The Best FIFA Women's Player is a football award presented annually by the sport's governing body,

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

, since 2016, to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous calendar year. From 2001 to 2015, the award was known as the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year.

History

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. At the 2017 awards,

2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the biennial international Women's association football, women's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national t ...

Bronze Ball and Bronze Shoe winner and amateur club player Deyna Castellanos was nominated. Professional players

Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. She spent most of her career playing for Seattle Reign FC, OL Reign of the National Wom ...

and Sam Kerr criticized the nomination.

Winners

{, class="wikitable" !Year !Rank !Player !Team(s) !Votes , - , rowspan="3",

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, scope=col style="background-color: gold" , 1st ,

Carli Lloyd Carli Anne Hollins (; born July 16, 1982) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player. She is a two-time Olympic Games, Olympic gold medalist (2008 and 2012), two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion (2015 and 2019) ...

, Houston Dash , 20.68% , - , scope=col style="background-color: silver" , 2nd , Marta , FC Rosengård , 16.60% , - , scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" , 3rd , Melanie Behringer , Bayern Munich , 12.34% , - ! colspan="4" , ! , - , rowspan="3",

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, scope=col style="background-color: gold" , 1st , Lieke Martens ,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

, 21.72% , - , scope=col style="background-color: silver" , 2nd ,

, Houston Dash , 16.28% , - , scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" , 3rd , Deyna Castellanos ,

Santa Clarita Blue Heat Santa Clarita Blue Heat is an American women's soccer team based in Santa Clarita, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Founded in 2010, the club was known as the Ventura County Fusion for its first two years of existence. The team plays its ho ...

, 11.69% , - ! colspan="4" , ! , - , rowspan="3",

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, scope=col style="background-color: gold" , 1st , Marta ,

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

, 14.73% , - , scope=col style="background-color: silver" , 2nd , Dzsenifer Marozsán ,

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, 12.86% , - , scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" , 3rd , Ada Hegerberg ,

, 12.60% , - ! colspan="4" , ! , - , rowspan="3",

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, scope=col style="background-color: gold" , 1st ,

, Reign FC , 46 , - , scope=col style="background-color: silver" , 2nd ,

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American former professional association football, soccer player.She co-captained the United States women's national soccer team, United States national team with ...

, {{ubl, {{fbaicon, USA

, 42 , - , scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" , 3rd , {{flagicon, ENG Lucy Bronze , {{fbaicon, FRA

, 29 , - ! colspan="4" , ! , - , rowspan="3",

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, scope=col style="background-color: gold" , 1st , {{flagicon, ENG Lucy Bronze{{cite web , title=The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 , url=https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/ced3c4c4c840aa8c/original/icxfikxtnmxh7eqoejv6-pdf.pdf , publisher=FIFA , access-date=17 December 2020 , {{fbaicon, ENG

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

{{refn, group=note, Bronze was signed by Manchester City from Lyon midway through 2020. , 52 , - , scope=col style="background-color: silver" , 2nd , {{flagicon, DEN Pernille Harder , {{ubl, {{fbaicon, ENG Chelsea , 40 , - , scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" , 3rd , {{flagicon, FRA

Wendie Renard Wendie Thérèse Renard (born 20 July 1990) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Première Ligue club Lyon and the France national team. Renard is one of the most decorated players in modern women's club football. ...

, {{fbaicon, FRA

, 35 , - ! colspan="4" , ! , - , rowspan="3",

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

{{cite web , title=The Best FIFA Football Awards 2021 , url=https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/37d25dee8dcf3aab/original/The-Best-FIFA-Football-Awards-2021-Result-Breakdown.pdf , publisher=FIFA , access-date=21 January 2022 , scope=col style="background-color: gold" , 1st , {{flagicon, ESP Alexia Putellas , {{fbaicon, ESP

, 52 , - , scope=col style="background-color: silver" , 2nd , {{flagicon, AUS Sam Kerr , {{fbaicon, ENG Chelsea , 38 , - , scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" , 3rd , {{flagicon, ESP Jenni Hermoso , {{fbaicon, ESP

, 33 , - ! colspan="4" , ! , - , rowspan="3",

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

{{cite web , title=The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022, url=https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/56e56fd8a294dde/original/The-Best-FIFA-Football-Awards-2022-Result-Breakdown.pdf , publisher=FIFA , access-date=28 February 2022 , scope=col style="background-color: gold" , 1st , {{flagicon, ESP Alexia Putellas , {{fbaicon, ESP

, 50 , - , scope=col style="background-color: silver" , 2nd , {{flagicon, USA

, {{ubl, {{fbaicon, USA

, {{fbaicon, USA San Diego Wave , 37 , - , scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" , 3rd , {{flagicon, ENG Beth Mead , {{fbaicon, ENG

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, 37 , - ! colspan="4" , ! , - , rowspan="3",

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, scope=col style="background-color: gold" , 1st , {{flagicon, ESP Aitana Bonmatí , {{fbaicon, ESP

, 52 , - , scope=col style="background-color: silver" , 2nd , {{flagicon, COL Linda Caicedo , {{ubl, {{fbaicon, COL Deportivo Cali, {{fbaicon, ESP

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, 40 , - , scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" , 3rd , {{flagicon, ESP Jenni Hermoso , {{fbaicon, MEX

Pachuca Pachuca (; ), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the east-central Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca Municipality, Pach ...

, 36 , - ! colspan="4" , ! , - , rowspan="3",

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

{{cite web, url=https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/1b5c7ef88497d832/original/The-Best-FIFA-Women-s-Player-2024.pdf, title=Voting Breakdown: The Best FIFA Women's Player 2024, website=FIFA.com, publisher=Fédération Internationale de Football Association, format=PDF, date=17 December 2024, access-date=17 December 2024 , scope=col style="background-color: gold" , 1st , {{flagicon, ESP Aitana Bonmatí , {{fbaicon, ESP

, 52 , - , scope=col style="background-color: silver" , 2nd , {{flagicon, ZMB Barbra Banda , {{ubl, {{fbaicon, CHN Shanghai Shengli, {{fbaicon, USA

, 39 , - , scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" , 3rd , {{flagicon, NOR Caroline Graham Hansen , {{fbaicon, ESP

, 37

Wins by player

{, class="sortable plainrowheaders wikitable" , - ! scope="col" , Player ! scope="col style="background-color: gold" , 1st ! scope="col style="background-color: silver" , 2nd ! scope="col style="background-color: #cc9966" , 3rd , - ! scope="row" , {{flagicon, ESP Alexia Putellas , 2 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row" , {{flagicon, ESP Aitana Bonmatí , 2 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row" , {{flagicon, USA

, 1 (

) , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row" , {{flagicon, BRA Marta , 1 (

) , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, ENG Lucy Bronze , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , 1 (

) , - ! scope="row" , {{flagicon, NED Lieke Martens , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row" , {{flagicon, USA

, 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , —

Wins by country

{, class="sortable plainrowheaders wikitable" , - ! scope="col" , Country ! scope="col" , Players ! scope="col" , Total , - ! scope="row" , {{ESP , style="text-align: center" , 2 , style="text-align: center" , 4 , - ! scope="row", {{USA , style="text-align: center" , 2 , style="text-align: center" , 2 , - ! scope="row", {{NED , style="text-align: center" , 1 , style="text-align: center" , 1 , - ! scope="row", {{BRA , style="text-align: center" , 1 , style="text-align: center" , 1 , - ! scope="row", {{ENG , style="text-align: center" , 1 , style="text-align: center" , 1

Wins by club

{, class="sortable plainrowheaders wikitable" , - ! scope="col" , Club ! scope="col" , Players ! scope="col" , Total , - ! scope="row", {{fbaicon, ESP

, style="text-align: center" , 3 , style="text-align: center" , 5 , - ! scope="row", {{fbaicon, USA Houston Dash , style="text-align: center" , 1 , style="text-align: center" , 1 , - ! scope="row", {{fbaicon, USA

, style="text-align: center" , 1 , style="text-align: center" , 1 , - ! scope="row", {{fbaicon, USA Reign FC , style="text-align: center" , 1 , style="text-align: center" , 1 , - ! scope="row", {{fbaicon, ENG

, style="text-align: center" , 1 , style="text-align: center" , 1

FIFA Women's Player of the Year (including predecessors)

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - !Players !FIFA Women's World
Player of the Year
(1991–2015) !The Best
FIFA Women's Player
(2016–present) !Total , - , {{flagicon, BRA Marta , style="text-align: center" , 5 , style="text-align: center" , 1 , style="text-align: center" , 6 , - , {{flagicon, GER Birgit Prinz , style="text-align: center" , 3 , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , 3 , - , {{flagicon, USA

Mia Hamm Mariel Margaret "Mia" Hamm (born March 17, 1972) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player, two-time Women's Football at the Summer Olympics, Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Haile ...

, align=center, 2 , align=center, — , align=center, 2 , - , {{flagicon, USA

, align=center, 1 , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2 , - , {{flagicon, ESP Alexia Putellas , align=center, — , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2 , - , {{flagicon, ESP Aitana Bonmatí , align=center, — , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2 , - , {{flagicon, JPN Homare Sawa , align=center, 1 , align=center, — , align=center, 1 , - , {{flagicon, USA

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired Association football, soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on ...

, align=center, 1 , align=center, — , align=center, 1 , - , {{flagicon, GER Nadine Angerer , align=center, 1 , align=center, — , align=center, 1 , - , {{flagicon, GER Nadine Keßler , align=center, 1 , align=center, — , align=center, 1 , - , {{flagicon, NED Lieke Martens , align=center, — , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1 , - , {{flagicon, USA

, align=center, — , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1 , - , {{flagicon, ENG Lucy Bronze , align=center, — , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1

Wins by player

{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" , - !Player !scope=col style="background-color: gold" , Winner !scope=col style="background-color: silver" , Second place !scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" , Third place , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, BRA Marta , style="text-align: center" , 6 (

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

) , style="text-align: center" , 5 (

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

) , style="text-align: center" , 2 (

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

) , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, GER Birgit Prinz , style="text-align: center" , 3 (

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

) , style="text-align: center" , 5 (

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

) , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, USA

, style="text-align: center" , 2 (

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

) , style="text-align: center" , 2 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, USA

, style="text-align: center" , 2 (

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

) , style="text-align: center" , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, ESP Alexia Putellas , style="text-align: center" , 2 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, ESP Aitana Bonmatí , style="text-align: center" , 2 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, USA

, style="text-align: center" , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , 2 (

) , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, ENG Lucy Bronze , style="text-align: center" , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , 1 (

) , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, JPN Homare Sawa , style="text-align: center" , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, GER Nadine Angerer , style="text-align: center" , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, GER Nadine Keßler , style="text-align: center" , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, NED Lieke Martens , style="text-align: center" , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , — , - ! scope="row", {{flagicon, USA

, style="text-align: center" , 1 (

) , style="text-align: center" , — , style="text-align: center" , —

Wins by country

{, class="sortable plainrowheaders wikitable" , - !scope="col", Country !scope="col", Players !scope="col", Total , - !scope="row", {{USA , style="text-align:center", 4 , style="text-align:center", 6 , - !scope="row", {{BRA , style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 6 , - !scope="row", {{GER , style="text-align:center", 3 , style="text-align:center", 5 , - !scope="row", {{ESP , style="text-align:center", 2 , style="text-align:center", 4 , - !scope="row", {{JPN , style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 1 , - !scope="row", {{NED , style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 1 , - !scope="row", {{ENG , style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 1

Wins by club

{, class="sortable plainrowheaders wikitable" , - !scope="col", Club !scope="col", Players !scope="col", Total , - ! scope="row", {{fbaicon, ESP

, style="text-align: center" , 3 , style="text-align: center" , 5 , - !scope="row", {{flagicon, GER 1. FFC Frankfurt , style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 3 , - !scope="row", {{flagicon, SWE Umeå IK , style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 3 , - !scope="row", {{flagicon, USA Washington Freedom , style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 2 , - !scope="row", {{flagicon, USA Houston Dash , style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 2 , - !scope="row", {{flagicon, BRA Santos , style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 1 , - !scope="row", {{flagicon, USA FC Gold Pride , style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 1 , - !scope="row", {{flagicon, JPN

INAC Kobe Leonessa INAC Kobe(INAC神戸レオネッサ, Ainakku-Kōbe Reonessa) is a professional Japanese women's soccer, football club from Kobe, founded in 2001. INAC stands for International Athletic Club, while Leonessa means Lioness in Italian language, Ita ...

, style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 1 , - !scope="row", {{flagicon, AUS Brisbane Roar , style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 1 , - !scope="row", {{flagicon, GER

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

, style="text-align:center", 1 , style="text-align:center", 1 , - ! scope="row", {{fbaicon, USA

, style="text-align: center" , 1 , style="text-align: center" , 1

Notes

{{reflist, group=note

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Official FIFA website

Official Facebook website
{{The Best FIFA Women's Player {{The Best FIFA Football Awards {{FIFA navbox The Best FIFA Football Awards Fifa W Awards established in 2016

History

Winners

Wins by player

Wins by country

Wins by club

FIFA Women's Player of the Year (including predecessors)

Wins by player

Wins by country

Wins by club

See also

Notes

References

External links