Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski won The Best FIFA Men's Award for the second consecutive time in 2021 beating Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah in the race.
The FIFA Player of the Year Award, which was instituted in 1991 was merged with the Ballon d'Or in 2009 and went by the name FIFA Ballon d'Or until 2016. FIFA and France Football then decided to break off the partnership and give out separate awards. The first Best FIFA award was presented in January 2017 which was won by Cristiano Ronaldo. The first-ever FIFA Player of the Year Award was bagged by World Cup-winning former Germany captain Lothar Matthaus.
Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo have each won the award thrice in their career. Lionel Messi, on the other hand, have won it twice.

Here, we take a look at all The FIFA Player of the Year Award winners over the years.
Year | Player | Team |
---|---|---|
1991 | Lothar Matthaus | Inter Milan |
1992 | Marco van Basten | AC Milan |
1993 | Roberto Baggio | Juventus |
1994 | Romario | FC Barcelona |
1995 | George Weah | AC Milan |
1996 | Ronaldo | FC Barcelona |
1997 | Ronaldo | Inter Milan |
1998 | Zinedine Zidane | Juventus |
1999 | Rivaldo | FC Barcelona |
2000 | Zinedine Zidane | Juventus |
2001 | Luis Figo | Real Madrid |
2002 | Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
2003 | Zinedine Zidane | Real Madrid |
2004 | Ronaldinho | FC Barcelona |
2005 | Ronaldinho | FC Barcelona |
2006 | Fabio Cannavaro | Real Madrid |
2007 | Kaka | AC Milan |
2008 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United |
2009 | Lionel Messi | FC Barcelona |
2016 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
2017 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
2018 | Luka Modric | Real Madrid |
2019 | Lionel Messi | FC Barcelona |
2020 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich |
2021 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich |