Top 10 Players to Have Never Won the FIFA Footballer of the Year Award

Today, Lionel Messi deservedly won the Player of the Year award for his superb performances throughout the year. He beat out fellow teammate Xavi and also Real Madrid's Christiano Ronaldo for the top prize. However, there have been times when certain great players did not make the cut. Here we examine which players should have been rewarded. 

Honorable Mentions: Hristo Stoichkov, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta, Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Patrice Vieira, Claude Makelele, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard

Have I forgotten anybody? Or should I include someone? Please let me know! 

10. David Beckham

Due to his high-profile celebrity status, people easily forget how good of a footballer David Beckham really is. He is perhaps football’s first truly global icon, recognized by seemingly everybody, even those across the Atlantic.

Not that stats truly tell the immensity of a football players, but how many of you knew that Beckham is third in the all-time leading provider of assists? Many might have also forgotten how he led England to the 2002 World Cup with a captain’s performance against Greece in the qualifiers; with England desperately needing at least a draw to qualify, Beckham scored in stoppage time to make the score level at 2-2 and guide England to the World Cup.

Beckham did manage to become runner-up for the prestigious award twice in his career though, both times losing to astounding players in Ronaldo and Luis Figo. 

9. Oliver Kahn

It was a toss-up between him and Peter Schmeichel, but I stuck with the German rather than the big Dane. Often times, Bundesliga players are overlooked, but not Kahn. An integral part of the German team, which he led to the finals of the 2002 World Cup, Kahn’s contribution to his teams cannot be undermined in the slightest.

He has won eight Bundesliga titles and the UEFA Champions League, while having won a host of individual honors such as several UEFA and IFFHS Best Goalkeeper award, German Footballer of the Year award and was also the first and only goalkeeper to win the Golden Ball at a World Cup.

However, players like Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo were also at their peaks during his peak, and they kept the fiery German from winning the award. 

8. Raul

Anything that I can possibly say about Raul will be mere regurgitation of the same facts that have been repeated over the years: all-time leading goal scorer for Real Madrid, three-time winner of the Champions League and all-time leading goal scorer of that tournament.

He also holds the distinction of having never received a red card during his professional career. He’s still going strong for Schalke, and has gathered a huge fanbase due to his utterly professional and humble nature.

Here’s a video highlighting what he does best.

7. Pavel Nedvěd

For those who don’t remember him, Nedvěd is a Czech midfielder who was an influential player for Lazio, the Czech Republic and most importantly Juventus. He was brought in to fill the void left behind by Zinedine Zidane, and boy did he fill that void.

He guided Juventus to the Scudetto for two consecutive years and was instrumental in helping Juve reach the 2003 Champions League final. Even after Juventus’ relegation following the Calciopoli scandal, he stayed with the team and helped win them promotion to the Serie A once again.

Though he did not win the FIFA Footballer of the Year, he did win the Ballon d'Or in 2003, which for many is more prestigious than its FIFA counterpart. 

6. Andriy Shevchenko

Perhaps not held highly after his catastrophic move to Chelsea, I still consider Shevchenko to be one of the best strikers I have ever witnessed. In his heyday, he terrorized defences and scored countless goals. With Milan, he won several league titles and also the 2003 Champions League. And if it hadn’t been for one Dudek, he would have won the 2005 Champions League.

Besides being one of the most prolific goal scorers for Milan, he also led Ukraine all the way to the quarterfinals in their first-ever World Cup appearance in 2006. Like Nedvěd, he too won the prestigious Ballon d'Or.

5. Alan Shearer

Widely considered one of the best strikers to have ever graced the game, it’s a shame that Shearer never won the award. Shearer remains the highest-ever Premier League goal scorer, and also holds the distinction of having scored the highest number of goals in a calendar year, a record so difficult that even and in-form Robin van Persie could only slightly take a whiff of it.

He won numerous English honors—he was named as the Domestic and Overall Player of the Decade, won consecutive Golden Boots and several Player of the Year awards—but sadly, he was not bestowed with any European or world honors. 

4. Thierry Henry

In 2003, Henry came in second to the deserving maestro Zinedine Zidane, but how he did not win the 2004 Footballer of the Year award, I will never know. Yes, Ronaldinho was exploding onto the world scene, but then Henry was a class of his own, going through defences as a hot knife through butter.

Winner of the PFA and FWA Player of the Year awards on numerous occasions, part of the Invincibles team, winner of the World Cup and European Cup, Henry lit up the whole Premier League. Even though I despised Arsenal, I was held in awe by Henry’s pace, skills and goal-scoring antics. If he possesses a part of the skill set he had during his prime, the EPL will certainly be boosted by his return. 

And to prove that class is permanent, he scored the winning goal for Arsenal against Leeds in the FA Cup. 

3. Wesley Sneijder

When you guide your team to the Champions League title and the final of the World Cup by being your team's most influential player, yet lose out as player of the year, something has to be amiss.

I was not a big fan of the merger of the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player award, and I stand corrected—many of us know that had voting been calculated as per the previous standards, Wesley Sneijder would have won. However, it was not to be, as Lionel Messi walked out with the award.

How many of you felt that at least Xavi, the ticking metronome and the player instrumental in guiding Spain to the World Cup, should’ve won it? Hell, even Andres Iniesta deserved it more than Messi during that year. So this slide is not only about Sneijder but also Iniesta and Xavi.

Congratulations to Messi for winning this year’s award. This year there was no equal to you, you little genius. 

2. Dennis Bergkamp

Perhaps a surprising addition to many, and perhaps even more surprising that he is placed second on this list.  

On the international level, he impressed in the Euro 92 and the 1994 World Cup was predicted to be a contest between Dennis Bergkamp and Romario; such was his impression then. When he moved to Arsenal, Arsene Wenger instituted Bergkamp at the heart of Arsenal, making him the fulcrum to the team’s forward play. His touches were sublime, vision supreme and goals exquisite.

Due to his aviophobia, he couldn’t travel to far off places and often arrived tired after long journeys on train. Perhaps that was the reason that he was never awarded with the grand prize. Yet, he did come in third on two occasions for the FIFA Player of the Year award.

Here is perhaps his most famous goal that left supporters stunned into disbelief.

1. Paul Scholes

A one club man is hard to find these days, especially given the ludicrous some of money available to pry these athletes away from their clubs. However, in Paul Scholes, you have a perfect player any manager could dream of - loyal, hard-working and sensational. Paul Scholes combined all of these qualities to mold himself into one of the finest midfielders of his generation, and together with Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane, served as the heart of the Manchester United team that dominated domestic and European football for the several years. 

Paul Scholes was an integral part of the Manchester United's treble winning season in 1999, while also being an incredible presence in the team that won an astounding ten Premier Leagues, three FA cups and another Champions League in the 2007-2008 season. As a result of his media shy personality, he was never glorified, but those who knew him and played him regarded him with the greatest veneration. Perhaps it was his disciplinary records exacerbated by his tackling standards that made people view him as a malignant and therefore unworthy of a top individual accolade, but for me, and countless others, he remains one of the greatest players that ever played the beautiful game.