This article is about the current women's World Player of the Year award, formerly presented to men as well. For the new men's World Player of the Year award, see
FIFA Ballon d'Or.
The FIFA World Player of the Year is an association football award presented to the 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; a women's award was added in 2001. In a voting system based on positional voting, each coach has three votes, worth five points, three points and one point, and the winners are ordered based on total number of points.
During the time that the men's award was presented, European-based Brazilian players dominated that award, winning 8 out of 18 editions of the prize, ahead of the second country France, which won it three times. In terms of individual players who have received the award, Brazil leads with five, followed by Italy and Portugal with two each.[1][2]
The women's award has had fewer individual winners. So far, only five players – one from each of three different countries, plus two Americans – have won the award. Of these women, only 2011 winner Homare Sawa and 2012 winner Abby Wambach have won only one award.
The award's youngest winner, male or female, was Ronaldo, who won at the age of 20 in 1996. He won it again in 1997 and 2002. Marta is the only player to win it five times in a row; Birgit Prinz won three times in a row, while Ronaldo, Mia Hamm and Ronaldinho won twice in a row. Marta is the only five-time winner, while Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, and Prinz have won the award three times. The oldest winner of either sex is Sawa, who was 33 when she won in 2011. The oldest male winner is Fabio Cannavaro, who was also 33 when he won in 2006, but whose birth date is one week after Sawa's. The youngest female winner is Marta, who won in 2006 at age 20, but was seven months older than Ronaldo in 1996.
In 2010, the FIFA World Player of the Year and France Football's Ballon d'Or award were merged and the world's best male player has since been awarded the FIFA Ballon d'Or each year.[3]
Nomination and selection process[edit]
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 FIFPro (the worldwide representative organisation for professional players) could vote.[4]
Winners[edit]
List of male winners[edit]
Wins by player[edit]
Wins by country[edit]
Table of winners categorised by the player's nationality (not the nationality of his club).
| # |
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) |
* There was a tie for that place
Wins by club[edit]
| # |
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) |
*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)
List of female winners[edit]
Wins by player[edit]
Wins by country[edit]
Table of winners categorised by the player's nationality (not the nationality of her club).
| # |
Country |
First place |
Second place |
Third place |
| 1 |
Brazil |
5 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) |
3 (2005, 2011, 2012) |
3 (2004, 2007, 2008) |
| 2 |
Germany |
3 (2003, 2004, 2005) |
5 (2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) |
2 (2006, 2010) |
| 3 |
 United States |
3 (2001, 2002, 2012) |
4 (2001, 2003, 2004, 2006) |
3 (2005, 2011, 2012) |
| 4 |
 Japan |
1 (2011) |
0 |
0 |
| 5 |
 China PR |
0 |
0 |
2 (2001, 2002) |
| 6 |
England |
0 |
0 |
1 (2009) |
| 7 |
 Sweden |
0 |
0 |
1 (2003) |
Wins by club[edit]
| # |
Club |
First place |
Second place |
Third place |
| 1 |
1. FFC Frankfurt |
3 (2003, 2004, 2005) |
5 (2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) |
1 (2006) |
| 2 |
Umeå IK |
3 (2006, 2007, 2008) |
1 (2005) |
2 (2003, 2004) |
| 3 |
Washington Freedom |
2 (2001, 2002) |
2 (2003, 2004) |
0 |
| 4 |
Santos |
2 (2009, 2010) |
0 |
0 |
| 5 |
INAC Kobe Leonessa |
1 (2011) |
0 |
0 |
|
FC Gold Pride |
1 (2010) |
0 |
0 |
|
Los Angeles Sol |
1 (2009) |
0 |
0 |
| 8 |
Tyresö FF |
0 |
1 (2012) |
0 |
|
Western New York Flash |
0 |
1 (2011) |
0 |
|
KIF Örebro DFF |
0 |
1 (2006) |
0 |
|
New York Power |
0 |
1 (2001) |
0 |
| 12 |
Atlanta Beat |
0 |
0 |
2 (2001, 2002) |
| 13 |
Seattle Sounders Women |
0 |
0 |
1 (2012) |
|
magicJack |
0 |
0 |
1 (2011) |
|
Turbine Potsdam |
0 |
0 |
1 (2010) |
|
Boston Breakers |
0 |
0 |
1 (2009) |
|
Linköping |
0 |
0 |
1 (2008) |
|
Corinthians |
0 |
0 |
1 (2008) |
|
VfL Wolfsburg |
0 |
0 |
1 (2007) |
|
Unattached |
1 (2012) |
0 |
1 (2005) |
See also[edit]
Notes and references[edit]
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FIFA World Player of the Year
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FIFA World Player of the Year
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Zinedine Zidane
Ronaldo
Ronaldinho
Lionel Messi
George Weah
Roberto Baggio
Marco van Basten
Lothar Matthäus
David Beckham
Hristo Stoichkov
Xavi
Samuel Eto'o
Andriy Shevchenko
Davor Šuker
Mia Hamm
Homare Sawa
Sun Wen
Hanna Ljungberg
