World Player of the Year

Updated August 28, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

World Player of the Year

Presented by FIFA, the European Sports Magazine Association (ESM) and Adidas, the sports equipment manufacturer, since 1991. Winners are selected by national team coaches from around the world.

Multiple winners: Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane (3).

Year Nat'l Team
1991 Lothar Matthäus, Inter Milan Germany
1992 Marco Van Basten, AC Milan Netherlands
1993 Roberto Baggio, Juventus Italy
1994 Romario, Barcelona Brazil
1995George Weah, AC MilanLiberia
1996Ronaldo, BarcelonaBrazil
1997Ronaldo, Inter MilanBrazil
1998Zinedine Zidane, JuventusFrance
1999Rivaldo, BarcelonaBrazil
2000Zinedine Zidane, JuventusFrance
2001Luis Figo, Real MadridPortugal
2002 Ronaldo, Real MadridBrazil
2003 Zinedine Zidane, Real MadridFrance

Annual AwardsWomen's World Player of the Year
Annual Awards: Soccer Players, Sports
Sources +