'Greatest Ever' Messi wins fourth World Player of the Year crown

Argentina star Lionel Messi has cemented his status as the greatest player on the planet by becoming the first player to win FIFA's prestigious Ballon d'Or title on four separate occasions. The name of the world’s best football player was announced at a gala-show in Zurich, Switzerland on Monday night.


Messi was really on fire in 2012 as he scored 91 goals to beat the seemingly unreachable record for the most goals in a calendar year, set by Germany’s Gerd Muller back in 1972.
The ceremony also saw FC Barcelona become the team, with most – nine – Golden Ball’s handed to their players.

The line-up for the FIFA FIFPro World XI was also announced in the ceremony, with the following players making the all-star squad in 2012:

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Spain); Defenders: Dani Alves (Brazil), Marcelo (Brazil), Gerard Piqué (Spain) and Sergio Ramos (Spain); Midfilders: Xabi Alonso (Spain), Andrés Iniesta (Spain) and Xavi Hernández (Spain); Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Radamel Falcao (Colombia) and Lionel Messi (Argentina).

List of winners

1991 - Lothar Matthaeus (Germany) Inter Milan

1992 - Marco van Basten (Netherlands) AC Milan

1993 - Roberto Baggio (Italy) Juventus

1994 - Romario (Brazil) Barcelona

1995 - George Weah (Liberia) AC Milan

1996 - Ronaldo (Brazil) Barcelona

1997 - Ronaldo Inter Milan

1998 - Zinedine Zidane (France) Juventus

1999 - Rivaldo (Brazil) Barcelona

2000 - Zidane Juventus

2001 - Luis Figo (Portugal) Real Madrid

2002 - Ronaldo Real Madrid

2003 - Zidane Real Madrid

2004 - Ronaldinho (Brazil) Barcelona

2005 - Ronaldinho Barcelona

2006 - Fabio Cannavaro (Italy) Real Madrid

2007 - Kaka (Brazil) Milan
2008 - C. Ronaldo (Portugal) Manchester United
2009 - Lionel Messi (Argentina) Barcelon
2010 - Lionel Messi (Argentina) Barcelona
2011 - Lionel Messi (Argentina) Barcelon
2012 - Lionel Messi (Argentina) Barcelona