In this paper, a novel fractional-order global sliding-mode control scheme is presented. It is first used to stabilise a coupled second-order nonlinear system, and then it is generalised to control a class of multi-input and multi-output nonlinear systems with the model uncertainties and external disturbances. The proposed sliding manifold, which will converge to the origin in finite time by utilising a classical quadratic Lyapunov function, ensures global stabilisation of the system and the reduction of the chattering phenomenon during the control processes. Based on input-to-state stability and Lyapunov's stability theorem, the closed-loop system can be globally uniformly asymptotically stabilised to the origin in the future time. Some results about the control and stabilisation of integer-order nonlinear systems, when the fractional-order sliding-mode controller is used, are illustrated in this paper. Finally, an application to two-degree of freedom polar robot manipulator is provided to show the validity and feasibility of the proposed method.