FIFA World Player of the Year

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 Since 2016, the awards have been replaced by The Best FIFA Men's Player and The Best FIFA Women's Player awards.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 Lothar Matthäus Inter Milan 128 2nd Jean-Pierre Papin Marseille 113 3rd Gary Lineker 40 1992 1st Marco van Basten Milan 166 2nd Hristo Stoichkov Barcelona 88 3rd Thomas Häßler Roma 61 1993 1st Roberto Baggio Juventus 152 2nd Romário Barcelona 84 3rd Dennis Bergkamp Inter Milan 58 1994 1st Romário Barcelona 346 2nd Hristo Stoichkov Barcelona 100 3rd Roberto Baggio Juventus 80 1995 1st George Weah Milan 170 2nd Paolo Maldini Milan 80 3rd Jürgen Klinsmann Bayern Munich 58 1996 1st Ronaldo Barcelona 329 2nd George Weah Milan 140 3rd Alan Shearer Newcastle United 123 1997 1st Ronaldo Inter Milan 480 2nd Roberto Carlos Real Madrid 85 3rd Dennis Bergkamp Arsenal 62 Zinedine Zidane Juventus 1998 1st Zinedine Zidane Juventus 518 2nd Ronaldo Inter Milan 164 3rd Davor Šuker Real Madrid 108 1999 1st Rivaldo Barcelona 543 2nd David Beckham Manchester United 194 3rd Gabriel Batistuta Fiorentina 79 2000 1st Zinedine Zidane Juventus 370 2nd Luís Figo Real Madrid 329 3rd Rivaldo Barcelona 263 2001 1st Luís Figo Real Madrid 250 2nd David Beckham Manchester United 238 3rd Raúl Real Madrid 96 2002 1st Ronaldo Real Madrid 387 2nd Oliver Kahn Bayern Munich 171 3rd Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid 148 2003 1st Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid 264 2nd Thierry Henry Arsenal 200 3rd Ronaldo Real Madrid 176 2004 1st Ronaldinho Barcelona 620 2nd Thierry Henry Arsenal 552 3rd Andriy Shevchenko Milan 253 2005 1st Ronaldinho Barcelona 956 2nd Frank Lampard Chelsea 306 3rd Samuel Eto'o Barcelona 190 2006 1st Fabio Cannavaro Real Madrid 498 2nd Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid 454 3rd Ronaldinho Barcelona 380 2007 1st Kaká Milan 1,047 2nd Lionel Messi Barcelona 504 3rd Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United 426 2008 1st Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United 935 2nd Lionel Messi Barcelona 678 3rd Fernando Torres Liverpool 203 2009 1st Lionel Messi Barcelona 1,073 2nd Real Madrid 352 3rd Xavi Barcelona 196

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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 Zinedine Zidane 1 (2006) Ronaldo 3 (1996, 1997, 2002) 1 (1998) 1 (2003) Ronaldinho 2 (2004, 2005) — 1 (2006) Lionel Messi 1 (2009) — Cristiano Ronaldo 1 (2008) 1 (2009) 1 (2007) Romário 1 (1994) 1 (1993) — George Weah 1 (1995) 1 (1996) — Luís Figo 1 (2001) 1 (2000) — Roberto Baggio 1 (1993) — 1 (1994) Rivaldo 1 (1999) — 1 (2000) Lothar Matthäus 1 (1991) — — 1 (1992) — — Fabio Cannavaro 1 (2006) — — Kaká 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 Barcelona 5 6 Real Madrid 4 4 Milan 3 3 Juventus 2 3 Inter Milan 2 2 Manchester United 1 1

FIFA Women's World Player of the Year

Year Rank Player Team Points 2001 1st Mia Hamm Washington Freedom 154 2nd Sun Wen Atlanta Beat 79 3rd Tiffeny Milbrett New York Power 47 2002 1st Mia Hamm Washington Freedom 161 2nd Birgit Prinz 1. FFC Frankfurt Carolina Courage 96 3rd Sun Wen Atlanta Beat Shanghai SVA 58 2003 1st Birgit Prinz Carolina Courage 1. FFC Frankfurt 268 2nd Mia Hamm Washington Freedom 133 3rd Hanna Ljungberg Umeå IK 84 2004 1st Birgit Prinz 1. FFC Frankfurt 376 2nd Mia Hamm Washington Freedom 286 3rd Marta Santa Cruz Umeå IK 281 2005 1st Birgit Prinz 1. FFC Frankfurt 513 2nd Marta Umeå IK 429 3rd Shannon Boxx Ajax America Women 235 2006 1st Marta Umeå IK 475 2nd Kristine Lilly KIF Örebro DFF 388 3rd Renate Lingor 1. FFC Frankfurt 305 2007 1st Marta Umeå IK 988 2nd Birgit Prinz 1. FFC Frankfurt 507 3rd Cristiane VfL Wolfsburg 150 2008 1st Marta Umeå IK 1,002 2nd Birgit Prinz 1. FFC Frankfurt 328 3rd Cristiane Corinthians 275 2009 1st Marta Santos 833 2nd Birgit Prinz 1. FFC Frankfurt 290 3rd Kelly Smith Boston Breakers 252 2010 1st Marta FC Gold Pride 38.20% 2nd Birgit Prinz 1. FFC Frankfurt 15.18% 3rd Fatmire Bajramaj 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam 9.96% 2011 1st Homare Sawa INAC Kobe Leonessa 28.51% 2nd Marta Western New York Flash 17.28% 3rd Abby Wambach magicJack 13.26% 2012 1st Abby Wambach Unattached 20.67% 2nd Marta Tyresö FF 13.50% 3rd Alex Morgan Seattle Sounders 10.87% 2013 1st Nadine Angerer Brisbane Roar 18.85% 2nd Abby Wambach Western New York Flash 15.02% 3rd Marta Tyresö FF 14.02% 2014 1st Nadine Keßler VfL Wolfsburg 17.52% 2nd Marta FC Rosengård 14.16% 3rd Abby Wambach Western New York Flash 13.33% 2015 1st Carli Lloyd Houston Dash 35.28% 2nd Célia Šašić 1. FFC Frankfurt 12.60% 3rd Aya Miyama Okayama Yunogo Belle 9.88%

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In 2016, FIFA created The Best FIFA Women's Player award instead.

Wins by player Player 1st 2nd 3rd Marta 5 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) 4 (2005, 2011, 2012, 2014) 2 (2004, 2013) Birgit Prinz 3 (2003, 2004, 2005) 5 (2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) — Mia Hamm 2 (2001, 2002) 2 (2003, 2004) — Abby Wambach 1 (2012) 1 (2013) 2 (2011, 2014) Homare Sawa 1 (2011) — — Nadine Angerer 1 (2013) — — Nadine Keßler 1 (2014) — — Carli Lloyd 1 (2015) — —

Wins by country Country Players Total 3 5 1 5 3 4 1 1

Wins by club Club Players Total 1. FFC Frankfurt 1 3 Umeå IK 1 3 Washington Freedom 1 2 Santos 1 1 INAC Kobe Leonessa 1 1 Brisbane Roar 1 1 VfL Wolfsburg 1 1 Houston Dash 1 1

FIFA World Player of the Year

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