On 11 December 2000, Real Madrid was voted Best Club of the 20th Century by FIFA. Di Stefano and Florentino Perez were in charge of collecting the trophy, which was presented during a gala held in Rome. Real Madrid obtained 42% of the votes and beat Manchester United and Bayern Munich, the next on the list with 9.69% and 9.18% of the votes, respectively.
At that time, the Whites had already been crowned 8-times European champions and 2-times world champions (Intercontinental Cups). The list of honours also included two UEFA Cups, two Latin Cups, 27 Leagues, 17 Copas del Rey, five Spanish Super Cups and one League Cup.