The Best FIFA Women's Player

This article is about the newest iteration of the world football player award (2016–present). For the former award (2001–2015), see FIFA Women's World Player of the Year.
The Best FIFA Women's Player
Current: The Best FIFA Football Awards 2024
Presented byFIFA
Formerly calledFIFA Women's World Player of the Year (2001–2015)
First awarded2016 (2016)
Current holderSpain Aitana Bonmati
(2nd award)
Most awardsSpain Alexia Putellas
Spain Aitana Bonmati
(2 awards)
Websitefifa.com

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.[1] From 2001 to 2015, the award was known as the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year.

History

The selection criteria for the players of the year are: sporting performance, as well as general conduct on and off the pitch.

The votes are decided by media representatives, national team coaches, and national team captains. In October 2016, it was announced that the general public would also be allowed to vote.[2] Each group has 25% of the overall vote.

At the 2017 awards, 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Bronze Ball and Bronze Shoe winner and amateur club player Deyna Castellanos was nominated. Professional players Megan Rapinoe and Sam Kerr criticized the nomination.[3]

Winners

Year Rank Player Team(s) Votes
2016 1st United States Carli Lloyd United States Houston Dash 20.68%
2nd Brazil Marta Sweden FC Rosengård 16.60%
3rd Germany Melanie Behringer Germany Bayern Munich 12.34%
2017 1st Netherlands Lieke Martens Spain Barcelona[note 1] 21.72%
2nd United States Carli Lloyd United States Houston Dash[note 2] 16.28%
3rd Venezuela Deyna Castellanos United States Santa Clarita Blue Heat[note 3] 11.69%
2018 1st Brazil Marta United States Orlando Pride 14.73%
2nd Germany Dzsenifer Marozsán France Lyon 12.86%
3rd Norway Ada Hegerberg France Lyon 12.60%
2019 1st United States Megan Rapinoe United States Reign FC 46
2nd United States Alex Morgan United States Orlando Pride 42
3rd England Lucy Bronze France Lyon 29
2020 1st England Lucy Bronze[4] England Manchester City[note 4] 52
2nd Denmark Pernille Harder[4] England Chelsea 40
3rd France Wendie Renard[4] France Lyon 35
2021[5] 1st Spain Alexia Putellas Spain Barcelona 52
2nd Australia Sam Kerr England Chelsea 38
3rd Spain Jenni Hermoso Spain Barcelona 33
2022[6] 1st Spain Alexia Putellas Spain Barcelona 50
2nd United States Alex Morgan
37
3rd England Beth Mead England Arsenal 37
2023[7] 1st Spain Aitana Bonmatí Spain Barcelona 52
2nd Colombia Linda Caicedo
40
3rd Spain Jenni Hermoso Mexico Pachuca 36
2024[8] 1st Spain Aitana Bonmatí Spain Barcelona 52
2nd Zambia Barbra Banda
39
3rd Norway Caroline Graham Hansen Spain Barcelona 37

Wins by player

Player 1st 2nd 3rd
Spain Alexia Putellas 2 (2021, 2022) — —
Spain Aitana Bonmatí 2 (2023, 2024) — —
United States Carli Lloyd 1 (2016) 1 (2017) —
Brazil Marta 1 (2018) 1 (2016) —
England Lucy Bronze 1 (2020) — 1 (2019)
Netherlands Lieke Martens 1 (2017) — —
United States Megan Rapinoe 1 (2019) — —

Wins by country

Country Players Total
 Spain 2 4
 United States 2 2
 Netherlands 1 1
 Brazil 1 1
 England 1 1

Wins by club

Club Players Total
Spain Barcelona 3 5
United States Houston Dash 1 1
United States Orlando Pride 1 1
United States Reign FC 1 1
England Manchester City 1 1

FIFA Women's Player of the Year (including predecessors)

Players FIFA Women's World
Player of the Year
(1991–2015) 		The Best
FIFA Women's Player
(2016–present) 		Total
Brazil Marta 5 1 6
Germany Birgit Prinz 3 — 3
United States Mia Hamm 2 — 2
United States Carli Lloyd 1 1 2
Spain Alexia Putellas — 2 2
Spain Aitana Bonmatí — 2 2
Japan Homare Sawa 1 — 1
United States Abby Wambach 1 — 1
Germany Nadine Angerer 1 — 1
Germany Nadine Keßler 1 — 1
Netherlands Lieke Martens — 1 1
United States Megan Rapinoe — 1 1
England Lucy Bronze — 1 1

Wins by player

Marta won FIFA's top Women's player award for a record 6th time.
Player Winner Second place Third place
Brazil Marta 6 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2018) 5 (2005, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016) 2 (2004, 2013)
Germany Birgit Prinz 3 (2003, 2004, 2005) 5 (2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) —
United States Mia Hamm 2 (2001, 2002) 2 (2003, 2004) —
United States Carli Lloyd 2 (2015, 2016) 1 (2017) —
Spain Alexia Putellas 2 (2021, 2022) — —
Spain Aitana Bonmatí 2 (2023, 2024) — —
United States Abby Wambach 1 (2012) 1 (2013) 2 (2011, 2014)
England Lucy Bronze 1 (2020) — 1 (2019)
Japan Homare Sawa 1 (2011) — —
Germany Nadine Angerer 1 (2013) — —
Germany Nadine Keßler 1 (2014) — —
Netherlands Lieke Martens 1 (2017) — —
United States Megan Rapinoe 1 (2019) — —

Wins by country

Country Players Total
 United States 4 6
 Brazil 1 6
 Germany 3 5
 Spain 2 4
 Japan 1 1
 Netherlands 1 1
 England 1 1

Wins by club

Club Players Total
Spain Barcelona 3 5
Germany 1. FFC Frankfurt 1 3
Sweden Umeå IK 1 3
United States Washington Freedom 1 2
United States Houston Dash 1 2
Brazil Santos 1 1
United States FC Gold Pride 1 1
Japan INAC Kobe Leonessa 1 1
Australia Brisbane Roar 1 1
Germany VfL Wolfsburg 1 1
United States Orlando Pride 1 1
United States Reign FC 1 1
England Manchester City 1 1

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Martens was signed by Barcelona from FC Rosengård midway through 2017.
  2. ^ Lloyd was on loan from the Houston Dash to Manchester City (FAWSL) from February to May 2017.
  3. ^ Castellanos was signed by Santa Clarita Blue Heat from Florida State Seminoles midway through 2017.
  4. ^ Bronze was signed by Manchester City from Lyon midway through 2020.

References

  1. ^ "Circular no. 1560" (PDF). FIFA.com. 21 October 2016. Archived from the original (pdf) on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  2. ^ "The fans take centre stage". FIFA.com. 31 October 2016. Archived from the original on October 31, 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  3. ^ "Rapinoe: 'FIFA doesn't care' about women". ESPN.com. 2017-10-23. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  4. ^ a b c "The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  5. ^ "The Best FIFA Football Awards 2021" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  6. ^ "The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Voting Breakdown: The Best FIFA Women's Player 2023" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Voting Breakdown: The Best FIFA Women's Player 2024" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 17 December 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.