FIFA World Player of the Year

The FIFA World Player of the Year is a football award given annually to the male and female player who is thought to be the best in the world, based on votes by coaches of international teams. In a voting system based on a type of a Borda count, each coach gets three votes, worth five points, three points and one point, and the winners are ordered based on total number of points. The award started in 1991 for men and 2001 for women.

The award's youngest winner is Ronaldo, who won at the age of 20 in 1996. He won it again in 1997 and is the only male player to have won it twice in a row (Mia Hamm and Birgit Prinz have both achieved this feat in the women's section). Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane are the only three-time winners.

Following criticism from some sections of the media over questionable nominations in previous years in 2004 FIFA drew up a shortlist 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 organization for professional players) could vote. [1]

List of male winners

• 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Ronaldinho
  • 2nd – Thierry Henry
  • 3rd – Andriy Shevchenko
• 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Zinedine Zidane
  • 2nd – Thierry Henry
  • 3rd – Ronaldo
• 2002 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Ronaldo
  • 2nd – Oliver Kahn
  • 3rd – Zinedine Zidane
• 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Luis Figo
  • 2nd – David Beckham
  • 3rd – Raúl
• 2000 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Zinedine Zidane
  • 2nd – Luis Figo
  • 3rd – Rivaldo
• 1999 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Rivaldo
  • 2nd – David Beckham
  • 3rd – Gabriel Batistuta
• 1998 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Zinedine Zidane
  • 2nd – Ronaldo
  • 3rd – Davor Suker
• 1997 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Ronaldo
  • 2nd – Roberto Carlos
  • 3rd – Dennis Bergkamp, Zinedine Zidane
• 1996 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Ronaldo
  • 2nd – George Weah
  • 3rd – Alan Shearer
• 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – George Weah
  • 2nd – Paolo Maldini
  • 3rd – Jürgen Klinsmann
• 1994 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Romario
  • 2nd – Hristo Stoitchkov
  • 3rd – Roberto Baggio
• 1993 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Roberto Baggio
  • 2nd – Romario
  • 3rd – Dennis Bergkamp
• 1992 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Marco van Basten
  • 2nd – Hristo Stoitchkov
  • 3rd – Thomas Hässler
• 1991 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Lothar Matthäus
  • 2nd – Jean-Pierre Papin
  • 3rd – Gary Lineker

List of female winners

• 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Birgit Prinz, Germany
  • 2nd – Mia Hamm, United States
  • 3rd – Marta, Brazil
• 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Birgit Prinz, Germany
  • 2nd – Mia Hamm, United States
  • 3rd – Hanna Ljungberg, Sweden
• 2002 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Mia Hamm, United States
  • 2nd – Birgit Prinz, Germany
  • 3rd – Sun Wen, China
• 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year
  • 1st – Mia Hamm, United States
  • 2nd – Tiffeny Milbrett, United States
  • 3rd – Sun Wen, China