FIFA Player of the Century
FIFA Player of the Century was a one-off award created by FIFA to decide the greatest football player of the 20th century, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000.[1] Diego Maradona and Pelé were joint winners of the award.[2][3] Maradona won the award based on the Internet poll, while Pelé won the award based on votes from FIFA officials, journalists and coaches.[2][3]
Background
Since 1991, FIFA have had awards for FIFA World Player of the Year and they decided to bring in the new millennium by conducting a public vote to decide the FIFA Player of the Century. This was to be decided by votes on their official website, their official magazine and a grand jury. Maradona won the Internet-based poll by wide margins, garnering 53.6% of the votes against 18.53% for Pelé.[4] Despite the fact that Eusébio, who played football professionally during Pelé's era, placed third in the poll, many observers complained that the Internet nature of the poll would have meant a skewed demographic of younger fans who would have seen Maradona play, but not Pelé. As a result, FIFA decided to add a second poll and appointed a "Football Family" committee composed of football journalists, officials and coaches, who voted Pelé the best player of the century with 72.75% of the vote, thus both were joint winners of the award.[5]
FIFA internet vote
The results of FIFA's internet Poll were as follows:[6]
Player | Nationality | Percentage | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Diego Maradona | 53.6% | |
2 | Pelé | 18.53% | |
3 | Eusébio | 6.21% | |
4 | Roberto Baggio | 5.42% | |
5 | Romário | 1.69% | |
6 | Marco van Basten | 1.57% | |
7 | Ronaldo | 1.55% | |
8 | Franz Beckenbauer | 1.50% | |
9 | Zinedine Zidane | 1.34% | |
10 | Rivaldo | 1.19% | |
11 | Zico | 1.15% | |
12 | Garrincha | 1.08% | |
13 | Johan Cruyff | 0.87% | |
14 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | 0.68% | |
15 | Michel Platini | 0.58% | |
16 | Bobby Charlton | 0.39% | |
17 | Ferenc Puskás | 0.37% | |
18 | Lothar Matthäus | 0.37% | |
19 | Lev Yashin | 0.36% | |
20 | George Best | 0.32% | |
FIFA Magazine and Grand Jury vote
This part of the award was decided by the FIFA Magazine readers vote and the FIFA Grand Jury.[6]
Player | Nationality | Percentage | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Pelé | 72.75% | |
2 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | 9.75% | |
3 | Diego Maradona | 6.0% | |
4 | Franz Beckenbauer | 2.5% | |
5 | Johan Cruyff | 2.0% | |
George Best | 2.0% | ||
7 | Michel Platini | 1.0% | |
Garrincha | 1.0% | ||
Zico | 1.0% | ||
Gerd Müller | 1.0% | ||
Roberto Baggio | 1.0% | ||
FIFA Centennial Award
FIFA Centennial Player and Football Personality.[7]
Winner | Nationality |
---|---|
Franz Beckenbauer | |
Pelé | |
IFFHS
IFFHS gave out an award decided by votes which was conducted with the participation of journalists and former players (no further details given).[8]
Player | Nationality | Votes | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Pelé | 1705 | |
2 | Johan Cruyff | 1303 | |
3 | Franz Beckenbauer | 1228 | |
4 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | 1215 | |
5 | Diego Maradona | 1214 | |
6 | Ferenc Puskás | 810 | |
7 | Michel Platini | 722 | |
8 | Garrincha | 624 | |
9 | Eusébio | 544 | |
10 | Bobby Charlton | 508 | |
Best World Cup Players
A few years prior to the end of the century, in 1993, in a ceremony sponsored by the American Airlines in Las Vegas, FIFA voted the best players, goalkeepers and coaches in the World Cup history.[9]
Players
Player | Nationality | Votes | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Pelé | 991 | |
2 | Franz Beckenbauer | 954 | |
3 | Johan Cruyff | 911 | |
4 | Diego Maradona | 907 | |
5 | Michel Platini | 872 | |
6 | Garrincha | 862 | |
7 | Bobby Charlton | 850 | |
8 | Bobby Moore | 814 | |
9 | Lothar Matthaus | 727 | |
10 | Gerd Muller | 705 | |
11 | Ferenc Puskás | 659 | |
12 | Eusébio | 642 | |
13 | Djalma Santos | 588 | |
14 | Roberto Rivelino | 549 | |
15 | Paolo Rossi | 536 | |
16 | Mario Kempes | 535 | |
17 | Didi | 522 | |
18 | Paul Breitner | 495 | |
19 | Daniel Passarella | 484 | |
20 | Jairzinho | 483 | |
Goalkeepers
Player | Nationality | Votes | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lev Yashin | 641 | |
2 | Gordon Banks | 478 | |
Coaches
Player | Nationality | Votes | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Franz Beckenbauer | 69 | |
2 | Cesar Luis Menotti | 69 | |
- | Mario Zagallo | 69 | |
References
- "Three candidates for FIFA World Player Award: Figo, Rivaldo and Jake Leigh". FIFA.com. FIFA. 7 December 2000. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- Pele, Maradona split player of 20th century award. CBC News. Retrieved 13 March 2013
- FIFA Player of the Century Archived 26 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. touri.com
- "Maradona's genius cannot eclipse English master". telegraph.co.uk. The Daily Telegraph. 12 December 2000. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- "Pele, Maradona each win FIFA century awards after feud". CNN.
- "FIFA Player of the Century" (PDF). touri.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
- "Celebrations mark the opening of FIFA Centennial Congress in Paris, FIFA’s birthplace". FIFA.com. Retrieved 9 April 2013
- "World - Player of the Century". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 9 April 2013
- "World - Best Players of World Cups". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 9 April 2013