The Best FIFA Men's Player

This article is about the newest iteration of the world footballer award (2016–present). For the first award (1991–2009), see FIFA World Player of the Year. For the second award (2010–2015), see FIFA Ballon d'Or.

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

The Best FIFA Men's Player
Date	2016; 9 years ago (2016)
Presented by	FIFA
Formerly called	FIFA World Player of the Year (1991–2009) FIFA Ballon d'Or (2010–2015)
First award	2016
Current holder	Vinícius Júnior (1st award)
Most awards	Lionel Messi (3 awards)
Website	fifa.com
← 2024 · The Best FIFA Men's Player · 2025 →

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.^[3] 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.^[4]

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.^{[citation needed]}

The trophy was designed by Croatian artist Ana Barbić Katičić.^[5]

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.^[6]

Winners

Year	Rank	Player	Team	Votes
2016	1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	34.54%
	2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	26.42%
	3rd	Antoine Griezmann	Atlético Madrid	7.53%
2017	1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	43.16%
	2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	19.25%
	3rd	Neymar[note 1]	Paris Saint-Germain	6.97%
2018	1st	Luka Modrić	Real Madrid	29.05%
	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo[note 2]	Juventus	19.08%
	3rd	Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	11.23%
2019	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	46
	2nd	Virgil van Dijk	Liverpool	38
	3rd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Juventus	36
2020	1st	Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	52
	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Juventus	38
	3rd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	35
2021	1st	Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	48
	2nd	Lionel Messi[note 3]	Paris Saint-Germain	44
	3rd	Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	39
2022	1st	Lionel Messi	Paris Saint-Germain	52
	2nd	Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain	44
	3rd	Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	34
2023	1st	Lionel Messi[note 4]	Inter Miami	48[note 5]
	2nd	Erling Haaland	Manchester City	48
	3rd	Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain	35
2024	1st	Vinícius Júnior	Real Madrid	48
	2nd	Rodri	Manchester City	43
	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[7]
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

See also

• The Best FIFA Football Awards
• The Best FIFA Women's Player
• FIFA World Player of the Year
• FIFA Ballon d'Or
• Ballon d'Or

Notes

1. Neymar was signed by Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona midway through 2017.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo was signed by Juventus from Real Madrid midway through 2018.
3. Lionel Messi was signed by Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona midway through 2021.
4. Lionel Messi was signed by Inter Miami from Paris Saint-Germain midway through 2023.
5. As per the Rules of Allocation (art. 12), Lionel Messi (Argentina) won the Award on the basis of the votes cast by the men's national-team captains.