"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 2003 are:
| RANK | NAME | NATIONALITY |
% |
| 1 | Pavel Nedved | Czech Republic | 35.9 |
| 2 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Holland | 9.5 |
| 3 | Raul | Spain | 9.1 |
| 4 | Paolo Maldini | Italy | 8.2 |
| 5 | Thierry Henry | France | 6.1 |
| 6 | Ronaldo | Brazil | 4.3 |
| 7 | Roy Makaay | Holland | 4.0 |
| 8 | Andrii Shevchenko | Ukraine | 2.8 |
| 9 | Roberto Carlos | Brazil | 2.6 |
| 10 | David Beckham | England | 2.1 |
Pavel Nedved won the award after a good season for Juventus and the Czech Republic. Van Nistelrooy helped Manchester United win the English league again. 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 |
| 1999 | Rivaldo | Brazil |
| 2000 | Luis Figo | Portugal |
| 2001 | Michael Owen | England |
| 2002 | Ronaldo | Brazil |
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