From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
FIFA World Player of the Year
Association football award
Association football award
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | FIFA World Player of the Year |
| image | Ronaldo Cannes (cropped).jpg |
| image_size | 220 |
| caption | Ronaldo, the youngest recipient of the award aged 20, won it three times. |
| presenter | FIFA |
| year | 1991 |
| year2 | 2009 |
| most_awards | FRA Zinedine Zidane |
| BRA Ronaldo | |
| (3 awards each) | |
| website | |
| related | FIFA Ballon d'Or |
| The Best FIFA Men's Player |
the men's player of the year award from 1991 to 2009, and the women's player of the year award from 2001 to 2015
BRA Ronaldo (3 awards each) The Best FIFA Men's Player The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representatives selected the player they deem to have performed the best in the previous calendar year.
Originally a single award for the world's best men's player, parallel awards for men and women were awarded from 2001 to 2009. The men's award was subsumed into the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010 while the women's award remained until 2015. After 2015 both men's and women's awards became part of The Best FIFA Football Awards.
During the men's era, Brazilian players won 8 out of 19 years, compared to three wins – the second most – for French players. In terms of individual players, Brazil again led with five, followed by Italy and Portugal with two each. The youngest winner was Ronaldo, who won at 20 years old in 1996, and the oldest winner was Fabio Cannavaro, who won aged 33 in 2006. Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane each won the award three times, while Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were the only players to win in successive years. From 2010 to 2015, the equivalent men's award was the FIFA Ballon d'Or, following a merging of the FIFA World Player of the Year and the France Football Ballon d'Or awards. Since 2016, the awards have been replaced by The Best FIFA Men's Player and The Best FIFA Women's Player awards.
Eight women's footballers – three Germans, three Americans, one Brazilian, and one Japanese – have won the award. Marta, the youngest recipient at age 20 in 2006, has won five successive awards, the most of any player. Birgit Prinz won three times in a row and Mia Hamm won twice in a row. The oldest winner is Nadine Angerer, who was 35 when she won in 2013; she is also the only goalkeeper of either sex to win.
Voting and selection process
The winners are chosen by the coaches and captains of national teams as well as by international media representatives invited by FIFA. In a voting system based on positional voting, each voter is allotted three votes, worth five points, three points and one point, and the three finalists are ordered based on total number of points. Following criticism from some sections of the media over nominations in previous years, FIFA has since 2004 provided shortlists from which its voters can select their choices.
FIFA World Player of the Year
| Year | Rank | Player | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 1st | GER Lothar Matthäus | ITA Inter Milan | 128 |
| 2nd | FRA Jean-Pierre Papin | FRA Marseille | 113 | |
| 3rd | ENG Gary Lineker | ENG Tottenham Hotspur | 40 | |
| 1992 | 1st | NED Marco van Basten | ITA Milan | 166 |
| 2nd | BUL Hristo Stoichkov | ESP Barcelona | 88 | |
| 3rd | GER Thomas Häßler | ITA Roma | 61 | |
| 1993 | 1st | ITA Roberto Baggio | ITA Juventus | 152 |
| 2nd | BRA Romário | ESP Barcelona | 84 | |
| 3rd | NED Dennis Bergkamp | ITA Inter Milan | 58 | |
| 1994 | 1st | BRA Romário | ESP Barcelona | 346 |
| 2nd | BUL Hristo Stoichkov | ESP Barcelona | 100 | |
| 3rd | ITA Roberto Baggio | ITA Juventus | 80 | |
| 1995 | 1st | LBR George Weah | ITA Milan | 170 |
| 2nd | ITA Paolo Maldini | ITA Milan | 80 | |
| 3rd | GER Jürgen Klinsmann | GER Bayern Munich | 58 | |
| 1996 | 1st | BRA Ronaldo | ESP Barcelona | 329 |
| 2nd | LBR George Weah | ITA Milan | 140 | |
| 3rd | ENG Alan Shearer | ENG Newcastle United | 123 | |
| 1997 | 1st | BRA Ronaldo | ITA Inter Milan | 480 |
| 2nd | BRA Roberto Carlos | ESP Real Madrid | 85 | |
| 3rd | NED Dennis Bergkamp | ENG Arsenal | 62 | |
| FRA Zinedine Zidane | ITA Juventus | |||
| 1998 | 1st | FRA Zinedine Zidane | ITA Juventus | 518 |
| 2nd | BRA Ronaldo | ITA Inter Milan | 164 | |
| 3rd | CRO Davor Šuker | ESP Real Madrid | 108 | |
| 1999 | 1st | BRA Rivaldo | ESP Barcelona | 543 |
| 2nd | ENG David Beckham | ENG Manchester United | 194 | |
| 3rd | ARG Gabriel Batistuta | ITA Fiorentina | 79 | |
| 2000 | 1st | FRA Zinedine Zidane | ITA Juventus | 370 |
| 2nd | POR Luís Figo | ESP Real Madrid | 329 | |
| 3rd | BRA Rivaldo | ESP Barcelona | 263 | |
| 2001 | 1st | POR Luís Figo | ESP Real Madrid | 250 |
| 2nd | ENG David Beckham | ENG Manchester United | 238 | |
| 3rd | ESP Raúl | ESP Real Madrid | 96 | |
| 2002 | 1st | BRA Ronaldo | ESP Real Madrid | 387 |
| 2nd | GER Oliver Kahn | GER Bayern Munich | 171 | |
| 3rd | FRA Zinedine Zidane | ESP Real Madrid | 148 | |
| 2003 | 1st | FRA Zinedine Zidane | ESP Real Madrid | 264 |
| 2nd | FRA Thierry Henry | ENG Arsenal | 200 | |
| 3rd | BRA Ronaldo | ESP Real Madrid | 176 | |
| 2004 | 1st | BRA Ronaldinho | ESP Barcelona | 620 |
| 2nd | FRA Thierry Henry | ENG Arsenal | 552 | |
| 3rd | UKR Andriy Shevchenko | ITA Milan | 253 | |
| 2005 | 1st | BRA Ronaldinho | ESP Barcelona | 956 |
| 2nd | ENG Frank Lampard | ENG Chelsea | 306 | |
| 3rd | CMR Samuel Eto'o | ESP Barcelona | 190 | |
| 2006 | 1st | ITA Fabio Cannavaro | ESP Real Madrid | 498 |
| 2nd | FRA Zinedine Zidane | ESP Real Madrid | 454 | |
| 3rd | BRA Ronaldinho | ESP Barcelona | 380 | |
| 2007 | 1st | BRA Kaká | ITA Milan | 1,047 |
| 2nd | ARG Lionel Messi | ESP Barcelona | 504 | |
| 3rd | POR Cristiano Ronaldo | ENG Manchester United | 426 | |
| 2008 | 1st | POR Cristiano Ronaldo | ENG Manchester United | 935 |
| 2nd | ARG Lionel Messi | ESP Barcelona | 678 | |
| 3rd | ESP Fernando Torres | ENG Liverpool | 203 | |
| 2009 | 1st | ARG Lionel Messi | ESP Barcelona | 1,073 |
| 2nd | POR Cristiano Ronaldo | ESP Real Madrid | 352 | |
| 3rd | ESP Xavi | ESP Barcelona | 196 |
Source:
From 2010 to 2015, the award was merged with the Ballon d'Or to become the FIFA Ballon d'Or in a six-year partnership with France Football. In 2016, FIFA rebranded the award as The Best FIFA Men's Player.
A single article from the Portuguese daily newspaper A Bola reporting about the 1992 award mentions the former award winners Lothar Matthäus in 1991, but also Diego Maradona in 1990. There is no other evidence of the award being presented by FIFA prior to 1991.
Wins by player
| Player | Winner | Runner-up | Third place | FRA Zinedine Zidane | BRA Ronaldo | BRA Ronaldinho | ARG Lionel Messi | POR Cristiano Ronaldo | POR Luís Figo | BRA Romário | LBR George Weah | ITA Roberto Baggio | BRA Rivaldo | GER Lothar Matthäus | NED Marco van Basten | ITA Fabio Cannavaro | BRA Kaká |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 (1998, 2000, 2003) | 1 (2006) | 2 (1997, 2002) | |||||||||||||||
| 3 (1996, 1997, 2002) | 1 (1998) | 1 (2003) | |||||||||||||||
| 2 (2004, 2005) | — | 1 (2006) | |||||||||||||||
| 1 (2009) | 2 (2007, 2008) | — | |||||||||||||||
| 1 (2008) | 1 (2009) | 1 (2007) | |||||||||||||||
| 1 (2001) | 1 (2000) | — | |||||||||||||||
| 1 (1994) | 1 (1993) | — | |||||||||||||||
| 1 (1995) | 1 (1996) | — | |||||||||||||||
| 1 (1993) | — | 1 (1994) | |||||||||||||||
| 1 (1999) | — | 1 (2000) | |||||||||||||||
| 1 (1991) | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| 1 (1992) | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| 1 (2006) | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| 1 (2007) | — | — |
Wins by country
| Country | Players | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 8 | |
| 2 | 2 | |
| 2 | 2 | |
| 1 | 3 | |
| 1 | 1 | |
| 1 | 1 | |
| 1 | 1 | |
| 1 | 1 |
Wins by club
| Club | Players | Total | ESP Barcelona | ESP Real Madrid | ITA Milan | ITA Juventus | ITA Inter Milan | ENG Manchester United |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 6 | |||||||
| 4 | 4 | |||||||
| 3 | 3 | |||||||
| 2 | 3 | |||||||
| 2 | 2 | |||||||
| 1 | 1 |
FIFA Women's World Player of the Year
| Year | Rank | Player | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1st | USA Mia Hamm | USA Washington Freedom | 154 |
| 2nd | CHN Sun Wen | USA Atlanta Beat | 79 | |
| 3rd | USA Tiffeny Milbrett | USA New York Power | 47 | |
| 2002 | 1st | USA Mia Hamm | USA Washington Freedom | 161 |
| 2nd | GER Birgit Prinz | GER 1. FFC Frankfurt | ||
| USA Carolina Courage | 96 | |||
| 3rd | CHN Sun Wen | USA Atlanta Beat | ||
| CHN Shanghai SVA | 58 | |||
| 2003 | 1st | GER Birgit Prinz | **USA Carolina Courage | |
| GER 1. FFC Frankfurt** | 268 | |||
| 2nd | USA Mia Hamm | USA Washington Freedom | 133 | |
| 3rd | SWE Hanna Ljungberg | SWE Umeå IK | 84 | |
| 2004 | 1st | GER Birgit Prinz | GER 1. FFC Frankfurt | 376 |
| 2nd | USA Mia Hamm | USA Washington Freedom | 286 | |
| 3rd | BRA Marta | BRA Santa Cruz | ||
| SWE Umeå IK | 281 | |||
| 2005 | 1st | GER Birgit Prinz | GER 1. FFC Frankfurt | 513 |
| 2nd | BRA Marta | SWE Umeå IK | 429 | |
| 3rd | USA Shannon Boxx | USA Ajax America Women | 235 | |
| 2006 | 1st | BRA Marta | SWE Umeå IK | 475 |
| 2nd | USA Kristine Lilly | SWE KIF Örebro DFF | 388 | |
| 3rd | GER Renate Lingor | GER 1. FFC Frankfurt | 305 | |
| 2007 | 1st | BRA Marta | SWE Umeå IK | 988 |
| 2nd | GER Birgit Prinz | GER 1. FFC Frankfurt | 507 | |
| 3rd | BRA Cristiane | GER VfL Wolfsburg | 150 | |
| 2008 | 1st | BRA Marta | SWE Umeå IK | 1,002 |
| 2nd | GER Birgit Prinz | GER 1. FFC Frankfurt | 328 | |
| 3rd | BRA Cristiane | BRA Corinthians | 275 | |
| 2009 | 1st | BRA Marta | BRA Santos | 833 |
| 2nd | GER Birgit Prinz | GER 1. FFC Frankfurt | 290 | |
| 3rd | ENG Kelly Smith | USA Boston Breakers | 252 | |
| 2010 | 1st | BRA Marta | USA FC Gold Pride | 38.20% |
| 2nd | GER Birgit Prinz | GER 1. FFC Frankfurt | 15.18% | |
| 3rd | GER Fatmire Bajramaj | GER 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam | 9.96% | |
| 2011 | 1st | JPN Homare Sawa | JPN INAC Kobe Leonessa | 28.51% |
| 2nd | BRA Marta | USA Western New York Flash | 17.28% | |
| 3rd | USA Abby Wambach | USA magicJack | 13.26% | |
| 2012 | 1st | USA Abby Wambach | *Unattached* | 20.67% |
| 2nd | BRA Marta | SWE Tyresö FF | 13.50% | |
| 3rd | USA Alex Morgan | USA Seattle Sounders | 10.87% | |
| 2013 | 1st | GER Nadine Angerer | AUS Brisbane Roar | 18.85% |
| 2nd | USA Abby Wambach | USA Western New York Flash | 15.02% | |
| 3rd | BRA Marta | SWE Tyresö FF | 14.02% | |
| 2014 | 1st | GER Nadine Keßler | GER VfL Wolfsburg | 17.52% |
| 2nd | BRA Marta | SWE FC Rosengård | 14.16% | |
| 3rd | USA Abby Wambach | USA Western New York Flash | 13.33% | |
| 2015 | 1st | USA Carli Lloyd | USA Houston Dash | 35.28% |
| 2nd | GER Célia Šašić | GER 1. FFC Frankfurt | 12.60% | |
| 3rd | JPN Aya Miyama | JPN Okayama Yunogo Belle | 9.88% |
Source:
In 2016, FIFA created The Best FIFA Women's Player award instead.
Wins by player
| Player | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | BRA Marta | GER Birgit Prinz | USA Mia Hamm | USA Abby Wambach | JPN Homare Sawa | GER Nadine Angerer | GER Nadine Keßler | USA Carli Lloyd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) | 4 (2005, 2011, 2012, 2014) | 2 (2004, 2013) | |||||||||
| 3 (2003, 2004, 2005) | 5 (2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) | — | |||||||||
| 2 (2001, 2002) | 2 (2003, 2004) | — | |||||||||
| 1 (2012) | 1 (2013) | 2 (2011, 2014) | |||||||||
| 1 (2011) | — | — | |||||||||
| 1 (2013) | — | — | |||||||||
| 1 (2014) | — | — | |||||||||
| 1 (2015) | — | — |
Wins by country
| Country | Players | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 5 | |
| 1 | 5 | |
| 3 | 4 | |
| 1 | 1 |
Wins by club
| Club | Players | Total | GER 1. FFC Frankfurt | SWE Umeå IK | USA Washington Freedom | BRA Santos | JPN INAC Kobe Leonessa | AUS Brisbane Roar | GER VfL Wolfsburg | USA Houston Dash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 |
Notes
References
References
- "FACTSheet FIFA awards". [[FIFA]].
- "FIFA Awards".
- "Brazil legend Ronaldo retires from football".
- "Cannavaro discusses highs and lows". Football Federation Australia.
- "The FIFA Ballon d'Or is born".
- "FIFA Ballon d'Or World Player of the Year: Award History".
- "The birth of The Best FIFA Football Awards". FIFA.com.
- (12 January 2016). "Messi, Lloyd, Luis Enrique and Ellis triumph at FIFA Ballon d'Or 2015". FIFA.
- "Thirty-five stars make Zurich shortlist".
- "Guerin Sportivo World Player of the Year awards 1979-1986".
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about FIFA World Player of the Year — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report