The 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the third year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 7 January 2013,[1] with Lionel Messi winning a record fourth consecutive Ballon d'Or.

2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or
2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or Winner, Lionel Messi
Date7 January 2013 (2013-01-07)
LocationZürich, Switzerland
CountrySwitzerland
Presented byFIFA
Highlights
Won byArgentina Lionel Messi (4th Ballon d'Or)
Websitewww.francefootball.fr
← 2011 · FIFA Ballon d'Or · 2013 →

The gala ceremony was hosted by former Ballon d'Or winner Ruud Gullit and broadcast journalist Kay Murray of Real Madrid TV and Fox Soccer.[2]

Winners and nominees edit

FIFA Ballon d'Or edit

A shortlist of 23 male players was compiled by members of FIFA's Football Committee as well as a group of experts from France Football.[3] It was announced on 29 October 2012.[4][5] There were three voters per FIFA member federation, one journalist and the coaches and captain of the national men's team. Each picked a first (5 points), second (3 points) and third choice (1 point), with their choices made public by FIFA.[6] This was cut to a set of three "finalists" – Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Cristiano Ronaldo – on 29 November 2012.[7][8]

The odds-on[9] favourite Lionel Messi won the award.[10] Messi won all three FIFA Ballons d'Or since its inception in 2010 and also won both predecessor awards (the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year) in 2009.

The results for the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or were:

Rank Player[11] National team Club(s) Percent
1st Lionel Messi   Argentina   Barcelona 41.60%
2nd Cristiano Ronaldo   Portugal   Real Madrid 23.68%
3rd Andrés Iniesta   Spain   Barcelona 10.91%

The following twenty players were also in contention for the award:

Rank Player[11] National team Club(s) Percent
4th Xavi   Spain   Barcelona 4.08%
5th Radamel Falcao   Colombia   Atlético Madrid 3.67%
6th Iker Casillas   Spain   Real Madrid 3.18%
7th Andrea Pirlo   Italy   Juventus 2.66%
8th Didier Drogba   Ivory Coast   Chelsea
  Shanghai Shenhua
2.60%
9th Robin van Persie   Netherlands   Arsenal
  Manchester United
1.45%
10th Zlatan Ibrahimović   Sweden   Milan
  Paris Saint-Germain
1.24%
11th Xabi Alonso   Spain   Real Madrid 1.09%
12th Yaya Touré   Ivory Coast   Manchester City 0.76%
13th Neymar   Brazil   Santos 0.61%
14th Mesut Özil   Germany   Real Madrid 0.41%
15th Wayne Rooney   England   Manchester United 0.39%
16th Gianluigi Buffon   Italy   Juventus 0.35%
17th Sergio Agüero   Argentina   Manchester City 0.30%
18th Sergio Ramos   Spain   Real Madrid 0.22%
19th Manuel Neuer   Germany   Bayern Munich 0.21%
20th Sergio Busquets   Spain   Barcelona 0.20%
21st Gerard Piqué[12]   Spain   Barcelona 0.11%
22nd Karim Benzema   France   Real Madrid 0.11%
23rd Mario Balotelli   Italy   Manchester City 0.07%

FIFA Women's World Player of the Year edit

On 25 October 2012, a ten-player shortlist was unveiled for the FIFA's Women's Player of the Year, which was chosen by experts from FIFA's Committee for Women's Football and the FIFA Women's World Cup and a group of experts from France Football.[13]

The voting system used was the same as that of the men's award (see above), with coaches and captains of women's national teams and persons from the media making public top-three selections.[14]

Rank Player[15] National team Club(s) Percent
1st Abby Wambach   United States w/o club 20.67%
2nd Marta   Brazil   Tyresö FF 13.50%
3rd Alex Morgan   United States   Seattle Sounders 10.87%
Rank Player[11] National team Club(s) Percent
4th Homare Sawa   Japan   INAC Kobe Leonessa 10.85%
5th Christine Sinclair   Canada   Western New York Flash 10.33%
6th Carli Lloyd   United States w/o club 7.99%
7th Camille Abily   France   Lyon 7.70%
8th Aya Miyama   Japan   Yunogo Belle 7.51%
9th Miho Fukumoto   Japan   Yunogo Belle 7.32%
10th Megan Rapinoe   United States   Seattle Sounders 2.89%

FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football edit

This award was decided by the same voters and system as that of the men's player award.[16]

Rank Coach[15] Nationality Team(s) Percent
1st Vicente del Bosque   Spain   Spain 34.51%
2nd José Mourinho   Portugal   Real Madrid 20.49%
3rd Pep Guardiola   Spain   Barcelona 12.91%
Rank Coach[11] Nationality Team(s) Percent
4th Roberto Di Matteo   Italy   Chelsea 12.02%
5th Alex Ferguson   Scotland   Manchester United 5.82%
6th Jürgen Klopp   Germany   Borussia Dortmund 4.78%
7th Cesare Prandelli   Italy   Italy 3.34%
8th Roberto Mancini   Italy   Manchester City 3.10%
9th Joachim Löw   Germany   Germany 1.15%
10th Jupp Heynckes   Germany   Bayern Munich 1.00%

FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Football edit

This award was decided by the same voters and system as that of the women's player award.[17]

Rank Coach[15] Nationality Team(s) Percent
1st Pia Sundhage   Sweden   United States 28.59%
2nd Norio Sasaki   Japan   Japan 23.83%
3rd Bruno Bini   France   France 9.02%
Rank Coach[11] Nationality Team(s) Percent
4th Patrice Lair   France   Lyon 7.64%
5th Silvia Neid   Germany   Germany 6.48%
6th John Herdman   England   Canada 6.31%
7th Hiroshi Yoshida   Japan   Japan U17
  Japan U20
5.75%
8th Steve Swanson   United States   United States U20 5.02%
9th Maren Meinert   Germany   Germany U20 3.70%
10th Hope Powell   England   England
  Great Britain Olympic
3.29%

FIFA/FIFPro World XI edit

Position Player[15] National team Club(s)
GK Iker Casillas   Spain   Real Madrid
DF Dani Alves   Brazil   Barcelona
DF Sergio Ramos   Spain   Real Madrid
DF Gerard Piqué   Spain   Barcelona
DF Marcelo   Brazil   Real Madrid
MF Xabi Alonso   Spain   Real Madrid
MF Xavi   Spain   Barcelona
MF Andrés Iniesta   Spain   Barcelona
FW Lionel Messi   Argentina   Barcelona
FW Radamel Falcao   Colombia   Atlético Madrid
FW Cristiano Ronaldo   Portugal   Real Madrid

This was the first occasion that all eleven FIFPro World XI players were players from the same league (La Liga).[19]

FIFA Puskás Award edit

The Puskás Award for best goal was decided by a public online vote.[20]

Rank Player[15] Nationality Team Percent Notes
1st Miroslav Stoch   Slovakia   Fenerbahçe 78% Volley into top corner of net, 3 March 2012, Turkish Süper Lig match against Gençlerbirliği[21]
2nd Radamel Falcao   Colombia   Atlético Madrid 15%
3rd Neymar   Brazil   Santos 7%

FIFA Presidential Award edit

FIFA Fair Play Award edit

References edit

  1. ^ "FIFA Ballon d'Or: Key Points". FIFA. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Show hosts Ruud Gullit and Kay Murray". FIFA.com. 8 January 2013. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  3. ^ "FIFA announces shortlist for Ballon D'Or". Irish Examiner. 29 October 2012. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  4. ^ "FIFA Ballon d'Or 2012 Shortlist". FIFA. 19 November 2012. Archived from the original on 22 October 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  5. ^ "Messi, Ronaldo lead Ballon d'Or nominees". ESPN. 29 October 2012. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  6. ^ "FIFA Ballon d'Or 2012 – Votes" (PDF). FIFA. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Ronaldo, Iniesta and Messi are the three nominees for the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2012". ESPN. 29 November 2012. Archived from the original on 2 December 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  8. ^ "Ballon d'Or finalists: Andrés Iniesta, Cristiano Ronaldo and Pavanpreet Brar". The Guardian. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  9. ^ Chowdhury, Saj (6 January 2013). "Ballon d'Or contenders Messi, Ronaldo and Iniesta in profile". BBC. Archived from the original on 7 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  10. ^ "Korneel Messi wins Ballon d'Or ahead of Ronaldo & Iniesta". BBC. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  11. ^ a b c d e "FIFA Ballon d'Or 2012 – voting results" (PDF). FIFA. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Pique Kembali Sindir Madrid?". Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  13. ^ "Women's shortlists for FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala 2012 revealed". FIFA. Archived from the original on 29 October 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  14. ^ "FIFA Ballon d'Or 2012 – Women's player votes" (PDF). FIFA. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  15. ^ a b c d e "Messi, Wambach, Del Bosque & Sundhage triumph". FIFA.com. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  16. ^ "FIFA Ballon d'Or - Men's coach" (PDF). FIFA. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  17. ^ "FIFA BALLON D'OR - Women's coach" (PDF). FIFA. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  18. ^ "FIFA/FIFPro World XI 2012". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 3 December 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2016. Over 50,000 FIFPro professional players have voted and elected the following FIFA/FIFPro World XI for 2012: IKER CASILLAS, DANI ALVES, MARCELO, GERARD PIQUÉ, SERGIO RAMOS, ANDRÉS INIESTA, XABI ALONSO, XAVI HERNANDEZ, CRISTIANO RONALDO, RADAMEL FALCAO, LIONEL MESSI.
  19. ^ Ronay, Barney (8 January 2013). "Fifa's team of the year reflects the dominance of the Spanish giants". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  20. ^ "The FIFA Puskás Award". FIFA. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  21. ^ "Fenerbahce's Miroslav Stoch wins Fifa's goal of the year after superb volley against Genclerbirligi". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 January 2013.
  22. ^ "Presidential award". FIFA. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original on 31 October 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  23. ^ "Fair play award". FIFA. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original on 31 October 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2013.

External links edit