The Best FIFA Men's Player is an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, since 2016, to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous calendar year.[1] 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.[2]

The Best FIFA Men's Player
Date2016; 8 years ago (2016)
Presented byFIFA
Formerly calledFIFA World Player of the Year (1991–2009)
FIFA Ballon d'Or (2010–2015)
First awarded2016
Current holderArgentina Lionel Messi
(3rd award)
Most awardsArgentina Lionel Messi
(3 awards)
Websitefifa.com
← 2022 · The Best FIFA Men's Player · 2023 →

History

In 2010, the FIFA World Player of the Year award combined with the Ballon d'Or to create the FIFA Ballon d'Or in a six-year partnership.[3] FIFA presided over the FIFA Ballon d'Or after agreeing to pay £13million for the merge of the two major player awards with France Football. The six editions of the FIFA Ballon d'Or were dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as part of their ongoing rivalry. In 2016, the Ballon d’Or again lost its "FIFA" tag and would be voted for exclusively by journalists, while the FIFA World Player of the Year award – which ran from 1991 to 2009 – was resurrected, this time as The Best FIFA Men's Player.[4]

According to reports, FIFA's decision not to renew the deal was made in order to improve the organization's strained relationship with England's FA. This was based on the fact the annual ceremony was held in Zürich – and new FIFA president Gianni Infantino wanted to move the next one to London.[citation needed]

The trophy was designed by Croatian artist Ana Barbić Katičić.[5]

Criteria and voting

The selection criteria for the players of the year are sporting performance, as well as general conduct on and off the pitch.

The votes are decided by media representatives, national team coaches, and national team captains. In October 2016, it was announced that the general public would also be allowed to vote. Each group has 25% of the overall vote.[6]

Winners

Year Rank Player Team Votes
2016 1st   Cristiano Ronaldo   Real Madrid 34.54%
2nd   Lionel Messi   Barcelona 26.42%
3rd   Antoine Griezmann   Atlético Madrid 7.53%
2017 1st   Cristiano Ronaldo   Real Madrid 43.16%
2nd   Lionel Messi   Barcelona 19.25%
3rd   Neymar[note 1]   Paris Saint-Germain 6.97%
2018 1st   Luka Modrić   Real Madrid 29.05%
2nd   Cristiano Ronaldo[note 2]   Juventus 19.08%
3rd   Mohamed Salah   Liverpool 11.23%
2019 1st   Lionel Messi   Barcelona 46
2nd   Virgil van Dijk   Liverpool 38
3rd   Cristiano Ronaldo   Juventus 36
2020 1st   Robert Lewandowski   Bayern Munich 52
2nd   Cristiano Ronaldo   Juventus 38
3rd   Lionel Messi   Barcelona 35
2021 1st   Robert Lewandowski   Bayern Munich 48
2nd   Lionel Messi[note 3]   Paris Saint-Germain 44
3rd   Mohamed Salah   Liverpool 39
2022 1st   Lionel Messi   Paris Saint-Germain 52
2nd   Kylian Mbappé   Paris Saint-Germain 44
3rd   Karim Benzema   Real Madrid 34
2023 1st   Lionel Messi[note 4]   Inter Miami 48[note 5]
2nd   Erling Haaland   Manchester City 48
3rd   Kylian Mbappé   Paris Saint-Germain 35

Wins by player

Player Winner Runner-up Third place
  Lionel Messi 3 (2019, 2022, 2023) 3 (2016, 2017, 2021) 1 (2020)
  Cristiano Ronaldo 2 (2016, 2017) 2 (2018, 2020) 1 (2019)
  Robert Lewandowski 2 (2020, 2021)
  Luka Modrić 1 (2018)
  Kylian Mbappé 1 (2022) 1 (2023)
  Virgil van Dijk 1 (2019)
  Erling Haaland 1 (2023)
  Mohamed Salah 2 (2018, 2021)
  Antoine Griezmann 1 (2016)
  Neymar 1 (2017)
  Karim Benzema 1 (2022)

Wins by country

Country Players Total
  Argentina 1 3
  Poland 1 2
  Portugal 1 2
  Croatia 1 1

Wins by club

Club Players Total
  Real Madrid 2 3
  Bayern Munich 1 2
  Barcelona 1 1
  Paris Saint Germain 1 1
  Inter Miami 1 1

FIFA Player of the Year (including predecessors)

Players FIFA World Player
of the Year

(1991–2009)
FIFA Ballon d'Or
(2010–2015)
The Best
FIFA Men's Player
(2016–present)
Total[7]
  Lionel Messi 1 4 3 8
  Cristiano Ronaldo 1 2 2 5
  Ronaldo 3 3
  Zinedine Zidane 3 3
  Ronaldinho 2 2
  Robert Lewandowski 2 2
  Lothar Matthäus 1 1
  Marco van Basten 1 1
  Roberto Baggio 1 1
  Romário 1 1
  George Weah 1 1
  Rivaldo 1 1
  Luís Figo 1 1
  Fabio Cannavaro 1 1
  Kaká 1 1
  Luka Modrić 1 1

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Neymar was signed by Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona midway through 2017.
  2. ^ Cristiano Ronaldo was signed by Juventus from Real Madrid midway through 2018.
  3. ^ Lionel Messi was signed by Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona midway through 2021.
  4. ^ Lionel Messi was signed by Inter Miami from Paris Saint-Germain midway through 2023.
  5. ^ As per the Rules of Allocation (art. 12), Lionel Messi (Argentina) won the Award on the basis of the votes cast by the men's national-team captains.

References

  1. ^ "The birth of The Best FIFA Football Awards". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  2. ^ "Ballon d'Or and Best FIFA Men's Player awards explained". Sky Sports. 12 December 2016. Archived from the original on 16 December 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  3. ^ "When are The Best FIFA Football Awards 2016?". Daily Mirror. 8 January 2017. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  4. ^ Lewis, Rhett (9 August 2022). "The Best FIFA Men's Player: Who Are The Best Footballers". History Of Soccer. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  5. ^ I. Ra (27 September 2018). "Hrvatica dizajnirala FIFA trofej: "Uvijek ću pamtiti tren kad ga je Luka digao"". Index.hr (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  6. ^ "The fans take centre stage". FIFA.com. 31 October 2016. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  7. ^ "The Best FIFA Football Awards in stats". FIFA. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024. Lionel Messi has seized FIFA's top men's individual award eight times – three more than second-placed Cristiano Ronaldo