It is the second time that he has finished in the runner-up position, after claiming second place behind Rivaldo in 1999. The Manchester United midfielder can take some consolation in the fact that more coaches voted him as their outstanding player of 2001 than Figo (30 votes to 27). However, the Portuguese winger claimed a greater number of second places in the weighted system. His Real Madrid teammate Raul came in third with 96 points.

In all, 72 of the 130 coaches who voted named both Figo and Beckham in their top three players of the past year. England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson voted for Juan-Sebastian Veron, Thierry Henry and Alessandro Nesta. Both Veron and Nesta played under Eriksson at Lazio, and the Swede's intensive ground-hopping over the past 12 months will have given him the chance to see Henry's attacking flair at close range. FIFA's regulations prevent coaches from voting for players from their own teams.

Figo said: "This is a highly prestigious award. It was an honour to be nominated along with two great players like David Beckham and Raul.

Beckham said: "It's a major award and it's a great honour to be up here with these two great players (Figo and Raul).

"I give my thanks to my team-mates, at Manchester United and England, to my family, wife and son.

"Obviously this is a very tough award to win and an important one. To be up here with these two players is a great honour. Of course this is a very proud moment for me."

He added: "As a personal achievement, scoring the goal against Greece was one of the best feelings I've ever had."

All - Time Winners List

1991: Lothar Matthaus (2nd Jean-Pierre Papin, 3rd Gary Lineker)

1992: Marco van Basten (2nd Hristo Stoitchkov, 3rd Thomas Hassler)

1993: Roberto Baggio (2nd Romario, 3rd Dennis Bergkamp)

1994: Romario (2nd Hristo Stoitchkov, 3rd Roberto Baggio)

1995: George Weah (2nd Paolo Maldini, 3rd Jurgen Klinsmann)

1996: Ronaldo (2nd George Weah, 3rd Alan Shearer)

1997: Ronaldo (2nd Roberto Carlos, 3rd Dennis Bergkamp and Zinedine Zidane)

1998: Zinedine Zidane (2nd Ronaldo, 3rd Davor Suker)

1999: Rivaldo (2nd David Beckham, 3rd Gabriel Batistuta)

2000: Zinedine Zidane (2nd Luis Figo, 3rd Rivaldo)

2001: Luis Figo (2nd David Beckham, 3rd Raul)

In the women's category, USA star Mia Hamm topped the list ahead of China's Sun Wen and fellow American Tiffeny Milbrett, while France, Honduras and Costa Rica received Team of the Year and Best Mover of the Year awards, based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Ranking.

The complete list of votes in this year's awards both the men's and women's categories can be found on www.fifa.com.