"WORLD SOCCER" WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
This award begun in 1982 and is voted on by the readers of World Soccer magazine. The results in 1999 are:
| RANK | NAME | NATIONALITY |
% |
| 1 | Rivaldo | Brazil | 42.27 |
| 2 | David Beckham | England | 26.55 |
| 3 | Andrii Shevchenko | Ukraine | 9.02 |
| 4 | Roy Keane | Republic of Ireland | 2.84 |
| 5 | Dwight Yorke | Trinidad & Tobago | 2.06 |
| 6 | Christian Vieri | Italy | 1.55 |
| 7 | Raul Gonzalez | Spain | 1.29 |
| 8 | Nwankwo Kanu | Nigeria | 1.03 |
| Gabriel Batistuta | Argentina | 1.03 | |
| Juan Veron | Argentina | 1.03 |
The winner, Rivaldo, finished with one of the most clear majorities in the history of the award. This reflected his performances for Barcelona and Brazil throughout 1999. Three of the top five come from Manchester United who completed the treble in 1999 with David Beckham the best in second. Previous winners of the award are:
| YEAR | NAME | NATIONALITY |
| 1982 | Paolo Rossi | Italy |
| 1983 | Zico | Brazil |
| 1984 | Michel Platini | France |
| 1985 | Michel Platini | France |
| 1986 | Diego Maradona | Argentina |
| 1987 | Ruud Gullit | Holland |
| 1988 | Marco Van Basten | Holland |
| 1989 | Ruud Gullit | Holland |
| 1990 | Lothar Matthaus | Germany |
| 1991 | Jean-Pierre Papin | France |
| 1992 | Marco Van Basten | Holland |
| 1993 | Roberto Baggio | Italy |
| 1994 | Paolo Maldini | Italy |
| 1995 | Gianluca Vialli | Italy |
| 1996 | Ronaldo | Brazil |
| 1997 | Ronaldo | Brazil |
| 1998 | Zinedine Zidane | France |
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