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.
Hugo Sánchez Márquez is a Mexican former professional footballer and manager, who played as a forward. A prolific goalscorer known for his spectacular strikes and volleys, he is widely regarded as the greatest Mexican footballer of all time, one of the best players of his generation, and one of the best strikers of all time. In 1999, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics voted Sánchez the 26th best footballer of the 20th century, and the best footballer from the CONCACAF region. In 2004, Sánchez was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's international governing body. The competition has been held every four years and one year after the men's FIFA World Cup since 1991, when the inaugural tournament, then called the FIFA Women's World Championship, was held in China. Under the tournament's current format, national teams vie for the remaining 31 slots in a three-year qualification phase. The host nation's team is automatically entered as the first slot. The tournament, called the World Cup Finals, is contested at venues within the host nation(s) over about one month.
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 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year award was won by Luís Figo by the slim margin of 12 points. David Beckham was again in the second place. The gala was hosted at the TV Production Centre in Zürich, on December 17, 2001. 130 national team coaches, based on the current FIFA Men's World Ranking were chosen to vote. For the first time the Women's award was given out, won by Mia Hamm.
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.
Michelle Anne Akers is an American former soccer player who starred in the 1991 and 1999 Women's World Cup and 1996 Olympics victories by the United States. At the 1991 World Cup, she won the Golden Shoe as the top scorer, with ten goals.
The 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award was won by Zinedine Zidane for a record-equalling third time. It was the award's 13th edition. Mia Hamm won the women's award. The gala was hosted at the Messe in Basel, on December 15, 2003. 142 national team coaches, based on the current FIFA Men's World Ranking were chosen to vote for the men's edition and 100 for the women's. The ceremony's theme was the Match Against Poverty that was played the previous day between the Ronaldo and Zidane Xi (3-4) at the St. Jakob-Park in Basel in front of 30,000 spectators. Birgit Prinz won the women's award.
Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha, often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes RC3, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the history of the game", and one of the greatest full-backs in history. In 1997, he was runner-up in the FIFA World Player of the Year. He is primarily known for his long career at Real Madrid and ever-presence in the Brazilian national team.
Football is the most popular sport in Spain, with 61% of the population interested in it. Spain has some of the most influential teams in Europe as well as many players and teams registered in all categories. Moreover, football is the sport that interests the majority of Spanish people (48%) and a total of 67% of the population said they were fans of or had a liking for a particular club.
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, commonly known as Kaká or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime at AC Milan, where he was known for his passing, goalscoring, and dribbling, Kaká was widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. He is also regarded as one of the greatest midfielders in the history of the sport. With success for both club and country, he is one of the nine players to win the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and the Ballon d'Or.
The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherlands, the tournament has been held every four years since 1992 in the even year between two 11-a-side World Cups.
World Soccer is an English-language football magazine, published by Kelsey Media. The magazine was established in 1960 and is the oldest continually published football magazine in the United Kingdom. It specialises in the international football scene. Its regular contributing writers include Brian Glanville, Keir Radnedge, Sid Lowe, Tim Vickery, and Henry Winter. World Soccer is a member of the European Sports Media (ESM), an umbrella group of similar magazines printed in other languages. The members of this group elect a European "Team of the Month" and a European "Team of the Year".
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.
Brazilian midfielder Kaká won the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year award, while another Brazilian, Marta, took home the women's award. The winners were announced at the FIFA World Player Gala held at the Zurich Opera House on December 17, 2007.
The 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year awards took place on 21 December 2009 at the Kongresshaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. Shortlists of 23 men and 10 women were announced on 30 October 2009. The final five contenders for this year's FIFA World Player of the Year and FIFA Women's World Player of the Year awards were announced on 7 December 2009. Lionel Messi was announced as the World Player of the Year with a record points total.
The AIC Serie A Footballer of the Year is a yearly award organized by the Italian Footballers' Association (AIC) given to the footballer who has been considered to have performed the best over the previous Serie A season. The award is part of the Gran Galà del Calcio awards event. Juventus players have won the most awards with twelve. Zlatan Ibrahimović and Andrea Pirlo have won the award the most times (3), with Pirlo's wins coming consecutively.
Caroline Elspeth Lillias Weir is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or forward for Spanish Liga F club Real Madrid CF and the Scotland national team.
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.
Inter Milan 
Real Madrid 
Brazil 
Bayern Munich 
France 
Manchester United 
Mia Hamm 
Sun Wen 
Christine Sinclair 
Hege Riise 
Hanna Ljungberg 
