# 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or

The 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the second year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 9 January 2012, with Lionel Messi claiming the title of world player of the year for the third time in a row.
The gala ceremony was hosted by former Ballon d'Or winner Ruud Gullit and broadcast journalist Kay Murray of Real Madrid TV and Fox Soccer Channel, with singer-songwriter James Blunt and his band providing musical entertainment.

## Winners and nominees
### FIFA Ballon d'Or

The top three nominees for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or were:
| Rank | Player | National team | Club(s) | Percent |
| 1st | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona | 47.88% |
| 2nd | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid | 21.60% |
| 3rd | Xavi | Spain | Barcelona | 9.23% |
The following twenty players were also in contention for the award:
| Rank | Player | National team | Club(s) | Percent |
| 4th | Andrés Iniesta | Spain | Barcelona | 6.01% |
| 5th | Wayne Rooney | England | Manchester United | 2.31% |
| 6th | Luis Suárez | Uruguay | Ajax Liverpool | 1.48% |
| 7th | Diego Forlán | Uruguay | Atlético Madrid Internazionale | 1.43% |
| 8th | Samuel Eto'o | Cameroon | Internazionale Anzhi Makhachkala | 1.34% |
| 9th | Iker Casillas | Spain | Real Madrid | 1.29% |
| 10th | Neymar | Brazil | Santos | 1.12% |
| 11th | Mesut Özil | Germany | Real Madrid | 0.76% |
| 12th | Wesley Sneijder | Netherlands | Internazionale | 0.72% |
| 13th | Thomas Müller | Germany | Bayern Munich | 0.64% |
| 14th | David Villa | Spain | Barcelona | 0.53% |
| 15th | Bastian Schweinsteiger | Germany | Bayern Munich | 0.50% |
| 16th | Xabi Alonso | Spain | Real Madrid | 0.48% |
| 17th | Sergio Agüero | Argentina | Atlético Madrid Manchester City | 0.48% |
| 18th | Eric Abidal | France | Barcelona | 0.36% |
| 19th | Dani Alves | Brazil | Barcelona | 0.34% |
| 20th | Karim Benzema | France | Real Madrid | 0.34% |
| 21st | Cesc Fàbregas | Spain | Arsenal Barcelona | 0.29% |
| 22nd | Nani | Portugal | Manchester United | 0.26% |
| 23rd | Gerard Piqué | Spain | Barcelona | 0.22% |

### FIFA Women's World Player of the Year

The top three nominees for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year were:
| Rank | Player | National team | Club(s) | Percent |
| 1st | Homare Sawa | Japan | INAC Kobe Leonessa | 28.51% |
| 2nd | Marta | Brazil | Western New York Flash | 17.28% |
| 3rd | Abby Wambach | United States | magicJack | 13.26% |
The following seven players also in contention for the award:
| Rank | Player | Nationality | Club(s) | Percent |
| 4th | Aya Miyama | Japan | Okayama Yunogo Belle | 12.18% |
| 5th | Hope Solo | United States | magicJack | 7.83% |
| 6th | Lotta Schelin | Sweden | Lyon | 4.85% |
| 7th | Kerstin Garefrekes | Germany | 1. FFC Frankfurt | 4.73% |
| 8th | Alex Morgan | United States | Western New York Flash | 4.34% |
| 9th | Louisa Nécib | France | Lyon | 3.21% |
| 10th | Sonia Bompastor | France | Lyon | 2.99% |

### FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football

| Rank | Coach | Nationality | Team(s) | Percent |
| 1st | Pep Guardiola | Spain | Barcelona | 41.90% |
| 2nd | Sir Alex Ferguson | Scotland | Manchester United | 15.59% |
| 3rd | José Mourinho | Portugal | Real Madrid | 12.43% |
| Rank | Coach | Nationality | Team(s) | Votes |
| 4th | Vicente del Bosque | Spain | Spain | 9.12% |
| 5th | Óscar Tabárez | Uruguay | Uruguay | 7.47% |
| 6th | Joachim Löw | Germany | Germany | 4.40% |
| 7th | André Villas-Boas | Portugal | Porto Chelsea | 4.16% |
| 8th | Arsène Wenger | France | Arsenal | 1.91% |
| 9th | Jürgen Klopp | Germany | Borussia Dortmund | 1.54% |
| 10th | Rudi Garcia | France | Lille | 0.89% |

### FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Football

| Rank | Coach | Nationality | Team(s) | Percent |
| 1st | Norio Sasaki | Japan | Japan | 45.57% |
| 2nd | Pia Sundhage | Sweden | United States | 15.83% |
| 3rd | Bruno Bini | France | France | 10.28% |

### FIFA/FIFPro World XI

| Position | Player | National team | Club(s) |
| GK | Iker Casillas | Spain | Real Madrid |
| DF | Dani Alves | Brazil | Barcelona |
| DF | Gerard Piqué | Spain | Barcelona |
| DF | Sergio Ramos | Spain | Real Madrid |
| DF | Nemanja Vidić | Serbia | Manchester United |
| MF | Xabi Alonso | Spain | Real Madrid |
| MF | Andrés Iniesta | Spain | Barcelona |
| MF | Xavi | Spain | Barcelona |
| FW | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid |
| FW | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |
| FW | Wayne Rooney | England | Manchester United |

### FIFA Puskás Award

| Rank | Player | Nationality | Team |
| 1st | Neymar | Brazil | Santos |
| 2nd | Wayne Rooney | England | Manchester United |
| 3rd | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona |

### FIFA Presidential Award

* Sir Alex Ferguson

### FIFA Fair Play Award

* Japan Football Association

## Controversy

The day after the awards ceremony, Spanish newspaper Marca reported that none of the four captains of the Spanish women's national team had voted for the Women's World Player of the Year award. According to the list of votes published by FIFA, captain Sandra Vilanova had awarded five points to Hope Solo, three to Louisa Nécib and one to Marta.