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The Best FIFA Football Award is presented every year by the game's governing body FIFA for both male and female players, and coaches. It's a fairly recent award, introduced only in 2017.
The Best FIFA men's goalkeeper award, as the name suggests, goes to the standout keeper in a calendar year for club and country. Italy legend Gianluigi Buffon was the inaugural winner of the FIFA Best Goalkeeper award.
In subsequent years, the award has been won by Thibaut Courtois (2018), Alisson (2019) and Manuel Neuer (2020).
The nominees for this year's award comprise five goalkeepers plying their trade in three different top five leagues in Europe.
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On that note, here's a look at how each nominee has fared during the year:
#5 Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City/Denmark)
Kasper Schmeichel has been one of the standout performers for Leicester City since their improbable Premier League triumph in 2016.
The 35-year-old has continued his impressive performances for The Foxes, not missing a league game since the 2017-18 campaign.
In this period, Schmeichel has helped Leicester City grab consecutive top-five finishes, missing out narrowly on a top-four slot on the last day of the season.
Last season, the Denmark international added another feather to his cap. He became the first goalkeeper in nearly two decades to captain his team to an FA Cup triumph.
Schmeichel kept three clean sheets in four games, including one in the final against Chelsea. In the process, Leicester City became the latest winners of the competition.
Schmeichel also starred in Denmark's thrilling run to the Euro 2020 semi-finals. He is closing in on 450 appearances across competitions for Leicester City, having kept 139 clean sheets.
However, only two of them have come in 17 games this season. That makes him an unlikely winner of the Best FIFA men's goalkeeper award this year, despite his FA Cup and Euro exploits.
#4 Alisson Becker (Liverpool/Brazil)
Alisson Becker has been a key player for Liverpool since his arrival at the club in the summer of 2017.
The 2019 Best FIFA Men's goalkeeper winner has been colossal in the Reds' Champions League and Premier League triumphs in successive seasons. The former AS Roma custodian endured a dismal 2020-21 campaign, much like his club.
However, the Brazil international has recovered his mojo this campaign, powering Liverpool's march to their second Premier League title in three years.
Nevertheless, considering his lack of silverware for club and country in 2021, Alisson is unlikely to win his second Best FIFA men's goalkeeper award this year.
#3 Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich/Germany)
Manuel Neuer is one of four goalkeepers to have won the Best FIFA Men's goalkeeper award. In fact, the Bayern Munich and Germany custodian was the award's most recent recipient.
The 35-year-old played a key role in the Bavarian giants' second continental triumph in 2019-20, keeping 22 clean sheets in over 50 games across competitions.
Neuer continued his stellar exploits last season, helping Bayern Munich win a record-extending ninth Bundesliga title. In the summer. he starred for Germany in their run to the Round of 16 at Euro 2020.
It remains to be seen if that will be enough for Neuer to win his second Best FIFA award.
#2 Edouard Mendy (Chelsea/Senegal)
Edouard Mendy has been a revelation since arriving at Chelsea last summer. The Senegal international hit the ground running, keeping an impressive 25 clean sheets across competitions.
Mendy played a key role in the Blues' triumph in the UEFA Champions League, their second win in the competition. He kept nine clean sheets in 12 games as Chelsea reigned supreme in Europe after almost a decade.
But Mendy was a surprise snub in the 2021 Ballon d'Or shortlist. However, his exploits didn't go completely unnoticed, as the 29-year-old has been nominated for this year's Best FIFA men's goalkeeper award.
Continuing from where he left off last season, Mendy has already kept 10 clean sheets this campaign. Seven of them have come in the Premier League, helping the league leaders open up a three-point lead over holders Manchester City.
Considering his stellar exploits this year, Mendy is a frontrunner for the Best FIFA men's goalkeeper award.
#1 Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Gianluigi Donnarumma is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the moment. Still only 22, the former AC Milan custodian already has six top-flight campaigns under his belt.
Last season, Donnarumma kept 14 league clean sheets to help Milan return to the Champions League after almost a decade. However, there was better to come from the young custodian.
Donnarumma kept three clean sheets in seven games for Italy at Euro 2020. He also saved multiple penalties in their respective shootout wins over Spain and England in the semi-final and final as Italy won their first European Championship in five decades.
In the process, Donnarumma became the first goalkeeper in the competition's history to win the Player of the Tournament award.
Now at PSG, the Best FIFA men's goalkeeper nominee has had a slow start to life in France; he has kept only two clean sheets in seven games across competitions.
However, Donnarumma might have already done enough to win this year's Best FIFA men's goalkeeper award.
