and Barcelona arrived at the perico stronghold with the chance to secure the title. Everything seemed set for Hansi Flick's team to clinch the trophy, but the first half was rather uneventful, with a confident Barcelona and a determined Espanyol defending fiercely. The scenario changed completely in the 53rd minute when the Rocafonda star executed a remarkable left-footed shot into the top corner, leaving Joan García with no chance to respond.

It was another masterpiece from a genius that left the crowd at the RCDE Stadium in awe that day. He is a strong contender for the recognition, competing against lesser-known players like Egypt's Amr Nasser, Indonesia's Rizky Ridho, or Mexico's Carlos Orrantía, as well as England's Declan Rice, an Arsenal midfielder who is among the candidates thanks to one of the two goals with which he defeated Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals last April.

Regarding the Marta Award, Mariona Caldentey's candidacy is supported by the goal she scored for Spain in the women's Champions League match between Arsenal and Olympique Lyon on April 27, 2025. It was a right-footed shot from outside the box that made the score 0-2 in a match that ended 1-4.

Among the rivals of the Balearic midfielder is Marta herself, the Brazilian legend who lends her name to the trophy and is nominated for a goal she scored during a match between Orlando Pride and Kansas City Current on November 17, 2024, as well as Dutch player Vivianne Miedema, nominated for the goal she scored during the Wales-Netherlands match on July 5, 2025.