Zinedine Yazid Zidane, popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached La Liga club Real Madrid and is one of the most successful coaches in the world. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Zidane was a playmaker renowned for his elegance, vision, passing, and ball control. He received many individual accolades as a player, including being named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000 and 2003, and winning the 1998 Ballon d'Or.
Paolo Cesare Maldini is an Italian football executive and former professional footballer who played as a left-back or as a centre-back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time. As the Milan and Italy captain for many years, he was nicknamed "Il Capitano". Maldini held the record for appearances in Serie A (647), until he was surpassed by Gianluigi Buffon in 2020. He also holds the joint-record for most European Cup/UEFA Champions League final appearances (8) alongside Paco Gento. From 2018 to 2023 he worked at AC Milan as sporting director and is a co-owner of USL Championship club Miami FC.
The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representatives selected the player they deem to have performed the best in the previous calendar year.
The Ballon d'Or is an annual football award presented by French magazine France Football since 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or left winger. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he won two FIFA World Player of the Year awards and a Ballon d'Or. He is the only player ever to have won a World Cup, a Copa América, a Confederations Cup, a Champions League, a Copa Libertadores and a Ballon d'Or. A global icon of the sport, Ronaldinho was renowned for his dribbling abilities, free-kick accuracy, his use of tricks, feints, no-look passes, and overhead kicks, as well as his ability to score and create goals. During his career he was one of the most valuable footballers in the world. He is known by the nickname "O Bruxo".
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both the Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr and the Portugal national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won numerous individual accolades throughout his career, such as five Ballon d'Or awards, a record three UEFA Men's Player of the Year Awards, four European Golden Shoes, and was named five times the world's best player by FIFA, the most by a European player. He has won 33 trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, the UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Nations League. Ronaldo holds the records for most appearances (183), goals (140) and assists (42) in the Champions League, most appearances (30), assists (8), goals in the European Championship (14), international appearances (217) and international goals (135). He is one of the few players to have made over 1,200 professional career appearances, the most by an outfield player, and has scored over 900 official senior career goals for club and country, making him the top goalscorer of all time.
The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Argentina as of December 2024. The men's teams of the member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. The rankings were introduced in December 1992, and eight teams have held the top position, of which Brazil have spent the longest time ranked first.
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi set numerous records for individual accolades won throughout his professional footballing career such as eight Ballon d'Or awards and eight times being named the world's best player by FIFA. He is the most decorated player in the history of professional football having won 45 team trophies, including twelve Big Five league titles, four UEFA Champions Leagues, two Copa Américas, and one FIFA World Cup. Messi holds the records for most European Golden Shoes (6), most goals for a single club, most goals (474), hat-tricks (36) and assists (192) in La Liga, most matches played (39), assists (18) and goal contributions (34) in the Copa América, most matches played (26) and goal contributions (21) in the World Cup, most international appearances (191) and international goals (112) by a South American male, and the second-most in the latter category outright. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi has scored over 850 senior career goals for club and country.
Alexandra Morgan Carrasco is an American former professional soccer player who last played as a striker for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which she was the captain of, and the United States national team. She co-captained the United States with Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe from 2018 to 2020 and with Lindsay Horan in 2023.
The FIFA Puskás Award is an award established on 20 October 2009 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), at the behest of then-president Sepp Blatter, to be awarded to the player judged to have scored the most aesthetically significant, or "most beautiful", goal of the calendar year. The Puskás Award is announced yearly and is considered by voting. From 2024, only male players are eligible to win, with the FIFA Marta Award established for female players instead.
The FIFA Ballon d'Or was an annual association football award presented to the world's best men's player from 2010 to 2015. Awarded jointly by FIFA and France Football, the prize was a merger of the FIFA World Player of the Year award and the Ballon d'Or, the two most prestigious individual honours in world football. Unlike the Ballon d'Or awarded by France Football, the FIFA Ballon d'Or, was not awarded solely based on votes from international journalists, but votes from national team coaches and captains also, who selected the players they deemed to have performed the best in the previous calendar year.
The 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the third year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 7 January 2013, with Lionel Messi winning a record fourth consecutive Ballon d'Or.
The 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the fourth year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 13 January 2014. The deadline for voting was 15 November 2013 but was extended to 29 November 2013 for the first time in history.
Kadeisha Buchanan is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a centre-back for English Women's Super League club Chelsea and the Canada women's national team. Born in Toronto and raised in Brampton, Ontario, she is the youngest of seven girls in a single-parent home. Buchanan was only 17 when she made her debut for the national team on January 13, 2013.
The 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the fifth year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 12 January 2015.
The 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the sixth year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich, Switzerland on 11 January 2016.
The Best FIFA Football Awards 2016 were held on 9 January 2017 in Zürich, Switzerland. The Best FIFA Football Awards are the annual recognitions awarded by FIFA to several individuals across different categories, including: best eleven players of the year, known as FIFA FIFPro World XI, FIFA World Coach of the Year for men's and for women's football, best female player of the year, 2nd best male player of the year, and best goal of the year. The FIFA Fair Play Award is the only award that usually goes to groups or entities instead of individuals.
The Best FIFA Football Awards is a football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA.
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.
The Best FIFA Women's Player is a 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. From 2001 to 2015, the award was known as the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year.
PSV 
Barcelona 
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Blackburn Rovers 
Borussia Dortmund 
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