International Federation of Football History & Statistics

The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organization that chronicles the history and records of association football.  
It was founded on 27 March 1984 in Leipzig by Alfredo Pöge with the blessings of general secretary of the FIFA at the time, Helmut Käser.  The IFFHS was based at Al-Muroor Street 147, Abu Dhabi for some time but, in 2010, relocated to Bonn, Germany. 

During its early stages, and until 2002, the IFFHS concentrated on publishing the quarterly magazines Fußball-Weltzeitschrift, Libero spezial deutsch and Libero international.  When these had to be discontinued for reasons which were not officially told, the organization published its material in a series of multi-lingual books in co-operation with sponsors.   The statistical organization has now confined its publishing activities to its website, receiving support from FIFA, organization that recognise the IFFHS and its work although the latter has no affiliation with the football's governing body. 

Club World Ranking 
Since 1991, the entity has produced a monthly Club World Ranking. 

The ranking takes into consideration the results of twelve months of continental and intercontinental competitions, national league matches (including play-offs) and the most important national cup (excluding points won before the round of 16). 

All countries are rated at four levels based upon the national league performance—clubs in the highest level leagues receive 4 points for each match won, 2 for a draw and 0 for a defeat.  Level 2 is assigned 3 pts. ( win), 1.5 (draw) and 0 (lost), and so on with the next lower levels. 

In continental competitions, all clubs receive the same number of points at all stages regardless of the performance level of their leagues.  However, the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores yield more points than UEFA Europa League and Copa Sudamericana, respectively.  The point assignment system is still lower for the AFC, CAF, CONCACAF and OFC continental tournaments.  Competitions between two continents are evaluated depending upon their importance.  Competitions not organized by a continental confederation, or any intercontinental events not recognized by FIFA, are not taken into consideration. 

Criteria

Current ranking 
Last updated: 21 January 2020

The World's Club Team of the Year 
The following table shows the clubs that finished top of the ranking for each year since 1991:

 1991 –  Roma
 1992 –  Ajax
 1993 –  Juventus
 1994 –  Paris Saint-Germain
 1995 –  Milan
 1996 –  Juventus
 1997 –  Barcelona
 1998 –  Inter Milan
 1999 –  Manchester United
 2000 –  Real Madrid
 2001 –  Liverpool
 2002 –  Real Madrid
 2003 –  Milan
 2004 –  Valencia
 2005 –  Liverpool
 2006 –  Sevilla
 2007 –  Sevilla
 2008 –  Manchester United
 2009 –  Barcelona
 2010 –  Inter Milan
 2011 –  Barcelona
 2012 –  Barcelona
 2013 –  Bayern Munich
 2014 –  Real Madrid
 2015 –  Barcelona
 2016 –  Atlético Nacional
 2017 –  Real Madrid
 2018 –  Atlético Madrid
 2019 –  Liverpool</small>

The IFFHS recognised these clubs as The World's Club Team of the Year and were awarded with a golden trophy and a certificate during the World Football Gala. 

The World's Club Team of the Decade 
In 2012, the IFFHS recognised Barcelona as the World's Best Club Team of the Decade for the first decade of the 21st century (2001–2010). 

Continental Clubs of the 20th century 
In 2009, the IFFHS released the results of a statistical study which determined the best continental clubs of the 20th century.  The ranking did not consider the performance of the teams in national football tournaments (except in the Oceania's club ranking due to limited editions held under OFC club competitions), the performance in the intercontinental or worldwide club competitions or those submitted in the IFFHS Club World Ranking, available since 1991. 

Based on this statistical study series, the below six clubs were named as "continental clubs of the century" by the IFFHS between 10 September and 13 October 2009.  These clubs were awarded with a golden trophy and a certificate during the World Football Gala celebrated at Fulham, London, on 11 May 2010. 

IFFHS Top 200 European clubs of the 20th century

IFFHS Strongest National League in the World 

Source:

IFFHS World's Best Club Coach

IFFHS World's Best National Coach

IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper

IFFHS World's Best Top Division Goal Scorer 
 

This award is given to the player who scores the most goals in a league season in any of the top 60 leagues in the world (as ranked by IFFHS for that given year). 

Source:

IFFHS World's Best International Top Goal Scorer 
 
This award is given to the player who scores the most international goals for both their club and country combined in a calendar year.  This includes the player's continental competition (such as the UEFA Champions League or Copa Libertadores), as well as goals scored for their respective national team. 

Source:

IFFHS World's Most Effective Top Division Goal Scorer of the Year 

Source:

IFFHS World's Best Playmaker 
 

The IFFHS World's Best Playmaker is a footballing award which, since 2006, is given annually to the best playmaker of the year, as chosen by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). 

The award is awarded at the end of the year at the World Football Gala: the winning playmaker is awarded a gold trophy.  Argentina's Lionel Messi and Spain's Xavi have won the award a record four times each (Xavi four consecutive times), and Spanish compatriot Andrés Iniesta has won the award two times.  Barcelona is the club with the most wins, with ten in total. 

Source:

IFFHS World's Best Player 
From 1991 until 2009, FIFA continued this distinction named "FIFA World Player of the Year"; this award was later replaced by the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010, and The Best FIFA Men's Player in 2016. 

Source:

IFFHS Men's World Team
In 2017, IFFHS started to nominate a world team of the year. 

Coach:  Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)

Coach:  Didier Deschamps (France)

Coach:  Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool)

IFFHS World's Best Referee 

Source:

IFFHS Player of the Century

IFFHS Best European Player 1956–1990
On 24 April 1990, before the 1990 FIFA World Cup, IFFHS gave out an award for the best European player taking into consideration players who were voted in the shortlist of the France Football's Ballon D'Or from 1956 until 1989. 

IFFHS World's Best Woman Playmaker 

Source:

IFFHS World's Best Woman Goalkeeper 

Source:

IFFHS World's Best Woman Club 

Source:

IFFHS Women's World Team
In 2017, IFFHS started to nominate a world team of the year. 

Coach:  Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands)

Coach:  Reynald Pedros (Lyon)

Coach:  Jill Ellis (United States)

IFFHS World's Best Woman Referee 

Source:

IFFHS Female Player of the Century 

IFFHS gave out an award decided by votes which was conducted with the participation of journalists and former players (no further details given). 

Criticism
Karl Lennartz, a sports historian and professor at the University of Cologne, Germany, called the organization "obscure", describing it as a one-man show of its founder Alfredo Pöge. 

The IFFHS rankings and their significance have been a matter of criticism and the largest German news agency, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, refuse to publish them.  Furthermore, it has been stated that the rankings of the IFFHS are not official and the titles they bear serve merely for publicity. 

References

External links
  
  
 Annual Awards

 
Category:Association football organizations
Category:Sports organizations established in 1984
Category:1984 establishments in Germany
Category:Association football websites
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Category:History of association football