Past winners of the Best FIFA award since 1991

Thomas Freeman Yeboah 19:21 - 18 December 2020

Past winners of the Best FIFA award

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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%

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%

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%

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%

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%

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%

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

2nd Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Italy Juventus 38

3rd Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona 35