FIFA World Player Gala was an association football award show presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, throughout 1991-2009.
The first awarding ceremony was held on 8 December 1991 in Zürich, Switzerland. The award show was superseded first by the FIFA Ballon d'Or during 2010-15, and since 2016 by The Best FIFA Football Awards. FIFA consider the three historic versions of its gala show as subversions of the same event, and thus celebrated its 30 years anniversary in 2021. FIFA's historical statistics also list the awards in one overall list, comprising the records of all three gala show versions.
Awards by year
1991 awards
World Player of the year: Lothar MATTHAEUS (GER) FIFA Fair Play Award: Real Federación Española de Fútbol (Spanish FA), JORGINHO (BRA)
1992 awards
World Player of the year: Marco VAN BASTEN (NED) FIFA Fair Play Award: Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association
1993 awards
World Player of the year: Roberto BAGGIO (ITA) FIFA Fair Play Award: Nandor Hidgekuti, (individual award) (HUM), Football Association of Zambia Top Team of the Year Award: Germany Best Mover of the Year: Colombia
1994 awards
World Player of the year: ROMARIO (BRA) Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil Best Mover of the Year: Croatia
1995 awards
World Player of the year: George WEAH (LBR) FIFA Fair Play Award: Jacques Glassmann (FRA) Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil Best Mover of the Year: Jamaica
1996 awards
World Player of the year: RONALDO (BRA) FIFA Fair Play Award: George WEAH (LBR) Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil Best Mover of the Year: South Africa
1997 awards
World Player of the year: RONALDO (BRA) FIFA Fair Play Award: Irish spectators of the World Cup preliminary match versus Belgium, Jozef Zovinec (Slovak amateur player), Julie FOUDY (USA) Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil Best Mover of the Year: Yugoslavia
1998 awards
World Player of the year: Zinedine ZIDANE (FRA) FIFA Fair Play Award: The national associations of Iran, the USA and Northern Ireland Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil Best Mover of the Year: Croatia
1999 awards
World Player of the year: RIVALDO (BRA) FIFA Fair Play Award: New Zealand’s football community Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil Best Mover of the Year: Slovenia
2000 awards
World Player of the year: Zinedine ZIDANE (FRA) FIFA Fair Play Award: Lucas RADEBE (RSA) Top Team of the Year Award: Netherlands Best Mover of the Year: Nigeria
2001 awards
World Player of the year: LUIS FIGO (POR) Women's World Player of the Year: Mia HAMM (USA) FIFA Presidential award: Marvin Lee (TRI) Top Team of the Year Award: Honduras Best Mover of the Year: Costa Rica
2002 awards
World Player of the year: RONALDO (BRA) Women's World Player of the Year: Mia HAMM (USA) FIFA Presidential award: Parminder Nagra (ENG) FIFA Fair Play Award: Football communities of Japan and Korea Republic Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil Best Mover of the Year: Senegal
2003 awards
World Player of the year: Zinedine ZIDANE (FRA) Women's World Player of the Year: Birgit PRINZ (GER) FIFA Presidential award: The Iraqi Football Community FIFA Fair Play Award: Fans of Glasgow Celtic FC (SCO) Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil Best Mover of the Year: Bahrain
2004 awards
World Player of the year: RONALDINHO (BRA) Women's World Player of the Year: Birgit PRINZ (GER) FIFA Presidential award: Haiti FIFA Fair Play Award: Confederaçao Brasileira de Futebol Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil Best Mover of the Year: China PR FIFA Interactive World Player: Thiago Carrico de Azevedo
2005 awards
World Player of the year: RONALDINHO (BRA) Women's World Player of the Year: Birgit PRINZ (GER) FIFA Presidential award: FRISK Anders (SWE) FIFA Fair Play Award: football community of Iquitos (Peru) Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil Best Mover of the Year: Ghana FIFA Interactive World Player: Chris Bullard
2006 awards
World Player of the year: Fabio CANNAVARO (ITA) Women's World Player of the Year: MARTA (BRA) FIFA Presidential award: Giacinto FACCHETTI (ITA) FIFA Fair Play Award: Brazil, Spain Top Team of the Year Award: Brazil Best Mover of the Year: Italy FIFA Interactive World Player: Andries Smit
2007 awards
World Player of the year: KAKA (BRA) Women's World Player of the year: MARTA (BRA) FIFA Presidential award: PELÉ (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) (BRA) FIFA Fair Play Award: FC Barcelona Best Mover of the Year: Mozambique FIFA Interactive World Player: Alfonso Ramos