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 Spanish 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, ball control, and technique. 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.
Michel François Platini is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, and came seventh in the FIFA Player of the Century vote. In recognition of his achievements, he was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1985 and became an Officier in 1998. As the president of UEFA in 2015 he was banned from involvement in football under FIFA's organisation, over ethics violations. The ban will last until 2023.
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 France national football team represents France in men's international football. It is controlled by the French Football Federation, the governing body for football in France. It is a member of UEFA in Europe and FIFA in global competitions. The team's colours and imagery reference two national symbols: the French blue-white-red tricolour and Gallic rooster. The team is colloquially known as Les Bleus. They play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and train at Centre National du Football in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines.
The 2002 FIFA World Player of the Year award was won by Ronaldo for a record-breaking third time. It was the award's 12th edition. Mia Hamm won the women's award. The gala was hosted at the Congress Centre in Madrid, on December 17, 2002. 147 national team coaches, based on the current FIFA Men's World Ranking were chosen to vote for the men's edition and 77 for the women's. The ceremony theme was Real Madrid's Centenary Charity match against the World XI (3-3) that was played at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in front of 55,000 spectators.
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 Zurich, 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 2000 FIFA World Player of the Year award was won by Zinedine Zidane for the second time following France's 2000 European Championship win. The gala was hosted at the Television Studio in Rome, on December 11, 2000. 150 national team coaches, based on the current FIFA Men's World Ranking were chosen to vote. It was organised by European Sports Media, Adidas, FIFA and the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
The 1999 FIFA World Player of the Year award was won by Rivaldo. The gala was hosted at the Palais de Congress Brussels, on January 24, 2000. 132 national team coaches, based on the current FIFA Men's World Ranking were chosen to vote. It was organised by European Sports Media, Adidas, International Football Hall of Champions, FIFA and the Voetbal International Magazine of Belgium.
The 1998 FIFA World Player of the Year award was won by Zinedine Zidane. The ceremony was held at the Teatro Nacional de Catalunya, in Barcelona on February 1, 1999. 132 national team coaches, based on the current FIFA Men's World Ranking were chosen to vote. It was organised by European Sports Media, Adidas, FIFA and the Spanish newspaper Don Balon.
The 1997 FIFA World Player of the Year award was won by Ronaldo, who became the first player to win the award two years in a row. The ceremony took place at the Disneyland Paris, on January 12, 1998. 121 national team coaches, based on the current FIFA Men's World Ranking were chosen to vote. It was organised by European Sports Media, Adidas and FIFA.
The 1996 FIFA World Player of the Year award was won by Ronaldo, the youngest player to ever win the award, aged 20. The ceremony took place at the Belem Cultural Centre in Lisbon, on January 20, 1997. For the first time a record of 120 national team coaches, based on the current FIFA Men's World Ranking were chosen to vote. It was organised by European Sports Media, Adidas and FIFA.
Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard is a Dutch former footballer and former manager who played as a defensive midfielder. Rijkaard played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and AC Milan and played for the Netherlands national team side 73 times, scoring 10 goals. In his managerial career, he was at the helm of the Netherlands national team, Sparta Rotterdam, Barcelona, Galatasaray and the Saudi Arabia national team.
As of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 80 national teams have competed at the finals of the FIFA World Cup. Brazil is the only team to have appeared in all 22 tournaments to date, with Germany having participated in 20, Italy and Argentina in 18 and Mexico in 17. Eight nations have won the tournament. The inaugural winners in 1930 were Uruguay; the current champions are Argentina. The most successful nation is Brazil, which has won the cup on five occasions. Five teams have appeared in FIFA World Cup finals without winning, while twelve more have appeared in the semi-finals.
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 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year award was won by George Weah. He is the first African player to win the award and the only one to date. The gala took place at the Teatro Nazionale in Milan, on January 8, 1996. 95 national team coaches, based on the current FIFA Men's World Ranking were chosen to vote. It was organised by European Sports Media, Adidas, FIFA and Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
The 1993 FIFA World Player of the Year award was won by Roberto Baggio. The ceremony took place at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, on December 19, 1993, as part of the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals draw. 71 national team coaches, based on the current FIFA Men's World Ranking were chosen to vote. It was organised by the European Sports Media, Adidas, Energizer and FIFA.
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.
Real Madrid 
France 
Arsenal 
Brazil 
Juventus 
Czech Republic 
Netherlands 
Ukraine 
Birgit Prinz 
Carolina Courage 
Hanna Ljungberg 
Charmaine Hooper 
