The Best FIFA Men's Player is an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, to the world's best men's player since 2016. The award was formerly known as the FIFA World Player of the Year, which was merged with France Football's Ballon d'Or in 2010 to become the FIFA Ballon d'Or in a six-year partnership.
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Past winners of the Best FIFA award since 1991
The Best FIFA Men's Player award organised by FIFA started as FIFA Player of the Year in 1991 and it has been renamed twice with 30 winners.
Past winners of the Best FIFA award
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The latest winner of the award is Poland and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski who inspired the Bavarian giants to a treble-UEFA Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup.
Below are the past winners of the award since 1991
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FIFA World Player of the Year
Year Rank Player Team Points
1991 1st Germany Lothar Matthäus Italy Inter Milan 128
2nd France Jean-Pierre Papin France Marseille 113
3rd England Gary Lineker England Tottenham Hotspur 40
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1992 1st Netherlands Marco van Basten Italy Milan 166
2nd Bulgaria Hristo Stoichkov Spain Barcelona 88
3rd Germany Thomas Häßler Italy Roma 61
1993 1st Italy Roberto Baggio Italy Juventus 152
2nd Brazil Romário[note 1] Spain Barcelona 84
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3rd Netherlands Dennis Bergkamp[note 2] Italy Inter Milan 58
1994 1st Brazil Romário Spain Barcelona 346
2nd Bulgaria Hristo Stoichkov Spain Barcelona 100
3rd Italy Roberto Baggio Italy Juventus 80
1995 1st Liberia George Weah[note 3] Italy Milan 170
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2nd Italy Paolo Maldini Italy Milan 80
3rd Germany Jürgen Klinsmann[note 4] Germany Bayern Munich 58
1996 1st Brazil Ronaldo[note 5] Spain Barcelona 329
2nd Liberia George Weah Italy Milan 140
3rd England Alan Shearer[note 6] England Newcastle United 123
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1997 1st Brazil Ronaldo[note 7] Italy Inter Milan 480
2nd Brazil Roberto Carlos Spain Real Madrid 85
3rd Netherlands Dennis Bergkamp England Arsenal 62
France Zinedine Zidane Italy Juventus 62
1998 1st France Zinedine Zidane Italy Juventus 518
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2nd Brazil Ronaldo Italy Inter Milan 164
3rd Croatia Davor Šuker Spain Real Madrid 108
1999 1st Brazil Rivaldo Spain Barcelona 543
2nd England David Beckham England Manchester United 194
3rd Argentina Gabriel Batistuta Italy Fiorentina 79
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2000 1st France Zinedine Zidane Italy Juventus 370
2nd Portugal Luís Figo[note 8] Spain Real Madrid 329
3rd Brazil Rivaldo Spain Barcelona 263
2001 1st Portugal Luís Figo Spain Real Madrid 250
2nd England David Beckham England Manchester United 238
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3rd Spain Raúl Spain Real Madrid 96
2002 1st Brazil Ronaldo[note 9] Spain Real Madrid 387
2nd Germany Oliver Kahn Germany Bayern Munich 171
3rd France Zinedine Zidane Spain Real Madrid 148
2003 1st France Zinedine Zidane Spain Real Madrid 264
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2nd France Thierry Henry England Arsenal 200
3rd Brazil Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid 176
2004 1st Brazil Ronaldinho Spain Barcelona 620
2nd France Thierry Henry England Arsenal 552
3rd Ukraine Andriy Shevchenko Italy Milan 253
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2005 1st Brazil Ronaldinho Spain Barcelona 956
2nd England Frank Lampard England Chelsea 306
3rd Cameroon Samuel Eto'o Spain Barcelona 190
2006 1st Italy Fabio Cannavaro[note 10] Spain Real Madrid 498
2nd France Zinedine Zidane Spain Real Madrid 454
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3rd Brazil Ronaldinho Spain Barcelona 380
2007 1st Brazil Kaká Italy Milan 1,047
2nd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 504
3rd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo England Manchester United 426
2008 1st Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo England Manchester United 935
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2nd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 678
3rd Spain Fernando Torres England Liverpool 203
2009 1st Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 1,073
2nd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo[note 11] Spain Real Madrid 352
3rd Spain Xavi Spain Barcelona 196
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FIFA Ballon d'Or
Year Rank Player Team Votes
2010 1st Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 22.65%
2nd Spain Andrés Iniesta Spain Barcelona 17.36%
3rd Spain Xavi Spain Barcelona 16.48%
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2011 1st Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 47.88%
2nd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid 21.60%
3rd Spain Xavi Spain Barcelona 9.23%
2012 1st Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 41.60%
2nd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid 23.68%
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3rd Spain Andrés Iniesta Spain Barcelona 10.91%
2013 1st Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid 27.99%
2nd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 24.72%
3rd France Franck Ribéry Germany Bayern Munich 23.36%
2014 1st Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid 37.66%
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2nd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 15.76%
3rd Germany Manuel Neuer Germany Bayern Munich 15.72%
2015 1st Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 41.33%
2nd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid 27.76%
3rd Brazil Neymar Spain Barcelona 7.86%
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The Best FIFA Men's Player
Year Rank Player Team Votes
2016 1st Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid 34.54%
2nd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 26.42%
3rd France Antoine Griezmann Spain Atlético Madrid 7.53%
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2017 1st Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid 43.16%
2nd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 19.25%
3rd Brazil Neymar[note 1] France Paris Saint-Germain 6.97%
2018 1st Croatia Luka Modrić Spain Real Madrid 29.05%
2nd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo[note 2] Italy Juventus 19.08%
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3rd Egypt Mohamed Salah England Liverpool 11.23%
2019 1st Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 46
2nd Netherlands Virgil van Dijk England Liverpool 38
3rd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Italy Juventus 36
2020 1st Poland Robert Lewandowski Germany Bayern Munich 52
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2nd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Italy Juventus 38
3rd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 35
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