2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or
The 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the third year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 7 January 2013, with Lionel Messi winning a record fourth consecutive Ballon d'Or.
The gala ceremony was hosted by former Ballon d'Or winner Ruud Gullit and broadcast journalist Kay Murray of Real Madrid TV and Fox Soccer.
Winners and nominees
FIFA Ballon d'Or
A shortlist of 23 male players was compiled by members of FIFA's Football Committee as well as a group of experts from France Football. It was announced on 29 October 2012.There were three voters per FIFA member federation, one journalist and the coaches and captain of the national men's team. Each picked a first, second and third choice, with their choices made public by FIFA. This was cut to a set of three "finalists" – Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Cristiano Ronaldo – on 29 November 2012.
The odds-on favourite Lionel Messi won the award. Messi won all three FIFA Ballons d'Or since its inception in 2010 and also won both predecessor awards in 2009.
The results for the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or were:
| Rank | Player | National team | Club | Percent |
| 1st | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 41.60% | |
| 2nd | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 23.68% | |
| 3rd | Andrés Iniesta | Barcelona | 10.91% |
The following twenty players were also in contention for the award:
| Rank | Player | National team | Club | Percent |
| 4th | Xavi | Barcelona | 4.08% | |
| 5th | Radamel Falcao | Atlético Madrid | 3.67% | |
| 6th | Iker Casillas | Real Madrid | 3.18% | |
| 7th | Andrea Pirlo | Juventus | 2.66% | |
| 8th | Didier Drogba | Chelsea Shanghai Shenhua | 2.60% | |
| 9th | Robin van Persie | Arsenal Manchester United | 1.45% | |
| 10th | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Milan Paris Saint-Germain | 1.24% | |
| 11th | Xabi Alonso | Real Madrid | 1.09% | |
| 12th | Yaya Touré | Manchester City | 0.76% | |
| 13th | Neymar | Santos | 0.61% | |
| 14th | Mesut Özil | Real Madrid | 0.41% | |
| 15th | Wayne Rooney | Manchester United | 0.39% | |
| 16th | Gianluigi Buffon | Juventus | 0.35% | |
| 17th | Sergio Agüero | Manchester City | 0.30% | |
| 18th | Sergio Ramos | Real Madrid | 0.22% | |
| 19th | Manuel Neuer | Bayern Munich | 0.21% | |
| 20th | Sergio Busquets | Barcelona | 0.20% | |
| 21st | Gerard Piqué | Barcelona | 0.11% | |
| 22nd | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 0.11% | |
| 23rd | Mario Balotelli | Manchester City | 0.07% |
FIFA Women's World Player of the Year
On 25 October 2012, a ten-player shortlist was unveiled for the FIFA's Women's Player of the Year, which was chosen by experts from FIFA's Committee for Women's Football and the FIFA Women's World Cup and a group of experts from France Football.The voting system used was the same as that of the men's award, with coaches and captains of women's national teams and persons from the media making public top-three selections.
| Rank | Player | National team | Club | Percent |
| 1st | Abby Wambach | w/o club | 20.67% | |
| 2nd | Marta | Tyresö FF | 13.50% | |
| 3rd | Alex Morgan | Seattle Sounders | 10.87% |
| Rank | Player | National team | Club | Percent |
| 4th | Homare Sawa | INAC Kobe Leonessa | 10.85% | |
| 5th | Christine Sinclair | Western New York Flash | 10.33% | |
| 6th | Carli Lloyd | w/o club | 7.99% | |
| 7th | Camille Abily | Lyon | 7.70% | |
| 8th | Aya Miyama | Yunogo Belle | 7.51% | |
| 9th | Miho Fukumoto | Yunogo Belle | 7.32% | |
| 10th | Megan Rapinoe | Seattle Sounders | 2.89% |
FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football
This award was decided by the same voters and system as that of the men's player award.| Rank | Coach | Nationality | Team | Percent | |||||||||||||||
| 1st | Vicente del Bosque |  Spainfb|ESPFIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's FootballThis award was decided by the same voters and system as that of the women's player award.
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