♣ IFFHS

The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for some time but, in 2010, relocated to Bonn, Germany, and then in 2014 to Zürich.

From its early stages to 2002, the IFFHS concentrated on publishing the quarterly magazines Fußball-Weltzeitschrift, Libero spezial deutsch and Libero international. When these had to be discontinued for reasons which were not officially told, the organisation published its material in a series of multi-lingual books in co-operation with sponsors. The statistical organisation has now confined its publishing activities to its website. IFFHS has no affiliation with FIFA, but FIFA has cited awards and records conducted by IFFHS on their website.

In 2008, Karl Lennartz, a sports historian and professor at the University of Cologne, Germany, called the organisation "obscure", describing it as a one-man show of its founder Alfredo Pöge. IFFHS rankings and their significance have been a matter of criticism and the largest German news agency, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, refuse to publish them. Furthermore, German die Tageszeitung stated that the IFFHS rankings serves merely for publicity, although Bild, Deutsche Welle, Kicker-Sportmagazin, German Football Association (DFB), and former president of the Association of West German Sports Journalists (German: Verbandes Westdeutscher Sportjournalisten — VWS) Heribert Faßbender have referenced IFFHS.

▼ Connection Pages

♣ The World's Best Playmaker

The IFFHS World's Best Playmaker is a footballing award which, since 2006, is given annually to the best playmaker of the year, as chosen by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

The award is awarded at the end of the year at the World Football Gala: the winning playmaker is awarded a gold trophy. Argentina's Lionel Messi has won the award a record five times. Spain's Xavi won the award four times, all consecutively, while Belgian Kevin De Bruyne won the award three times.Barcelona is the club with the most wins, with ten in total.

Lionel Messi was named the Best Playmaker since 2006 and the Best Playmaker of the Decade 2011–2020.

♣ The World's Best Top Goal Scorer

The IFFHS World's Best Top Goal Scorer is a football award given annually since 2020, and retroactively for the years 2011 to 2019, to the world's top goalscorer in the calendar year. The award is given by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

All international goals and all competitive goals for clubs playing in their country's top level division scored from 1 January to 31 December are taken into consideration.

Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for most wins (5) while Lionel Messi holds the record for most goals in a calendar year (91 in 2012). Robert Lewandowski won the award with the fewest goals (47 in 2020).

Ronaldo (5), Messi (2) and Lewandowski (2) are the only players who have won the award more than once.

Ronaldo (Real Madrid & Al Nassr) is the only player to win the award with multiple clubs. Meanwhile, Al Nassr is the only club with multiple winners (Abderrazak Hamdallah in 2019 & Ronaldo in 2023).

In 2021, the IFFHS awarded the World's Best Goal Scorer of the first and second decade of the 21st century, considering the years 2001 to 2010 and 2011 to 2020.

♣ The World's Best Top Division Goal Scorer

This award is given annually since 1997 to the player who scores the most goals in a league season (in a calendar year since 2020) in any of the top 60 leagues in the world (as ranked by IFFHS for that given year).

♣ The World's Best International Goal Scorer

The IFFHS World's Best International Goal Scorer is a football award given annually since 1991 to the world's top international goalscorer in the calendar year. The award is given by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

Only international goals from 1 January to 31 December in international matches, Olympic tournaments, FIFA Club World Cup, official matches between the topical continental club champions, and the continental club competitions of FIFA, AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA, as well as, the continental Super Cup matches of the six confederations are taken into consideration. If the number of goals is equal, the player who scored more goals in international matches is ranked higher.

Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for most wins (5), and most goals in a calendar year (32 in 2017). Dennis Bergkamp, Raí and César Obando won the award with the fewest goals (12 in 1992). Neymar and Gabriel Batistuta are the players with the most runner-up appearances (2). Cristiano Ronaldo is the player with most third-place finishes (3). Ali Daei, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Romelo Lukaku are the only players who have won the award more than once. Ronaldo and Messi are the only players to win the award in successive seasons, with Ronaldo achieving this twice. Ali Ashfaq scored the most goals without winning (23 goals in 2013). Real Madrid and Barcelona are tied for the clubs with the most wins (5).

In 2012, the IFFHS awarded the World's Best Goal Scorer of the First Decade, considering the years 2001 to 2010.

♣ The World's Best Goalkeeper

The IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper is a football award given annually since 1987 to the best goalkeeper of the year as voted by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). The votes are cast by IFFHS's editorial staff as well as experts from different continents.

The winner is announced at the end of the year. The winning goalkeeper is awarded a gold trophy at the World Football Gala. Italy's Gianluigi Buffon, Spain's Iker Casillas and Germany's Manuel Neuer have each won the award a record five times; Casillas won the award for five consecutive years between 2008 and 2012. Below is a list of the previous winners since the first award in 1987, which was won by Belgium's Jean-Marie Pfaff. Bayern Munich is the team with the most wins, with a total of nine.

♣ The World's Dream Team

The IFFHS World Team is a football award given annually since 2017. The award is given by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

♣ The World's Legends

♣ The World's Best Club Coach

The IFFHS World's Best Club Coach is an association football award given annually, since 1996, to the most outstanding club coach as voted by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), an autonomous football federation working without the investment or support of FIFA or UEFA. The votes in 1996 were cast by IFFHS's editorial staff, as well as experts from 89 countries spanning six continents. Since then, the votes have been now awarded by 81 experts and selected editorial offices from all of the continents. In 2020, an award for women's club coaches was introduced. The current men's recipient is Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola. The current women's recipient is Barcelona coach Jonatan Giráldez.

Public reception

The award is officially recognised by FIFA despite the IFFHS not being affiliated with them. However, as the award is usually awarded based on statistics rather than individual merits, it is not held in high regard by some football fans. Four-time winner José Mourinho once jokingly stated that the IFFHS were slow in handing over the award claiming he had not received his award from 2010 in 2012.

Men's winners

The award is awarded at the end of the year. The winning coach and the runner-up in the rankings are awarded a gold and silver trophy respectively at the World Football Gala. Below is a list of the previous men's winners and runners-up since the first award in 1996.

Women's winners

The award is awarded at the end of the year. Below is a list of the previous women's winners and runners-up since the first award in 2020.

♣ The World's Best National Coach

The IFFHS World's Best National Coach is an association football award given annually, since 1996, to the most outstanding national team coach as voted by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). The votes, in 1996, were cast by IFFHS's editorial staff as well as experts from 89 countries spanning six different continents. Since then, the votes are now awarded by 81 experts and selected editorial offices from all the continents. In 2020, an award for women's national team coaches was introduced. The current men's recipient is Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni. The current women's recipient is the England manager Sarina Wiegman.

Men's winners

Below is a list of the previous men's winners and runners-up since the first award in 1996.

Women's winners

Below is a list of the previous women's winners and runners-up since the first award in 2020.

▶ IFFHS Men's Go Page

▶ IFFHS Women's Go Page