The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football.Rafa Jiménez, IFFHS: La calculadora del fútbol. Don Balón (1656), 9/15 julio 2007, p. 50 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.A couple of former Weltzeitschrift cover pages can be looked up at 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.Rafa Jiménez, IFFHS: La calculadora del fútbol. Don Balón (1656), 9/15 July 2007, p. 50 (in Spanish). The statistical organisation has now confined its publishing activities to its website. The IFFHS has no affiliation with FIFA, but FIFA has cited awards and records conducted by the 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, the German Football Association (DFB), and former president of the Association of West German Sports Journalists ( — VWS) Heribert Faßbender have referenced the IFFHS.
The World's Best Club
Since 1991, the entity has produced a monthly Club World Ranking. The ranking takes into consideration the results of twelve months of continental and intercontinental competitions, national league matches (including play-offs) and the most important national cup (excluding points won before the round of 16). All countries are rated at four levels based upon the national league performance—clubs in the highest level leagues receive 4 points for each match won, 2 for a draw and 0 for a defeat. Level 2 is assigned 3 pts. (win), 1.5 (draw) and 0 (lost), and so on with the next lower levels.
In continental competitions, all clubs receive the same number of points at all stages regardless of the performance level of their leagues. However, the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores yield more points than UEFA Europa League and Copa Sudamericana, respectively. The point assignment system is still lower for the AFC, CAF, CONCACAF and OFC continental tournaments. Competitions between two continents are evaluated depending upon their importance. Competitions not organised by a continental confederation, or any intercontinental events not recognized by FIFA, are not taken into consideration.
Men's winners +Winners (1991–present)ClubWinsYears Real Madrid52000, 2002, 2014, 2017, 2024 Barcelona1997, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 Liverpool32001, 2005, 2019 Juventus21993, 1996 Milan1995, 2003 Sevilla2006, 2007 Manchester United1999, 2008 Inter Milan1998, 2010 Bayern Munich2013, 2020 Paris Saint-Germain1994, 2025 Roma11991 Ajax11992 Atlético Nacional12016 Atlético Madrid12018 Palmeiras12021 Flamengo12022 Manchester City12023
Continental Men's Clubs of the Century (1901–2000)
In 2009, the IFFHS released the results of a statistical study series which determined the best continental clubs of the 20th century. The ranking did not consider the performance of the teams in national football tournaments (except in the Oceania's club ranking due to limited editions held under OFC club competitions), the performance in the intercontinental or worldwide club competitions or those submitted in the IFFHS Club World Ranking, available since 1991.
Based on this study, which assigned a weighted score criteria applied for each competition analysed, the below six clubs were named as "continental clubs of the century" by the IFFHS between 10 September and 13 October 2009. These clubs were awarded with a golden trophy and a certificate during the World Football Gala celebrated at Fulham, London, on 11 May 2010.
ContinentClubEurope Real MadridSouth America PeñarolAfrica Asante KotokoAsia Al-HilalCONCACAF SaprissaOceania South Melbourne
The Best Men's Club of the Decade In 2012, the IFFHS recognised Barcelona as the World's Best Club Team of the Decade for the first decade of the 21st century (2001–2010). In 2021, Barcelona were recognised as the world's best club also for the second decade (2011–2020).
DecadeWorldEuropeSouth AmericaCONCACAFAfricaAsiaOceania2001–2010 Barcelona Barcelona Boca Juniors América Al Ahly Al-Hilal Auckland City2011–2020 Barcelona Barcelona Grêmio UANL Espérance de Tunis Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Auckland City
Women's winners +Multiple winners (2012–present)ClubWinsYears Lyon72012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 Barcelona52021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 VfL Wolfsburg22013, 2014
The World's Strongest National League
Men's league + Multiple winners (1991–present) League Wins Years Spain 132000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Italy 13 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2020, 2023, 2024 England6 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2019, 2025 Brazil2 2021, 2022 Germany 1 1997
The Strongest National League of the Decade Decade World Europe South America CONCACAF Africa Asia Oceania 2001–2010 England England Brazil Mexico Egypt Japan New Zealand 2011–2020 Spain Spain Brazil Mexico Tunisia South Korea New Zealand
Women's league Year League 2020 England 2021 France 2022 Spain 2023 Spain
The World's Best Player
Men's winners From 1991 until 2009, FIFA continued this distinction named FIFA World Player of the Year; this award was later replaced by the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010, and The Best FIFA Men's Player in 2016. The award was reinstated in 2020.
+ Winners (1988–1990,2020–present) Player Wins Years Marco van Basten 2 1988, 1989 Robert Lewandowski 2020, 2021 Lothar Matthäus 1 1990 Lionel Messi 2022 Erling Haaland 2023 Rodri 2024 Ousmane Dembélé 2025
Women's winners + Winners (2020–present) Player Wins Years Aitana Bonmatí 3 2023, 2024, 2025 Alexia Putellas 2 2021, 2022 Pernille Harder 1 2020
The World's Best Man Player of the Century (1901–2000)
+ Top 10 playersThe World's best Player of the Century Top66 (2000) - iffhs.de Rank Player Nationality Points 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
The World's Best Woman Player of the Century (1901–2000)
IFFHS gave out an award decided by votes which was conducted with the participation of journalists and former players (no further details given). + Top 10 players Rank Player Nationality Points 1 Mia Hamm 442 2 Michelle Akers 411 3 Heidi Mohr 250 4 Carolina Morace 230 5 Sissi 212 6 Linda Medalen 181 7 Liu Ailing 165 8 Kristine Lilly 160 9 Heidi Støre 141 10 Pia Sundhage 129
The World's Best Man Player of the 19th Century (until 1900) In November 2021, IFFHS announced the Dream Team of the 19th Century and the top 3 players.
+ Top 3 players Rank Player Nationality 1 Gilbert Oswald Smith 2 John Goodall 3 Steve Bloomer
Top 10 Players of All Time (2025) In May 2025, IFFHS announced the top 10 players of all time, based on performance statistics, with Lionel Messi being the winner surpassing Pelé, the IFFHS Player of the 20th Century.
+ Top 10 players Rank Player Nationality 1 Lionel Messi 2 Pelé 3 Diego Maradona 4 Cristiano Ronaldo 5 Johan Cruyff 6 Ronaldo 7 Zinedine Zidane 8 Franz Beckenbauer 9 Alfredo Di Stéfano 10 Ronaldinho
World's Best Player and Coach It was a one-time award under the name world's universal genius won by Franz Beckenbauer for his world success as both player and coach in 2007.The Universal Genius of World Football - IFFHS
Player Nationality 2007 Franz Beckenbauer
World's Most Popular Player
The World‘s most popular player as voted by IFFHS users:
Year Player Nationality Club Votes 20062006 - Voting by IFFHS Users - IFFHS Steven Gerrard Liverpool 47,464 20072007 - Voting by IFFHS Users - IFFHS Mohamed Aboutrika Al Ahly 1,017,786 20082008 - Voting by IFFHS Users - IFFHS Mohamed Aboutrika Al Ahly 301,837 20092009 - Voting by IFFHS Users - IFFHS Mohamed Aboutrika Al Ahly 84,470
Europe's Best Player Best European Player (1956–1989)
On 24 April 1990, ahead of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, IFFHS gave out an award for the best European player, taking into consideration players who were voted in the shortlist of the France Footballs Ballon D'Or from 1956 until 1989.- Europeus elegem seus melhores (24 April 1990) - Jornal do Brasil
Rank Player Nationality1 Franz Beckenbauer 2 Michel Platini 3Johan Cruyff 4 Eusébio 5 Gerd Müller 6 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge 7 Luis Suárez 8 Bobby Charlton 9Alfredo Di Stéfano10 Raymond Kopa 11 Lev Yashin Gianni Rivera Kevin Keegan 14 John Charles 15 Marco van Basten 16 Ferenc Puskás Bernd Schuster George Best 19 Ruud Gullit 20 Preben Elkjær
European Player of the Century (1901–2000) +Top 10 playersRankPlayerNationalityPoints1Johan Cruyff7562Franz Beckenbauer7093Alfredo Di Stéfano7084Ferenc Puskás6675Michel Platini5056Eusébio3797Bobby Charlton3038Stanley Matthews2829Gerd Müller24910Marco van Basten240
European Player of Decade (2011–2020) On 2 February 2021, IFFHS announced the best European players (UEFA) of the decade.IFFHS BEST MAN PLAYER - UEFA - OF THE DECADE 2011-2020 - IFFHS RankPlayerNationality1 Cristiano Ronaldo 2 Sergio Ramos 3 Manuel Neuer
South America's Best Player South American Player of the Century (1901–2000) + Top 10 players Rank Player Nationality Points 1 Pelé 220 2 Diego Maradona 193 3 Alfredo Di Stéfano 161 4 Garrincha 142 5 José Manuel Moreno 82 6 Juan Alberto Schiaffino 52 7 Zico 51 8 Arsenio Erico 42 Elías Figueroa 42 10 Zizinho 40
South American Player of Decade (2011–2020) On 2 February 2021, IFFHS announced the best South American players (CONMEBOL) of the decade. Rank Player Nationality 1 Lionel Messi 2 Neymar 3 Dani Alves
CONCACAF Best Player CONCACAF Player of the Century (1901–2000) + Top 10 players Rank Player Nationality Points 1 Hugo Sánchez 107 2 Luis de la Fuente 45 3 Carlos Hermosillo 42 4 Horacio Casarín 40 5 Raúl Cárdenas 39 6 Billy Gonsalves 33 7 Salvador Reyes 30 8 Bruce Wilson 29 Julio Dely Valdés 29 10 Mágico González 24
Player of Decade (2011–2020) On 5 February 2021, IFFHS announced the best CONCACAF players of the decade.
Rank Player Nationality 1 Keylor Navas 2 Javier Hernández 3 Clint Dempsey
Africa's Best Player African Player of the Century (1901–2000) + Top 10 players Rank Player Nationality Points 1 George Weah 95 2 Roger Milla 77 3 Abedi Pele 72 4 Lakhdar Belloumi 56 5 Rabah Madjer 51 6 Théophile Abega 39 7 Laurent Pokou 38 8 François Omam-Biyik 37 9 Ahmed Faras 35 10 Finidi George 32
Player of Decade (2011–2020) On 5 February 2021, IFFHS announced the best African players (CAF) of the decade.
Rank Player Nationality 1 Mohamed Salah 2 Sadio Mané 3 Riyad Mahrez
Asia's Best Player Asian Player of the Century (1901–2000) + Top 10 players Rank Player Nationality Points 1 Cha Bum-kun 112 2 Kim Joo-sung 93 3 Majed Abdullah 87 4 Kazuyoshi Miura 71 5 Kunishige Kamamoto 70 6 Saeed Al-Owairan 68 7 Ali Daei 64 8 Khodadad Azizi 59 9 Ahmed Radhi 48 10 Karim Bagheri 47
Player of Decade (2011–2020) On 5 February 2021, IFFHS announced the best Asian players (AFC) of the decade.
Rank Player Nationality 1 Son Heung-min 2 Keisuke Honda 3 Salem Al-Dawsari
Oceania's Best Player OFC Player of the Century (1901–2000)