The 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the second year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 9 January 2012 with Lionel Messi claiming the title of world player of the year for the third time in a row.

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 Channel with singer-songwriter James Blunt and his band providing musical entertainment. Individual awards were presented by, among others, Ronaldo, Lothar Matthäus, Pelé and FIFA president Sepp Blatter side-by-side with pop singer Shakira.

The top three nominees for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or were:

The following 20 men were also in contention for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2011:

The top three nominees for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year were:

The following seven women were also in contention for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year:

The day after the awards ceremony, Spanish newspaper Marca reported that none of the four captains of the Spanish women's national team had voted for the Women's World Player of the Year award. According to the list of votes published by FIFA, captain Sandra Vilanova had awarded five points to Hope Solo, three to Louisa Nécib and one to Marta.

The FIFA Ballon d'Or is an association football award given annually to the player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous season. It is awarded based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams, as well as journalists from around the world.

The award started in 2010 after France Football's Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award were merged. The winner of the inaugural 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or was Lionel Messi who then went on to reclaim the title the following year.

Table of winners categorised by the player's nationality (not the nationality of his club).

Media related to FIFA Ballon d'Or at Wikimedia Commons

The "Ballon d'Or", literally translated as "the golden ball" and often referred to as the European Footballer of the Year award, was an annual association football award. It was presented to the player who has been voted to have performed the best over the previous calendar year. The award was conceived by France Football's chief magazine writer Gabriel Hanot, who asked his colleagues to vote for the player of the year in Europe in 1956. The inaugural winner was Stanley Matthews of Blackpool.

Originally, journalists could only vote for European players at European clubs, meaning that players like Diego Maradona (who played in European football clubs but is not European) and Pelé (who neither played for a European club nor is European) were ineligible for the award. In 1995, there was a change in the rules to allow non-European players to be eligible for the award if they played for a European club. The first non-European to win after the rule change was Milan's George Weah in the same year. In 2007, any player in the world became eligible, and the number of journalists allowed to vote also increased; 96 journalists from around the world chose their top five players, as opposed to the 52 Europe-based journalists in 2006.

Lionel Andrés Messi (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi], born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine footballer who plays in La Liga for FC Barcelona and is the captain of the Argentina national team, mainly as a forward.

By the age of 21, Messi had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. The following year in 2009 he won both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year, and won the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010 and 2011. He also won the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. Messi is the fourth football player to win three Ballons d'Or, after Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten and the second player to win three consecutive Ballons d'Or, after Michel Platini. His playing style and small stature have drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his "successor".

Messi has won five La Liga titles and three Champions League titles. In 2012, Messi made UEFA Champions League history by becoming the first player to score five goals in one match, in a 7–1 win against Bayer Leverkusen. With two goals in the next round against A.C. Milan, he matched José Altafini's record of 14 goals in a single UEFA Champions League/European Cup season. He also became the first player to top-score in four successive European Champion Clubs' Cup campaigns. He set the world record for most goals scored in a season during the 2011–12 season, with 73 goals.

Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish football manager and former player who has managed Manchester United since 1986. His tenure has seen the club go through an era of success and dominance both in England and in Europe, giving Ferguson a reputation as one of the most admired and respected managers in the history of the game.

Ferguson previously managed East Stirlingshire and St. Mirren, before a highly successful period as manager of Aberdeen. After a brief stint as manager of the Scotland national team following the death of Jock Stein, he was appointed manager of Manchester United in November 1986.

With 25 years as manager of Manchester United, he is the longest serving manager in their history after overtaking Sir Matt Busby's record on 19 December 2010. His tenure is also the longest of all the current League managers. During this time, Ferguson has won many awards and holds many records including winning Manager of the Year most times in British football history. In 2008, he became the third British manager to win the European Cup on more than one occasion.