The award was decided after a poll in which the captains and head coaches of national teams, as well as international media representatives selected by French football magazine France Football. Lionel Messi won the voting.

Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo was second, the third time the 2008 winner has finished runner-up, and Barcelona and Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta was third as Spain again missed out.

Lionel Messi became the first player, who won FIFA Ballon d’Or for four times. Earlier, he won the FIFA Ballon d’Or in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

US player Abby Wambach claimed her first FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award at the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala. She scored five goals at London Olympics and USA won the gold medals of the Games.

The FIFA Puskás Award for the “most beautiful goal” of the year went to Slovakian striker Miroslav Stoch, who superbly hooked a shot into the top corner of the net on 3 March 2012 for his club Fenerbahçe in a Turkish Süper Lig match against Gençlerbirliği.

Vicente del Bosque secured the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football award with 34.51% of the votes, ahead of José Mourinho, the Portuguese coach of Real Madrid, with 20.49%, and former FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, who received 12.91%.

Pia Sundhage led the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football category with 28.59% of the votes, ahead of Norio Sasaki (23.83%), coach of the Japanese national team that collected silver at the Olympics in London, and France team coach Bruno Bini (9.02%).

Franz Beckenbauer received the FIFA Presidential Award from President Joseph S. Blatter in recognition of his extraordinary achievements and record of service to the world’s favourite game.

Beckenbauer excelled as a supremely elegant, world-class player, as a charismatic coach and manager on the touchline, and as the figurehead and chief organiser of a major sports event. And each and every time, the focus was the FIFA World Cup™.