FIFA World Player of the Year

Sepp Blatter holds up the agreement creating the FIFA Ballon d'Or in Johannesburg in July 2010

The FIFA World Player of the Year is an association football award presented to the female player voted as best in the world by coaches and captains of international teams. It began in 1991 as an award for the best men's player in the world, and from 2001 to 2009 both men's and women's awards were presented. As of 2010, the equivalent men's award is the FIFA Ballon d'Or.^[1] In a voting system based on positional voting, each coach has three votes, worth five points, three points and one point, and the three finalists are ordered based on total number of points.

During the men's era, European-based Brazilian players dominated the award, winning 8 out of 18 times, compared to three wins – the second most – for French players. In terms of the number of individual players who have received the award from each country, Brazil leads with five, followed by Italy and Portugal with two each.^[2]^[3]

The award's youngest male winner was Ronaldo, who won at the age of 20 in 1996.^[4] He won it again in 1997 and 2002. Both Ronaldo and Ronaldinho won twice in a row. Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane won the award three times. The oldest winner is Fabio Cannavaro, who was 33 when he won in 2006.^[5]

So far, only seven female players – three Germans, two Americans, one Brazilian, and one Japanese – have won the award. Marta has won it five times in a row, 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 to win either the women's or men's award. The youngest winner is Marta, who won in 2006 at age 20.

Nomination and selection process 1
List of male winners 2
- Wins by player 2.1
- Wins by country 2.2
- Wins by club 2.3
List of female winners 3
- Wins by player 3.1
- Wins by country 3.2
- Wins by club 3.3
See also 4
Notes and references 5

Nomination and selection process

Following criticism from some sections of the media over nominations in previous years, in 2004 FIFA drew up a short list of 35 men and 21 women from which national team managers and, for the first time, team captains and representatives from

Categories

International women's association football

FIFA World Cup Olympics Algarve Cup Cyprus Cup U-20 World Cup U-17 World Cup World Rankings Player of the Year Player of the Century FIFA Ballon d'Or Geography Teams Competitions Federations Codes

Asia	AFC Women's Asian Cup U-19 U-16 Regional (ASEAN, EAFF, SAFF, WAFF)

Africa	CAF Women Cup of Nations U-20 U-17

North America, Central America and Caribbean	CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup U-20 U-17

South America	CONMEBOL Copa América Femenina U-20 U-17

Oceania	OFC Women's Nations Cup U-20 U-17

Europe	UEFA Women's Championship U-19 U-17

Non-FIFA	NF-Board Women's Viva World Cup

Games	All-Africa Games Asian Games Central America and Caribbean Central American Games Pan American Games Pacific Games South Asian Games Southeast Asian Games Universiade

See also

International association football

FIFA World Cup Confederations Cup U-20 World Cup U-17 World Cup Olympics Youth Olympics Universiade World Rankings Player of the Year FIFA Ballon d'Or Geography Teams Debuts Competitions Federations Codes

Asia	AFC – Asian Cup U-23 U-19 U-16 U-14 Regional (ASEAN, EAFF, SAFF, WAFF)

Africa	CAF – Africa Cup of Nations U-23 U-20 U-17

North America, Central America and the Caribbean	CONCACAF – Gold Cup U-20 U-17 U-15

South America	CONMEBOL – Copa América U-20 U-17 U-15

Oceania	OFC – Nations Cup U-20 U-17

Europe	UEFA – European Championship U-21 U-19 U-17

Non-FIFA	NF-Board – Viva World Cup CONIFA - ConIFA World Football Cup ConIFA European Football Cup IGA - Island Games

Games	All-Africa Games Asian Games Central America Central America and Caribbean East Asian Games Francophonie Games Indian Ocean Island Lusophony Games Mediterranean Games Pan American Games Pan Arab Games Pacific Games South Asian Games Southeast Asian Games

See also Non-FIFA

FIFA

History of FIFA FIFA Anthem FIFA Congress FIFA Executive Committee FIFA headquarters Football at the Summer Olympics List of football federations International Football Association Board

Football codes	Association football Beach football Futsal

Confederations	AFC CAF CONCACAF CONMEBOL OFC UEFA

Men's tournaments	FIFA World Cup FIFA Confederations Cup FIFA U-20 World Cup FIFA U-17 World Cup FIFA Club World Cup FIFA Futsal World Cup FIFA Beach Football World Cup Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup

Women's tournaments	FIFA Women's World Cup FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup FIFA Women's Club World Cup

Presidents	Robert Guérin (1904–1906) Daniel Burley Woolfall (1906–1918) Jules Rimet (1921–1954) Rodolphe Seeldrayers (1954–1955) Arthur Drewry (1955–1961) Stanley Rous (1961–1974) João Havelange (1974–1998) Sepp Blatter (1998–2015) Issa Hayatou (2015–present) (acting)

General Secretaries	Louis Muhlinghaus (1904–1906) Wilhelm Hirschman (1906–1931) Ivo Schricker (1932–1951) Kurt Gassmann (1951–1960) Helmut Käser (1961–1981) Sepp Blatter (1981–1998) Michel Zen-Ruffinen (1998–2002) Urs Linsi (2002–2007) Jérôme Valcke (2007–present)

Awards	FIFA 100 FIFA Ballon d'Or FIFA Club of the Century FIFA Development Award FIFA Fair Play Award FIFA Female Player of the Century FIFA FIFPro World XI FIFA Order of Merit FIFA Player of the Century FIFA Presidential Award FIFA Puskás Award FIFA Women's World Cup awards FIFA World Coach of the Year FIFA World Cup All-Time Team FIFA World Cup Dream Team FIFA World Cup awards FIFA World Player of the Year

Rankings	FIFA World Rankings FIFA World Ranking system (1999–2006) FIFA Women's World Rankings

Congresses	51st (Paris 1998) 53rd (Seoul 2002) 61st (Zürich 2011) 65th (Zürich 2015) Extraordinary (Zürich 2016)

Corruption	FIFA's Dirty Secrets Garcia Report 2015 FIFA corruption case

Others	FIFA (video game series) List of FIFA country codes FIFA Disciplinary Code FIFA Fan Fest FIFA Futbol Mundial FIFA eligibility rules FIFA International Match Calendar FIFA International Referees List FIFA Master FIFA Transfer Matching System FIFA World Cup Trophy Non-FIFA United Passions

FIFA World Player of the Year

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

FIFA Women's World Player of the Year

2001: Hamm 2002: Hamm 2003: Prinz 2004: Prinz 2005: Prinz 2006: Marta 2007: Marta 2008: Marta 2009: Marta 2010: Marta 2011: Sawa 2012: Wambach 2013: Angerer 2014: Keßler

FIFA World Player of the Year

1991: Matthäus 1992: van Basten 1993: Baggio 1994: Romário 1995: Weah 1996: Ronaldo 1997: Ronaldo 1998: Zidane 1999: Rivaldo 2000: Zidane 2001: Figo 2002: Ronaldo 2003: Zidane 2004: Ronaldinho 2005: Ronaldinho 2006: Cannavaro 2007: Kaká 2008: C. Ronaldo 2009: Messi

Ballon d'Or (1956–2009) FIFA Ballon d'Or

^ FIFA.com - The FIFA Ballon d'Or is born
^ "FIFA World Player". FIFA.com. Retrieved 1 April 2013
^ "FIFA Awards". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 1 April 2013
^ "Brazil legend Ronaldo retires from football" BBC. Retrieved 17 November 2013
^ "Cannavaro discusses highs and lows". Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 18 November 2013
^ FIFA.com - Thirty-five stars make Zurich shortlist

Notes and references

List of female winners

*Player was a member of the club for the second half of the calendar year (The first part of a new season - August to December)
**Player was a member of the club for the first half of the calendar year (The second part of a finished season - January to May)
***Player retired halfway through the calendar year so was a member of the club only for the first half of the calendar year (The second part of a finished season - January to May)

#	Club	First place	Second place	Third place
1	Barcelona	7 (1994, 1996, 1997*, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2009)	6 (1992, 1993, 1994, 2000*, 2007, 2008)	4 (2000, 2005, 2006, 2009)
2	Real Madrid	4 (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006)	4 (1997, 2000, 2006*, 2009)	3 (1998, 2001, 2003)
3	Juventus	4 (1993, 1998, 2000, 2006**)	0	2 (1994, 1997)
4	Milan	3 (1992, 1995*, 2007)	2 (1995, 1996)	1 (2004)
5	Internazionale	3 (1991, 1997, 2002*)	1 (1998)	1 (1993*)
6	Manchester United	1 (2008)	3 (1999, 2001, 2009**)	1 (2007)
7	PSV Eindhoven	1 (1996**)	1 (1993**)	0
8	Paris Saint-Germain	1 (1995**)	0	0
9	Arsenal	0	2 (2003, 2004)	1 (1997)
10	Bayern Munich	0	1 (2002)	1 (1995*)
11	Marseille	0	1 (1991)	0
11	Chelsea	0	1 (2005)	0
13	Tottenham Hotspur	0	0	2 (1991, 1995**)
14	Roma	0	0	1 (1992)
14	Ajax	0	0	1 (1993**)
14	Blackburn Rovers	0	0	1 (1996**)
14	Newcastle United	0	0	1 (1996*)
14	Fiorentina	0	0	1 (1999)
14	Liverpool	0	0	1 (2008)

Wins by club

* There was a tie for that place

#	Country	First place	Second place	Third place
1	Brazil	8 (1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007)	3 (1993, 1997, 1998)	3 (2000, 2003, 2006)
2	France	3 (1998, 2000, 2003)	4 (1991, 2003, 2004, 2006)	2 (1997*, 2002)
3	Portugal	2 (2001, 2008)	2 (2000, 2009)	1 (2007)
4	Italy	2 (1993, 2006)	1 (1995)	1 (1994)
5	Argentina	1 (2009)	2 (2007, 2008)	1 (1999)
6	Germany	1 (1991)	1 (2002)	2 (1992, 1995)
7	Liberia	1 (1995)	1 (1996)	0
8	Netherlands	1 (1992)	0	2 (1993, 1997*)
9	England	0	3 (1999, 2001, 2005)	2 (1991, 1996)
10	Bulgaria	0	2 (1992, 1994)	0
11	Spain	0	0	3 (2001, 2008, 2009)
12	Croatia	0	0	1 (1998)
12	Ukraine	0	0	1 (2004)
12	Cameroon	0	0	1 (2005)

Table of winners categorised by the player's nationality (not the nationality of his club).

Wins by country

#	Player	First place	Second place	Third place
1	Zinedine Zidane	3	1	2
2	Ronaldo	3	1	1
3	Ronaldinho	2	0	1
4	Lionel Messi	1	2	0
5	Cristiano Ronaldo	1	1	1
6	Luís Figo	1	1	0
	Romário	1	1	0
	George Weah	1	1	0
9	Rivaldo	1	0	1
9	Roberto Baggio	1	0	1
11	Kaká	1	0	0
	Fabio Cannavaro	1	0	0
	Marco van Basten	1	0	0
	Lothar Matthäus	1	0	0
15	Thierry Henry	0	2	0
	David Beckham	0	2	0
	Hristo Stoichkov	0	2	0
18	Frank Lampard	0	1	0
	Oliver Kahn	0	1	0
	Roberto Carlos	0	1	0
	Paolo Maldini	0	1	0
	Jean-Pierre Papin	0	1	0
23	Dennis Bergkamp	0	0	2
24	Xavi	0	0	1
	Fernando Torres	0	0	1
	Samuel Eto'o	0	0	1
	Andriy Shevchenko	0	0	1
	Raúl	0	0	1
	Gabriel Batistuta	0	0	1
	Davor Šuker	0	0	1
	Alan Shearer	0	0	1
	Jürgen Klinsmann	0	0	1
	Thomas Häßler	0	0	1
	Gary Lineker	0	0	1

Wins by player

FIFA World Player of the Year recipients
Year	1st	Club	2nd	Club	3rd	Club
1991	Matthäus, LotharLothar Matthäus (GER)	Internazionale	Papin, Jean-PierreJean-Pierre Papin (FRA)	Marseille	Lineker, GaryGary Lineker (ENG)	Tottenham Hotspur
1992	Van Basten, MarcoMarco Van Basten (NED)	Milan	Stoichkov, HristoHristo Stoichkov (BUL)	Barcelona	Haßler, ThomasThomas Haßler (GER)	Roma
1993	Baggio, RobertoRoberto Baggio (ITA)	Juventus	Romário (BRA)	Barcelona	Bergkamp, DennisDennis Bergkamp (NED)	Internazionale
1994	Romário (BRA)	Barcelona	Stoichkov, HristoHristo Stoichkov (BUL)	Barcelona	Baggio, RobertoRoberto Baggio (ITA)	Juventus
1995	)LBR(	Milan	Maldini, PaoloPaolo Maldini (ITA)	Milan	Klinsmann, JürgenJürgen Klinsmann (GER)	Bayern Munich
1996	Ronaldo (BRA)	Barcelona	)LBR(	Milan	Shearer, AlanAlan Shearer (ENG)	Newcastle United
1997	Ronaldo (BRA)	Inter Milan	Carlos, RobertoRoberto Carlos (BRA)	Real Madrid	Bergkamp, DennisDennis Bergkamp (NED) Zidane, ZinedineZinedine Zidane (FRA)	Arsenal Juventus
1998	Zidane, ZinedineZinedine Zidane (FRA)	Juventus	Ronaldo (BRA)	Inter Milan	Šuker, DavorDavor Šuker (CRO)	Real Madrid
1999	Rivaldo (BRA)	Barcelona	Beckham, DavidDavid Beckham (ENG)	Manchester United	Batistuta, GabrielGabriel Batistuta (ARG)	Fiorentina
2000	Zidane, ZinedineZinedine Zidane (FRA)	Juventus	Figo, LuísLuís Figo (POR)	Real Madrid	Rivaldo (BRA)	FC Barcelona
2001	Figo, LuísLuís Figo (POR)	Real Madrid	Beckham, DavidDavid Beckham (ENG)	Manchester United	Raúl (ESP)	Real Madrid
2002	Ronaldo (BRA)	Real Madrid	Kahn, OliverOliver Kahn (GER)	Bayern Munich	Zidane, ZinedineZinedine Zidane (FRA)	Real Madrid
2003	Zidane, ZinedineZinedine Zidane (FRA)	Real Madrid	Henry, ThierryThierry Henry (FRA)	Arsenal	Ronaldo (BRA)	Real Madrid
2004	Ronaldinho (BRA)	Barcelona	Henry, ThierryThierry Henry (FRA)	Arsenal	Shevchenko, AndriyAndriy Shevchenko (UKR)	Milan
2005	Ronaldinho (BRA)	Barcelona	Lampard, FrankFrank Lampard (ENG)	Chelsea	Eto'o, SamuelSamuel Eto'o (CMR)	Barcelona
2006	Cannavaro, FabioFabio Cannavaro (ITA)	Real Madrid	Zidane, ZinedineZinedine Zidane (FRA)	Real Madrid	Ronaldinho (BRA)	Barcelona
2007	Kaká (BRA)	Milan	Messi, LionelLionel Messi (ARG)	Barcelona	Ronaldo, CristianoCristiano Ronaldo (POR)	Manchester United
2008	Ronaldo, CristianoCristiano Ronaldo (POR)	Manchester United	Messi, LionelLionel Messi (ARG)	Barcelona	Torres, FernandoFernando Torres (ESP)	Liverpool
2009	Messi, LionelLionel Messi (ARG)	Barcelona	Ronaldo, CristianoCristiano Ronaldo (POR)	Manchester United	Xavi (ESP)	Barcelona
Since 2010, the world's best player has been awarded the FIFA Ballon d'Or

List of male winners

[6]

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FIFA World Player of the Year