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Past Ballon d’Or Winners and the History of this Prestigious Award

Past Ballon d’Or Winners and the History of this Prestigious Award

A list of all past Ballon d'Or winners and a look into the history of the Ballon d'Or award and how it started

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The Ballon d’Or is a football award that takes place annually. This award has been presented by French news magazine France Football since 1956. A partnership formed with FIFA from 2010 to 2015 saw the award being called the FIFA Ballon d’Or for six years, but this partnership ended in 2016.

The Ballon d’Or is widely regarded as the most prestigious individual award in football. The idea for this individual award was come up by sports writers Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran. They came up with the idea to award the best player in the calendar year with an award called the Ballon d’Or.

When the Ballon d’Or started in 1956, it was awarded to only European players and was, therefore, called the European Footballer of the Year Award. In 1995, the rules were changed to include players of any origin who have been active at European clubs. In 2007, two more massive changes happened to the Ballon d’Or award. After 2007, captains and coaches of national teams were given the right to vote for the Ballon d’Or winner. The award also became a global prize after 2007 as the Ballon d’Or award was opened to all professional footballers worldwide.

France Football made some final changes to the rules in 2022, which saw them change the timing of the award. This meant that the award would now be awarded for achievements during a football season and not a calendar year. It was also decided that only the countries that were in the top 100 of the FIFA World Ranking would be allowed to vote.

List Of Past Ballon d’Or Winners:

YearPlayerNationalityClub
2022Karim BenzemaFranceReal Madrid
2021Lionel MessiArgentinaBarcelona/Paris Saint-Germain
2020NOT AWARDED
2019Lionel MessiArgentinaBarcelona
2018Luka ModricCroatiaReal Madrid
2017Cristiano RonaldoPortugalReal Madrid
2016Cristiano RonaldoPortugalReal Madrid
2015Lionel MessiArgentinaBarcelona
2014Cristiano RonaldoPortugalReal Madrid
2013Cristiano RonaldoPortugalReal Madrid
2012Lionel MessiArgentinaBarcelona
2011Lionel MessiArgentinaBarcelona
2010Lionel MessiArgentinaBarcelona
2009Lionel MessiArgentinaBarcelona
2008Cristiano RonaldoPortugalManchester United
2007KakáBrazilAC Milan
2006Fabio CannavaroItalyReal Madrid
2005RonaldinhoBrazilBarcelona
2004Andriy ShevchenkoUkraineAC Milan
2003Pavel NedvědCzech RepublicJuventus
2002RonaldoBrazilReal Madrid
2001Michael OwenEnglandLiverpool
2000Luís FigoPortugalReal Madrid
1999RivaldoBrazilBarcelona
1998Zinedine ZidaneFranceJuventus
1997RonaldoBrazilInter Milan
1996Matthias SammerGermanyBorussia Dortmund
1995George WeahLiberiaAC Milan
1994Hristo StoichkovBulgariaBarcelona
1993Roberto BaggioItalyJuventus
1992Marco van BastenNetherlandsAC Milan
1991Jean-Pierre PapinFranceMarseille
1990Lothar MatthäusGermanyInter Milan
1989Marco van BastenNetherlandsMilan
1988Marco van BastenNetherlandsMilan
1987Ruud GullitNetherlandsMilan
1986Igor BelanovSoviet UnionDynamo Kiev
1985Michel PlatiniFranceJuventus
1984Michel PlatiniFranceJuventus
1983Michel PlatiniFranceJuventus
1982Paolo RossiItalyJuventus
1981Karl-Heinz RummeniggeWest GermanyBayern Munich
1980Karl-Heinz RummeniggeWest GermanyBayern Munich
1979Kevin KeeganEnglandHamburg
1978Kevin KeeganEnglandHamburg
1977Allan SimonsenDenmarkBorussia Monchengladbach
1976Franz BeckenbauerWest GermanyBayern Munich
1975Oleg BlokhinSoviet UnionDynamo Kiev
1974Johan CruyffNetherlandsBarcelona
1973Johan CruyffNetherlandsBarcelona
1972Franz BeckenbauerWest GermanyBayern Munich
1971Johan CruyffNetherlandsAjax
1970Gerd MüllerWest GermanyBayern Munich
1969Gianni RiveraItalyAC Milan
1968George BestNorthern IrelandManchester United
1967Flórián AlbertHungaryFerencvaros
1966Bobby CharltonEnglandManchester United
1965EusébioPortugalBenfica
1964Denis LawScotlandManchester United
1963Lev YashinSoviet UnionDynamo Moscow
1962Josef MasopustCzechoslovakiaDukla Prague
1961Omar SívoriItalyJuventus
1960Luis SuárezSpainBarcelona
1959Alfredo Di StéfanoSpainReal Madrid
1958Raymond KopaFranceReal Madrid
1957Alfredo Di StéfanoSpainReal Madrid
1956Stanley MatthewsEnglandBlackpool

Players who have won the most amount of Ballon d’Ors:

1. Lionel Messi (7)

Insidesport

Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or more than any other footballer. He has won this prestigious award 7 times. The Argentine superstar has won the award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, and 2022. The rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is what pushed both players to be even better. They pushed each other to their limits and this could be seen in the dominance by both these players in the Ballon d’Or from 2008 to 2017.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo (5)

Insidesport

Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Ballon d’Or on 5 different occasions. He won his first Ballon d’Or in 2008 at Manchester United. When Lionel Messi won his 4th Ballon d’Or award in 2012, Ronaldo had won it just once, but their rivalry along with his desire to win the award made it possible to win the award in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017, all while playing for Real Madrid. This meant that as of 2017, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had both won 5 Ballon d’Ors each. While Messi went on to win more Ballon d’Ors, having won 5 Ballon d’Ors is also an incredible achievement which shows just how good Cristiano Ronaldo is.

3. Johan Cruyff

Insidesport

Johan Cruyff has won the Ballon d’Or 3 times. Cruyff won the Ballon d’Or in 1971, 1973, and 1974. When Cruyff won the award in 1971, he played for Ajax. His Ballon d’Ors in 1973 and 1974 however came when he played for Spanish side Barcelona. Cruyff is widely known for his amazing football IQ and how he changed the game both as a footballer and a manager. He is considered by many as the greatest Dutch footballer of all time.

4. Michel Platini (3)

Insidesport

Michel Platini won the Ballon d’Or on 3 different occasions. Platini is a French international who played as a midfielder in his football days. He won the Ballon d’Or 3 times in a row, in 1983, 1984, and 1985. He played at Juventus during all of his Ballon d’Or wins.

5. Marco van Basten (3)

Insidesport

Marco van Basten is a Dutch international who played as a striker. Marco van Basten also managed to get his hands on 3 different Ballon d’Or trophies. He won the award in 1988, 1989, and 1992. He played for AC Milan when he won all of these Ballon d’Or awards.

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