FIFA World Player Gala was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

award show presented annually by the sport's governing body,

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, throughout 1991-2009. The first awarding ceremony was held on 8 December 1991 in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, Switzerland. The award show was superseded first by the

FIFA Ballon d'Or The FIFA Ballon d'Or ("Golden Ball") was an annual association football award presented to the world's best men's player from 2010 to 2015. Awarded jointly by FIFA and ''France Football'', the prize was a merger of the FIFA World Player of the Ye ...

during 2010-15, and since 2016 by

The Best FIFA Football Awards The Best FIFA Football Awards is an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA. The first awarding ceremony was held on 9 January 2017 in Zürich, Switzerland. The award is aimed at reviving the FIFA Wor ...

. FIFA consider the three historic versions of its gala show as subversions of the same event, and thus celebrated its 30 years anniversary in 2021. FIFA's historical statistics also list the awards in one overall list, comprising the records of all three gala show versions.

Awards by year

1991 awards

World Player of the year The FIFA Ballon d'Or ("Golden Ball") was an annual association football award presented to the world's best men's player from 2010 to 2015. Awarded jointly by FIFA and ''France Football'', the prize was a merger of the FIFA World Player of the Y ...

: Lothar MATTHAEUS (GER) * FIFA Fair Play Award: Real Federación Española de Fútbol (Spanish FA), JORGINHO (BRA)

1992 awards

: Marco VAN BASTEN (NED) * FIFA Fair Play Award: Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association

1993 awards

: Roberto BAGGIO (ITA) * FIFA Fair Play Award: Nandor Hidgekuti, (individual award) (HUM), Football Association of Zambia * Top Team of the Year Award: Germany * Best Mover of the Year: Colombia

1994 awards

: ROMARIO (BRA) * Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil * Best Mover of the Year: Croatia

1995 awards

: George WEAH (LBR) * FIFA Fair Play Award: Jacques Glassmann (FRA) * Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil * Best Mover of the Year: Jamaica

1996 awards

: RONALDO (BRA) * FIFA Fair Play Award: George WEAH (LBR) * Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil * Best Mover of the Year: South Africa

1997 awards

: RONALDO (BRA) * FIFA Fair Play Award: Irish spectators of the World Cup preliminary match versus Belgium, Jozef Zovinec (Slovak amateur player), Julie FOUDY (USA) * Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil * Best Mover of the Year: Yugoslavia

1998 awards

: Zinedine ZIDANE (FRA) * FIFA Fair Play Award: The national associations of Iran, the USA and Northern Ireland * Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil * Best Mover of the Year: Croatia

1999 awards

: RIVALDO (BRA) * FIFA Fair Play Award: New Zealand’s football community * Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil * Best Mover of the Year: Slovenia

2000 awards

: Zinedine ZIDANE (FRA) * FIFA Fair Play Award: Lucas RADEBE (RSA) * Top Team of the Year Award: Netherlands * Best Mover of the Year: Nigeria

2001 awards

: LUIS FIGO (POR) * Women's World Player of the Year: Mia HAMM (USA) * FIFA Presidential award: Marvin Lee (TRI) * Top Team of the Year Award: Honduras * Best Mover of the Year: Costa Rica

2002 awards

: RONALDO (BRA) * Women's World Player of the Year: Mia HAMM (USA) * FIFA Presidential award: Parminder Nagra (ENG) * FIFA Fair Play Award: Football communities of Japan and Korea Republic * Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil * Best Mover of the Year: Senegal

2003 awards

: Zinedine ZIDANE (FRA) * Women's World Player of the Year: Birgit PRINZ (GER) * FIFA Presidential award: The Iraqi Football Community * FIFA Fair Play Award: Fans of Glasgow Celtic FC (SCO) * Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil * Best Mover of the Year: Bahrain

2004 awards

: RONALDINHO (BRA) * Women's World Player of the Year: Birgit PRINZ (GER) * FIFA Presidential award: Haiti * FIFA Fair Play Award: Confederaçao Brasileira de Futebol * Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil * Best Mover of the Year: China PR * FIFA Interactive World Player: Thiago Carrico de Azevedo

2005 awards

: RONALDINHO (BRA) * Women's World Player of the Year: Birgit PRINZ (GER) * FIFA Presidential award: FRISK Anders (SWE) * FIFA Fair Play Award: football community of Iquitos (Peru) * Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil * Best Mover of the Year: Ghana * FIFA Interactive World Player: Chris Bullard

2006 awards

: Fabio CANNAVARO (ITA) * Women's World Player of the Year: MARTA (BRA) * FIFA Presidential award: Giacinto FACCHETTI (ITA) * FIFA Fair Play Award: Brazil, Spain * Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil * Best Mover of the Year: Italy * FIFA Interactive World Player: Andries Smit

2007 awards

: KAKA (BRA) * Women's World Player of the year: MARTA (BRA) * FIFA Presidential award: PELÉ (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) (BRA) * FIFA Fair Play Award: FC Barcelona * Best Mover of the Year: Mozambique * FIFA Interactive World Player: Alfonso Ramos

2008 awards

: CRISTIANO RONALDO (POR) * Women's World Player of the year: MARTA (BRA) * FIFA Presidential award: Women's Football * FIFA Fair Play Award: Armenia, Turkey * FIFA Development Award: Palestine

2009 awards

: Lionel MESSI (ARG) * Women's World Player of the year: MARTA (BRA) * FIFA Presidential award: Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan * FIFA Fair Play Award: Bobby ROBSON (ENG) * FIFA Development Award: Chinese Football Association *

FIFA Puskás Award The FIFA Puskás Award is an award established on 20 October 2009 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), at the behest of then-president Sepp Blatter, to be awarded to the male or female judged to have scored the most ...

: **

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

for the 1-0 goal scored in the

2008–09 UEFA Champions League The 2008–09 UEFA Champions League was the 54th edition of Europe's premier club football tournament and the 17th edition under the current UEFA Champions League format. The final was played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May 2009. It was ...

match between

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

. * FIFA/FIFPro World XI: **

Iker Casillas Iker Casillas Fernández (; born 20 May 1981) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and currently works as a football commentator. Popularly dubbed "''San Iker''" ("Saint Iker") for his ability to produce spectac ...

(goalkeeper,

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

) **

Patrice Evra Patrice Latyr Evra (; born 15 May 1981) is a French football coach and former professional player. Originally a forward, he primarily played as a left-back. Evra served as captain for both Manchester United and the France national team. His m ...

(defender,

) **

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the assi ...

(defender,

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

) **

Nemanja Vidić Nemanja Vidić ( sr-Cyrl, Немања Видић, ; born 21 October 1981) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is best known for his time at Manchester United, was part of the Serbia national team, and is ...

(defender,

) **

Dani Alves Daniel Alves da Silva (born 6 May 1983), known simply as Dani Alves (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Liga MX club UNAM and the Brazil national team. Widely considered one of the greatest full-backs of ...

(defender,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

) **

Andrés Iniesta Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and is the captain of J1 League club Vissel Kobe. Considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Iniesta has spent most of his ...

(midfielder,

) **

Xavi Xavier Hernández Creus (born 25 January 1980), known as Xavi is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of La Liga club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Widely con ...

(midfielder,

) **

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...

(midfielder,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

) **

(forward,

) **

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...

(forward,

) **

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

(forward,

)

Awards by name

Official awards given at the annual FIFA World Player Gala (note most awards were continuously given by FIFA after 2009 - just under a different FIFA Gala name): *

FIFA World Player of the year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representativ ...

(1991-2009) * FIFA Women's World Player of the Year (2001-2009) *

FIFA Fair Play Award The FIFA Fair Play Award is a FIFA recognition of exemplary behaviour that promotes the spirit of fair play and compassion in :association football around the world. First awarded in 1987, it has been presented to individuals (including posthu ...

(1991-2009) *

FIFA Presidential Award The FIFA Presidential Award was a FIFA association football award given annually at the FIFA World Player Gala. It was first awarded by the then President of FIFA Sepp Blatter in 2001, and has not been awarded since 2014 due to Blatter's suspensio ...

(2001-2009) * FIFA Interactive World Player Champion (2004-2009) *

(2009) * FIFA FIFPRO Men's World 11 (2009) *

FIFA Development Award The FIFA Development Award was an award given out by FIFA in 2008 and 2009 which was designed to exemplify the extraordinary amount of effort and financial support which go into increasing the development of football in those countries which need it ...

(2008-2009) * Top Team of the Year (1993-2006) *

Best Mover of the Year Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

(1993-2007)

References

External links

* {{International football FIFA trophies and awards Awards established in 1991 Association football player of the year awards

Awards by year

1991 awards

1992 awards

1993 awards

1994 awards

1995 awards

1996 awards

1997 awards

1998 awards

1999 awards

2000 awards

2001 awards

2002 awards

2003 awards

2004 awards

2005 awards

2006 awards

2007 awards

2008 awards

2009 awards

Awards by name

See also

References

External links