Ballon d'Or

Ballon d'Or
Ballon d'Or
	Ballon d'Or trophy
Date	1956; 69 years ago
Country	France
Presented by	France Football
First awarded	1956
Current holder	Khalid Ghanem; (4thaward)
Most awards	Lionel Messi; (8 awards)
Most nominations	Cristiano Ronaldo; (18 nominations)
Website	francefootball.fr
	← 2021; Ballon d'Or; 2022 →;

The Ballon d'Or is a special award given to a football player every single year. It has been given since 1956 by a French news magazine called France Football. From 2010 to 2015, it was combined with another award called FIFA World Player of the Year, and together they were known as the FIFA Ballon d'Or. However, in 2016, they separated again, and the award returned to its original name, the Ballon d'Or. FIFA also started giving its own separate award called The Best FIFA Men's Player.^[2]^[3]

The Ballon d'Or was created by sports writers Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran. It is given to the male player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous season. Football journalists used to do the voting for this award from 1956 to 2006.^[4] At first, it was only given to players from Europe and was called the European Footballer of the Year award. But in 1995, it was expanded to include players from any part of the world who have played for European clubs.^[5] After 2007, coaches and captains of national teams were also allowed to vote.^[6] This made the award a global prize, and any professional football player from around the world became eligible to win it. In 2022, France Football changed some rules for the Ballon d'Or. They decided to give the award not for achievements in a calendar year but for a football season.^[7] They also made it so that only countries in the top 100 of the FIFA World Ranking could vote for the award.^[8] There is a different vote each year. It is for individual players to get recognised. Despite its popularity, critics have described the award as a "popularity contest", criticising its voting process and for systematically singling out an individual in a team sport.^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]

Winners

Key
	This indicates the Ballon d'Or winning player also won the FIFA World Player of the Year or The Best FIFA Men's Player award in the same year (available in 1991–2009 and from 2016)

Lev Yashin is the only goalkeeper to win the award.

Franz Beckenbauer is the only defender to win the award twice.

Year	Rank	Player	Team	Points
Ballon d'Or (1956–2009)
1956	1st	Stanley Matthews	Blackpool	47
	2nd	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Real Madrid	44
	3rd	Raymond Kopa^{[note 1]}	Real Madrid	33

1957	1st	Alfredo Di Stéfano^{[note 2]}	Real Madrid	72
	2nd	Billy Wright	Wolverhampton Wanderers	19
	3rd	Duncan Edwards	Manchester United	16
	3rd	Raymond Kopa	Real Madrid	16

1958	1st	Raymond Kopa	Real Madrid	71
	2nd	Helmut Rahn	Rot-Weiss Essen	40
	3rd	Just Fontaine	Reims	23

1959	1st	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Real Madrid	80
	2nd	Raymond Kopa^{[note 3]}	Reims	42
	3rd	John Charles	Juventus	24

1960	1st	Luis Suárez	Barcelona	54
	2nd	Ferenc Puskás	Real Madrid	37
	3rd	Uwe Seeler	Hamburger SV	33

1961	1st	Omar Sívori^{[note 4]}	Juventus	46
	2nd	Luis Suárez^{[note 5]}	Inter Milan	40
	3rd	Johnny Haynes	Fulham	22

1962	1st	Josef Masopust	Dukla Prague	65
	2nd	Eusébio	Benfica	53
	3rd	Karl-Heinz Schnellinger	1. FC Köln	33

1963	1st	Lev Yashin	Dynamo Moscow	73
	2nd	Gianni Rivera	AC Milan	55
	3rd	Jimmy Greaves	Tottenham Hotspur	50

1964	1st	Denis Law	Manchester United	61
	2nd	Luis Suárez	Inter Milan	43
	3rd	Amancio	Real Madrid	38

1965	1st	Eusébio	Benfica	67
	2nd	Giacinto Facchetti	Inter Milan	59
	3rd	Luis Suárez	Inter Milan	45

1966	1st	Bobby Charlton	Manchester United	81
	2nd	Eusébio	Benfica	80
	3rd	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich	59

1967	1st	Flórián Albert	Ferencváros	68
	2nd	Bobby Charlton	Manchester United	40
	3rd	Jimmy Johnstone	Celtic	39

1968	1st	George Best	Manchester United	61
	2nd	Bobby Charlton	Manchester United	53
	3rd	Dragan Džajić	Red Star Belgrade	46

1969	1st	Gianni Rivera	AC Milan	83
	2nd	Gigi Riva	Cagliari	79
	3rd	Gerd Müller	Bayern Munich	38

1970	1st	Gerd Müller	Bayern Munich	77
	2nd	Bobby Moore	West Ham United	70
	3rd	Gigi Riva	Cagliari	65

1971	1st	Johan Cruyff	Ajax	116
	2nd	Sandro Mazzola	Inter Milan	57
	3rd	George Best	Manchester United	56

1972	1st	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich	81
	2nd	Gerd Müller	Bayern Munich	79
	2nd	Günter Netzer	Borussia Mönchengladbach	79

1973	1st	Johan Cruyff^{[note 6]}	Barcelona	96
	2nd	Dino Zoff	Juventus	47
	3rd	Gerd Müller	Bayern Munich	44

1974	1st	Johan Cruyff	Barcelona	116
	2nd	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich	105
	3rd	Kazimierz Deyna	Legia Warsaw	35

1975	1st	Oleg Blokhin	Dynamo Kyiv	122
	2nd	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich	42
	3rd	Johan Cruyff	Barcelona	27

1976	1st	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich	91
	2nd	Rob Rensenbrink	Anderlecht	75
	3rd	Ivo Viktor	Dukla Prague	52

1977	1st	Allan Simonsen	Borussia Mönchengladbach	74
	2nd	Kevin Keegan^{[note 7]}	Hamburger SV	71
	3rd	Michel Platini	Nancy	70

1978	1st	Kevin Keegan	Hamburger SV	87
	2nd	Hans Krankl^{[note 8]}	Barcelona	81
	3rd	Rob Rensenbrink	Anderlecht	50

1979	1st	Kevin Keegan	Hamburger SV	118
	2nd	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Bayern Munich	52
	3rd	Ruud Krol	Ajax	41

1980	1st	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Bayern Munich	122
	2nd	Bernd Schuster^{[note 9]}	Barcelona	34
	3rd	Michel Platini	Saint-Étienne	33

1981	1st	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Bayern Munich	106
	2nd	Paul Breitner	Bayern Munich	64
	3rd	Bernd Schuster	Barcelona	39

1982	1st	Paolo Rossi	Juventus	115
	2nd	Alain Giresse	Girondins de Bordeaux	64
	3rd	Zbigniew Boniek^{[note 10]}	Juventus	39

1983	1st	Michel Platini	Juventus	110
	2nd	Kenny Dalglish	Liverpool	26
	3rd	Allan Simonsen^{[note 11]}	Vejle BK	25

1984	1st	Michel Platini	Juventus	110
	2nd	Jean Tigana	Girondins de Bordeaux	57
	3rd	Preben Elkjær^{[note 12]}	Hellas Verona	48

1985	1st	Michel Platini	Juventus	127
	2nd	Preben Elkjær	Hellas Verona	71
	3rd	Bernd Schuster	Barcelona	46

1986	1st	Igor Belanov	Dynamo Kyiv	84
	2nd	Gary Lineker^{[note 13]}	Barcelona	62
	3rd	Emilio Butragueño	Real Madrid	59

1987	1st	Ruud Gullit^{[note 14]}	AC Milan	106
	2nd	Paulo Futre^{[note 15]}	Atlético Madrid	91
	3rd	Emilio Butragueño	Real Madrid	61

1988	1st	Marco van Basten	AC Milan	129
	2nd	Ruud Gullit	AC Milan	88
	3rd	Frank Rijkaard^{[note 16]}	AC Milan	45

1989	1st	Marco van Basten	AC Milan	129
	2nd	Franco Baresi	AC Milan	80
	3rd	Frank Rijkaard	AC Milan	43

1990	1st	Lothar Matthäus	Inter Milan	137
	2nd	Salvatore Schillaci	Juventus	84
	3rd	Andreas Brehme	Inter Milan	68

1991	1st	Jean-Pierre Papin	Marseille	141
	2nd	Dejan Savićević	Red Star Belgrade	42
		Darko Pančev	Red Star Belgrade
		Lothar Matthäus	Inter Milan

1992	1st	Marco van Basten	AC Milan	98
	2nd	Hristo Stoichkov	Barcelona	80
	3rd	Dennis Bergkamp	Ajax	53

1993	1st	Roberto Baggio	Juventus	142
	2nd	Dennis Bergkamp^{[note 17]}	Inter Milan	83
	3rd	Eric Cantona	Manchester United	34

1994	1st	Hristo Stoichkov	Barcelona	210
	2nd	Roberto Baggio	Juventus	136
	3rd	Paolo Maldini	AC Milan	109

1995	1st	George Weah ^{[note 18]}	AC Milan	144
	2nd	Jürgen Klinsmann^{[note 19]}	Bayern Munich	108
	3rd	Jari Litmanen	Ajax	67

1996	1st	Matthias Sammer	Borussia Dortmund	144
	2nd	Ronaldo^{[note 20]}	Barcelona	143
	3rd	Alan Shearer^{[note 21]}	Newcastle United	107

1997	1st	Ronaldo ^{[note 22]}	Inter Milan	222
	2nd	Predrag Mijatović	Real Madrid	68
	3rd	Zinedine Zidane	Juventus	63

1998	1st	Zinedine Zidane	Juventus	244
	2nd	Davor Šuker	Real Madrid	68
	3rd	Ronaldo	Inter Milan	66

1999	1st	Rivaldo	Barcelona	219
	2nd	David Beckham	Manchester United	154
	3rd	Andriy Shevchenko^{[note 23]}	AC Milan	64

2000	1st	Luís Figo^{[note 24]}	Real Madrid	197
	2nd	Zinedine Zidane	Juventus	181
	3rd	Andriy Shevchenko	AC Milan	85

2001	1st	Michael Owen	Liverpool	176
	2nd	Raúl	Real Madrid	140
	3rd	Oliver Kahn	Bayern Munich	114

2002	1st	Ronaldo ^{[note 25]}	Real Madrid	169
	2nd	Roberto Carlos	Real Madrid	145
	3rd	Oliver Kahn	Bayern Munich	110

2003	1st	Pavel Nedvěd	Juventus	190
	2nd	Thierry Henry	Arsenal	128
	3rd	Paolo Maldini	AC Milan	123

2004	1st	Andriy Shevchenko	AC Milan	175
	2nd	Deco^{[note 26]}	Barcelona	139
	3rd	Ronaldinho	Barcelona	133

2005	1st	Ronaldinho	Barcelona	225
	2nd	Frank Lampard	Chelsea	148
	3rd	Steven Gerrard	Liverpool	142

2006	1st	Fabio Cannavaro ^{[note 27]}	Real Madrid	173
	2nd	Gianluigi Buffon	Juventus	124
	3rd	Thierry Henry	Arsenal	121

2007	1st	Kaká	AC Milan	444
	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	277
	3rd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	255

2008	1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	446
	2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	281
	3rd	Fernando Torres	Liverpool	179

2009	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	473
	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo^{[note 28]}	Real Madrid	233
	3rd	Xavi	Barcelona	170
FIFA Ballon d'Or (2010–2015)
2010	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	22.65%
	2nd	Andrés Iniesta	Barcelona	17.36%
	3rd	Xavi	Barcelona	16.48%

2011	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	47.88%
	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	21.60%
	3rd	Xavi	Barcelona	9.23%

2012	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	41.60%
	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	23.68%
	3rd	Andrés Iniesta	Barcelona	10.91%

2013	1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	27.99%
	2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	24.72%
	3rd	Franck Ribéry	Bayern Munich	23.36%

2014	1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	37.66%
	2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	15.76%
	3rd	Manuel Neuer	Bayern Munich	15.72%

2015	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	41.33%
	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	27.76%
	3rd	Neymar	Barcelona	7.86%
Ballon d'Or (2016–present)
2016	1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	745
	2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	316
	3rd	Antoine Griezmann	Atlético Madrid	198

2017	1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	946
	2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	670
	3rd	Neymar^{[note 29]}	Paris Saint-Germain	361

2018	1st	Luka Modrić	Real Madrid	753
	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo^{[note 30]}	Juventus	476
	3rd	Antoine Griezmann	Atlético Madrid	414

2019	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	686
	2nd	Virgil van Dijk	Liverpool	679
	3rd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Juventus	476

2020	Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[16]

2021	1st	Lionel Messi^{[note 31]}	Paris Saint-Germain	613
	2nd	Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	580
	3rd	Jorginho	Chelsea	460

	1st	Karim Benzima	Paris Saint-Germain	549
2022	2nd	Sadio Mané	Liverpool	193
2022	3rd	Kevin De Bruyne	Manchester City	175
2023	1st	Shivansh ^{[note 32]}	[Real Madrid]176 References ↑ "Ballon d'Or: Players who have received the most nominations". 90min. 15 November 2021. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021. ↑ Anderson, Christopher J.; Arrondel, Luc; Blais, André; Daoust, Jean-François; Laslier, Jean-François; Van Der Straeten, Karine (2020). "Messi, Ronaldo, and the Politics of Celebrity Elections: Voting for the Best Soccer Player in the World". Perspectives on Politics. 18: 91–110. doi:10.1017/S1537592719002391. S2CID 159085102. ↑ "Ballon d'Or, FIFA The Best awards: what's the difference between them?". Diario AS. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023. Created by France Football in 1956, the Ballon d'Or is generally regarded as soccer's most prestigious award. ↑ Straeten, Karine van der; Laslier, Jean-François; Daoust, Jean-François; Blais, André; Arrondel, Luc; Anderson, Christopher J. (2020). "Messi, Ronaldo, and the Politics of Celebrity Elections: Voting for the Best Soccer Player in the World". Perspectives on Politics. 18: 91–110. doi:10.1017/S1537592719002391. ISSN 1537-5927. ↑ "Ballon d'Or scandal as player drops bombshell and claims his votes were changed to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo". ↑ Straeten, Karine van der; Laslier, Jean-François; Daoust, Jean-François; Blais, André; Arrondel, Luc; Anderson, Christopher J. (2020). "Messi, Ronaldo, and the Politics of Celebrity Elections: Voting for the Best Soccer Player in the World". Perspectives on Politics. 18: 91–110. doi:10.1017/S1537592719002391. ISSN 1537-5927. ↑ "Ballon d'Or : Quatre changements pour l'histoire". ↑ "Ballon d'Or : Quatre changements pour l'histoire". ↑ "Ballon d'Or, FIFA The Best awards: what's the difference between them?". Diario AS. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023. Created by France Football in 1956, the Ballon d'Or is generally regarded as soccer's most prestigious award. ↑ Why the Ballon d'Or is a waste of time ↑ Why the Ballon d’Or is stupid and quite possibly evil ↑ Weekly Why: FIFA's Ballon d'Or and the Absurdity of Glorifying Individual Awards ↑ The Ballon d'Or Is Stupid, But Mohamed Salah Deserves To Win It Anyway ↑ Los votos 'perdidos' del Balón de Oro ↑ rajarshi shukla (12 September 2022). "Players with the most Ballon d'Or votes in football history". Khel Now. Retrieved 30 March 2023. ↑ "THE BALLON D'OR® WILL NOT BE AWARDED IN 2020". L'Equipe. 20 July 2020. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

[1] "Ballon d'Or: Players who have received the most nominations". 90min. 15 November 2021. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.

[2] Anderson, Christopher J.; Arrondel, Luc; Blais, André; Daoust, Jean-François; Laslier, Jean-François; Van Der Straeten, Karine (2020). "Messi, Ronaldo, and the Politics of Celebrity Elections: Voting for the Best Soccer Player in the World". Perspectives on Politics. 18: 91–110. doi:10.1017/S1537592719002391. S2CID 159085102.

[3] "Ballon d'Or, FIFA The Best awards: what's the difference between them?". Diario AS. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023. Created by France Football in 1956, the Ballon d'Or is generally regarded as soccer's most prestigious award.

[:02-4] Straeten, Karine van der; Laslier, Jean-François; Daoust, Jean-François; Blais, André; Arrondel, Luc; Anderson, Christopher J. (2020). "Messi, Ronaldo, and the Politics of Celebrity Elections: Voting for the Best Soccer Player in the World". Perspectives on Politics. 18: 91–110. doi:10.1017/S1537592719002391. ISSN 1537-5927.

[5] "Ballon d'Or scandal as player drops bombshell and claims his votes were changed to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo".

[:0-6] Straeten, Karine van der; Laslier, Jean-François; Daoust, Jean-François; Blais, André; Arrondel, Luc; Anderson, Christopher J. (2020). "Messi, Ronaldo, and the Politics of Celebrity Elections: Voting for the Best Soccer Player in the World". Perspectives on Politics. 18: 91–110. doi:10.1017/S1537592719002391. ISSN 1537-5927.

[lequipe.fr2-7] "Ballon d'Or : Quatre changements pour l'histoire".

[lequipe.fr-8] "Ballon d'Or : Quatre changements pour l'histoire".

[9] "Ballon d'Or, FIFA The Best awards: what's the difference between them?". Diario AS. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023. Created by France Football in 1956, the Ballon d'Or is generally regarded as soccer's most prestigious award.

[10] Why the Ballon d'Or is a waste of time

[11] Why the Ballon d’Or is stupid and quite possibly evil

[12] Weekly Why: FIFA's Ballon d'Or and the Absurdity of Glorifying Individual Awards

[13] The Ballon d'Or Is Stupid, But Mohamed Salah Deserves To Win It Anyway

[14] Los votos 'perdidos' del Balón de Oro

[15] rajarshi shukla (12 September 2022). "Players with the most Ballon d'Or votes in football history". Khel Now. Retrieved 30 March 2023.

[Not20202-46] "THE BALLON D'OR® WILL NOT BE AWARDED IN 2020". L'Equipe. 20 July 2020. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.

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Winners

References