# The Best FIFA Men's Player

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. 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.

## 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. 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.
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.
The trophy was designed by Croatian artist Ana Barbić Katičić.

### 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.

## Winners

| Year | Rank | Player | Team | Votes |
| 2016 | 1st | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 34.54% |
| 2016 | 2nd | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 26.42% |
| 2016 | 3rd | Antoine Griezmann | Atlético Madrid | 7.53% |
| 2017 | 1st | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 43.16% |
| 2017 | 2nd | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 19.25% |
| 2017 | 3rd | Neymar | Paris Saint-Germain | 6.97% |
| 2018 | 1st | Luka Modrić | Real Madrid | 29.05% |
| 2018 | 2nd | Cristiano Ronaldo | Juventus | 19.08% |
| 2018 | 3rd | Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | 11.23% |
| 2019 | 1st | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 46 |
| 2019 | 2nd | Virgil van Dijk | Liverpool | 38 |
| 2019 | 3rd | Cristiano Ronaldo | Juventus | 36 |
| 2020 | 1st | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 52 |
| 2020 | 2nd | Cristiano Ronaldo | Juventus | 38 |
| 2020 | 3rd | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 35 |
| 2021 | 1st | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 48 |
| 2021 | 2nd | Lionel Messi | Paris Saint-Germain | 44 |
| 2021 | 3rd | Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | 39 |
| 2022 | 1st | Lionel Messi | Paris Saint-Germain | 52 |
| 2022 | 2nd | Kylian Mbappé | Paris Saint-Germain | 44 |
| 2022 | 3rd | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 34 |
| 2023 | 1st | Lionel Messi | Inter Miami | 48 |
| 2023 | 2nd | Erling Haaland | Manchester City | 48 |
| 2023 | 3rd | Kylian Mbappé | Paris Saint-Germain | 35 |
| 2024 | 1st | Vinícius Júnior | Real Madrid | 48 |
| 2024 | 2nd | Rodri | Manchester City | 43 |
| 2024 | 3rd | Jude Bellingham | Real Madrid | 37 |

### 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) | — | — |
| Vinícius Júnior | 1 (2024) | — | — |
| Kylian Mbappé | — | 1 (2022) | 1 (2023) |
| Virgil van Dijk | — | 1 (2019) | — |
| Erling Haaland | — | 1 (2023) | — |
| Rodri | — | 1 (2024) | — |
| Mohamed Salah | — | — | 2 (2018, 2021) |
| Antoine Griezmann | — | — | 1 (2016) |
| Neymar | — | — | 1 (2017) |
| Karim Benzema | — | — | 1 (2022) |
| Jude Bellingham | — | — | 1 (2024) |

### Wins by country

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

### Wins by club

| Club | Players | Total |
| Real Madrid | 3 | 4 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Vinícius Júnior | — | — | 1 | 1 |