The 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year award was won by Luís Figo by the slim margin of 12 points. David Beckham was again in the second place. The gala was hosted at the TV Production Centre in Zürich, on December 17, 2001. 130 national team coaches, based on the current FIFA Men's World Ranking were chosen to vote. For the first time the Women's award was given out, won by Mia Hamm.
| Rank | Player | 5P | 3P | 1P | Points | Club(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luís Figo | 27 | 35 | 10 | 250 |  Real Madrid |
| 2 | David Beckham | 30 | 23 | 19 | 238 | Manchester United |
| 3 | Raúl | 10 | 12 | 10 | 96 | Real Madrid |
| 4 |  Zinedine Zidane | 12 | 9 | 7 | 94 |  Juventus Real Madrid |
| 5 |  Rivaldo | 11 | 7 | 16 | 92 | Barcelona |
| 6 |  Juan Sebastián Verón | 9 | 6 | 8 | 71 | Lazio Manchester United |
| 7 | Oliver Kahn | 8 | 5 | 10 | 65 | Bayern Munich |
| 8 | Michael Owen | 4 | 11 | 8 | 61 | Liverpool |
| 9 |  Andriy Shevchenko | 6 | 4 | 4 | 46 | Milan |
| 10 | Francesco Totti | 5 | 4 | 3 | 40 | Roma |
| Rank | Player | Club | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 154 | |||
| 2 | 79 | |||
| 3 | 47 | |||
| 4 | 40 | |||
| 5 | 37 | |||
| 6 | 35 | |||
| 7 | 29 | |||
| 8 | 17 | |||
| 9 | 16 | |||
| 10 | 13 | |||
| 11 | 11 | |||
| 12 | 10 |