The FIFA World Player of the Year is a football award given annually to the male and female player who are thought to be the best in the world, based on votes by coaches and captains 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, male or female, is Ronaldo, who won at the age of 20 in 1996. He won it again in 1997. Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Mia Hamm and Birgit Prinz are the only players to have won twice in a row. Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Prinz are the only three-time winners. The oldest winner is Fabio Cannavaro who won in 2006 at age 33. The oldest female winner is Hamm, who won in 2002 at age 30, and the youngest female winner is Marta, who won in 2006 at age 20 (but was seven months older than was Ronaldo in 1996).
Nomination and Selection Process
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].
Another criticism brought up against the men's nominations is that no player in activity outside of Europe has ever been nominated for the award. Although players from several nationalities, of three continents, have been nominated and won the award, they were all playing for European clubs at the time of their nomination or victory, for which the European Footballer of the Year award is already been given out.
It has been suggested that players active in the leagues of other nations (the next most competitive after UEFA is generally considered Latin America, such as the Argentine, the Brazilian or the Mexican Leagues), are generally overlooked for the award. Others have noted that because of the money involved almost all of the world's best players play in European leagues by the time they mature as players.
La Liga players have won the men's award 6 years running, from 2001 to 2006.
Winners
List of male winners
Players' All-time ranking by places (top 3)
| Player | First place | Second place | Third place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Zinedine Zidane
|
3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 |  Ronaldo
|
3 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Ronaldinho
|
2 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Romário
|
1 | 1 | 0 |
 Luís Figo
|
1 | 1 | 0 | |
 George Weah
|
1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 7 | Rivaldo
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Roberto Baggio
|
1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 9 |  Marco Van Basten
|
1 | 0 | 0 |
 Lothar Matthäus
|
1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fabio Cannavaro
|
1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 |  Hristo Stoitchkov
|
0 | 2 | 0 |
 David Beckham
|
0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Thierry Henry
|
0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 14 | Jean-Pierre Papin
|
0 | 1 | 0 |
| Roberto Carlos da Silva
|
0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Paolo Maldini
|
0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Oliver Kahn
|
0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Frank Lampard
|
0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 19 | Dennis Bergkamp
|
0 | 0 | 2 |
| 20 |  Gabriel Batistuta
|
0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jürgen Klinsmann
|
0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Raúl González
|
0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Andriy Shevchenko
|
0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Gary Lineker
|
0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Thomas Häßler
|
0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Alan Shearer
|
0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Davor Suker
|
0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Samuel Eto'o
|
0 | 0 | 1 |
Wins By Country
Table of winners categorised by the player's nationality (not the nationality of his club).
| Country | First place | Second place | Third place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil
|
7 (1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005) | 3 (1993, 1997, 1998) | 3 (2000, 2003, 2006) |
| 2 | France
|
3 (1998, 2000, 2003) | 4 (1991, 2003, 2004, 2006) | 2 (1997*, 2002) |
| 3 | Italy
|
2 (1993, 2006) | 1 (1995) | 1 (1994) |
| 4 | Germany
|
1 (1991) | 1 (2002) | 2 (1992, 1995) |
| 5 | Portugal
|
1 (2001) | 1 (2000) | 0 |
| 6 | Liberia
|
1 (1995) | 1 (1996) | 0 |
| 7 | Netherlands
|
1 (1992) | 0 | 2 (1993, 1997*) |
| 8 | England
|
0 | 3 (1999, 2001,2005) | 2 (1991, 1996) |
| 9 | Bulgaria
|
0 | 2 (1992, 1994) | 0 |
| 10 | Croatia
|
0 | 0 | 1 (1998) |
| 11 | Argentina
|
0 | 0 | 1 (1999) |
| 12 | Spain
|
0 | 0 | 1 (2001) |
| 13 | Ukraine
|
0 | 0 | 1 (2004) |
| 14 | Cameroon
|
0 | 0 | 1 (2005) |
Wins By Club
| Club | First place | Second place | Third place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Barcelona
|
6 (1994, 1996**, 1997*, 1999, 2004, 2005) | 4 (1992, 1993, 1994, 2000*) | 3 (2000, 2005, 2006) |
| 2 | Real Madrid
|
4 (2001, 2002**, 2003, 2006**) | 3 (1997, 2000**, 2006*) | 4 (1998, 2001, 2002, 2003) |
| 3 | Juventus F.C.
|
4 (1993, 1998, 2000, 2006*) | 0 | 2 (1994, 1997) |
| 4 | F.C. Internazionale
|
3 (1991, 1997**, 2002*) | 1 (1998) | 1 (1993**) |
| 5 | A.C. Milan
|
2 (1992, 1995) | 2 (1995, 1996) | 1 (2004) |
| 6 | PSV Eindhoven
|
1 (1996*) | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Arsenal
|
0 | 2 (2003, 2004) | 1 (1997) |
| 8 | Manchester United
|
0 | 2 (1999, 2001) | 0 |
| 9 | Bayern Munich
|
0 | 1 (2002) | 1 (1995**) |
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur
|
0 | 0 | 2 (1991, 1995*) |
| 11 | Chelsea
|
0 | 1 (2005) | 0 |
| 12 | Olympique Marseille
|
0 | 1 (1991) | 0 |
| 13 | AC Fiorentina
|
0 | 0 | 1 (1999) |
| 14 | Newcastle United
|
0 | 0 | 1 (1996**) |
| 15 | Blackburn
|
0 | 0 | 1 (1996*) |
| 16 | Ajax Amsterdam
|
0 | 0 | 1 (1993*) |
| 17 | AS Roma
|
0 | 0 | 1 (1992) |
*Player was a member of the club for only the first part of the year.
**Player was a member of the club for only the second part of the year.
List of female winners
| Year | Place | Player | Nationality | Club | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 Details |
1st | Marta | Brazil |
 Umeå IK |
Midfield |
| 2nd | Kristine Lilly |  United States |
KIF Örebro DFF |
Midfield | |
| 3rd | Renate Lingor | Germany |
1. FFC Frankfurt |
Midfield | |
| 2005 Details |
1st | Birgit Prinz | Germany |
1. FFC Frankfurt |
Striker |
| 2nd | Marta | Brazil |
Umeå IK |
Midfield | |
| 3rd | Shannon Boxx | United States |
Midfield | ||
| 2004 Details |
1st | Birgit Prinz | Germany |
1. FFC Frankfurt |
Striker |
| 2nd | Mia Hamm | United States |
W. Freedom retired |
Striker | |
| 3rd | Marta | Brazil |
Umeå IK |
Midfield | |
| 2003 Details |
1st | Birgit Prinz | Germany |
1. FFC Frankfurt |
Striker |
| 2nd | Mia Hamm | United States |
Washington Freedom |
Striker | |
| 3rd | Hanna Ljungberg | Sweden |
Umeå IK |
Striker | |
| 2002 Details |
1st | Mia Hamm | United States |
Washington Freedom |
Striker |
| 2nd | Birgit Prinz | Germany |
1. FFC Frankfurt |
Striker | |
| 3rd | Sun Wen |  China |
Atlanta Beat |
Striker | |
| 2001 Details |
1st | Mia Hamm | United States |
Washington Freedom |
Striker |
| 2nd | Tiffeny Milbrett | United States |
New York Power |
Striker | |
| 3rd | Sun Wen | China |
Atlanta Beat |
Striker |
Wins By Country
Table of winners categorised by the player's nationality (not the nationality of her club).
| Country | First place | Second place | Third place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany
|
3 (2003, 2004, 2005) | 1 (2002) | 1 (2006) |
| 2 | United States
|
2 (2001, 2002) | 4 (2001, 2003, 2004), (2006) | 1 (2005) |
| 3 | Brazil
|
1 (2006) | 1 (2005) | 1 (2004) |
| 4 | China
|
0 | 0 | 2 (2001, 2002) |
| 5 | Sweden
|
0 | 0 | 1 (2003) |