<P> 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 . Originally an honour awarded to world's best men's player from 1991--2000, it was awarded to both men and women from 2001--2009 . After 2010, it has been presented exclusively to the best women's player . Coaches and captains of international teams and media representatives selected the player they deem to have performed the best in the previous calendar year . </P> <P> During the men's era, Brazilian players won 8 out of 19 years, compared to three wins--the second most--for French players . In terms of individual players, Brazil again led with five, followed by Italy and Portugal with two each . The youngest winner was Ronaldo, who won at 20 years old in 1996, and the oldest winner was Fabio Cannavaro, who won aged 33 in 2006 . Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane each won the award three times, while Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were the only players to win in successive years . From 2010 to 2015, the equivalent men's award was the FIFA Ballon d'Or . </P>

Best soccer player in the world fifa ranking