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.
The Brazil national football team, nicknamed Seleção Canarinho, represents Brazil in men's international football and is administered by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), the governing body for football in Brazil. They have been a member of FIFA since 1923 and a member of CONMEBOL since 1916.
Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira, known simply as Rivaldo, is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a winger. Rivaldo is regarded as one of the greatest, most skillful, and most creative players of all time. He was renowned for his bending free kicks, bicycle kicks, feints, powerful ball striking from distance, and ability to both score and create goals. In 1999, he won the Ballon d'Or and was named FIFA World Player of the Year. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. With success at club and international level, he is one of nine players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Ballon d'Or.
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.
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".
Gabriel Omar Batistuta is an Argentine former professional footballer. During his playing career, Batistuta was nicknamed Batigol as well as El Ángel Gabriel. Regarded as one of the best strikers of all time, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players in 2004.
The 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year prize was awarded to the Brazilian Ronaldinho for the second year in succession, also claiming the highest point total ever, surpassing Rivaldo. He finished ahead of Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard and his Barcelona teammate Samuel Eto'o in the final round of voting.
The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for some time but, in 2010, relocated to Bonn, Germany, and then in 2014 to Zürich.
FIFA Club of the Century was an award presented by FIFA to decide the best football club of the 20th century. Real Madrid was the winner of the award with 42.35% of the vote, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000. Madrid was the most successful club in international football at the time, having amassed eight European Cups, two UEFA Cups, two Latin Cups and two Intercontinental Cups.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup final was the final match of the 2002 World Cup, the 17th edition of FIFA's competition for national football teams. The match was played at the International Stadium in Yokohama, Japan, on 30 June 2002, and was contested by Germany and Brazil. The tournament comprised hosts Japan and South Korea, holders France, and 29 other teams who emerged from the qualification phase, organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 32 teams competed in a group stage, from which 16 teams qualified for the knockout stage. En route to the final, Germany finished first in Group E, with two wins and a draw, after which they defeated Paraguay in the round of 16, the United States in the quarter-finals and South Korea in the semi-finals. Brazil finished top of Group C with three wins, before defeating Belgium in the round of 16, England in the quarter-final, and Turkey in the semi-final. The final took place in front of 69,029 supporters, with an estimated 1.1 billion watching on television, and was refereed by Pierluigi Collina from Italy.
In sport, a Golden Generation, or Golden Team is an exceptionally gifted group of players of similar age, whose achievements reach or are expected to reach a level of success beyond that which their team had previously achieved. The term was first being cited by the media for Portugal's success during the FIFA Youth Championships in both 1989 and 1991. Below is a list of teams who have been referred to by the media as golden generations, most of which played in the 21st century.
FIFA Player of the Century was a one-off award created by FIFA to decide the greatest football player of the 20th century, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000. Diego Maradona and Pelé were joint winners of the award.
Football Club Bunyodkor is an Uzbek professional football club based in Tashkent that competes in the Uzbekistan Super League.
Kabuscorp Sport Clube do Palanca, known simply as Kabuscorp, is an Angolan multi-sports club based in Luanda. The club's football teams contests at the Angolan major league Girabola as well as at the African club competitions.
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 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.
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one-time record. Figo is widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest wingers in the history of the sport.
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 IFFHS World's Best International Goal Scorer is a football award given annually since 1991 to the world's top international goalscorer in the calendar year. The award is given by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).
FIFA World Player Gala was an association football award show presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, throughout 1991–2009.
Barcelona 
Brazil 
Manchester United 
Fiorentina 
Argentina 
France 
Portugal 
Dynamo Kyiv 
Trinidad and Tobago 
