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

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:

Year	Player	Nationality	Club
2022	Karim Benzema	France	Real Madrid
2021	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain
2020	NOT AWARDED
2019	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2018	Luka Modric	Croatia	Real Madrid
2017	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2016	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2015	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2014	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2013	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2012	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2011	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2010	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2009	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2008	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Manchester United
2007	Kaká	Brazil	AC Milan
2006	Fabio Cannavaro	Italy	Real Madrid
2005	Ronaldinho	Brazil	Barcelona
2004	Andriy Shevchenko	Ukraine	AC Milan
2003	Pavel Nedvěd	Czech Republic	Juventus
2002	Ronaldo	Brazil	Real Madrid
2001	Michael Owen	England	Liverpool
2000	Luís Figo	Portugal	Real Madrid
1999	Rivaldo	Brazil	Barcelona
1998	Zinedine Zidane	France	Juventus
1997	Ronaldo	Brazil	Inter Milan
1996	Matthias Sammer	Germany	Borussia Dortmund
1995	George Weah	Liberia	AC Milan
1994	Hristo Stoichkov	Bulgaria	Barcelona
1993	Roberto Baggio	Italy	Juventus
1992	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	AC Milan
1991	Jean-Pierre Papin	France	Marseille
1990	Lothar Matthäus	Germany	Inter Milan
1989	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	Milan
1988	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	Milan
1987	Ruud Gullit	Netherlands	Milan
1986	Igor Belanov	Soviet Union	Dynamo Kiev
1985	Michel Platini	France	Juventus
1984	Michel Platini	France	Juventus
1983	Michel Platini	France	Juventus
1982	Paolo Rossi	Italy	Juventus
1981	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1980	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1979	Kevin Keegan	England	Hamburg
1978	Kevin Keegan	England	Hamburg
1977	Allan Simonsen	Denmark	Borussia Monchengladbach
1976	Franz Beckenbauer	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1975	Oleg Blokhin	Soviet Union	Dynamo Kiev
1974	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Barcelona
1973	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Barcelona
1972	Franz Beckenbauer	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1971	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Ajax
1970	Gerd Müller	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1969	Gianni Rivera	Italy	AC Milan
1968	George Best	Northern Ireland	Manchester United
1967	Flórián Albert	Hungary	Ferencvaros
1966	Bobby Charlton	England	Manchester United
1965	Eusébio	Portugal	Benfica
1964	Denis Law	Scotland	Manchester United
1963	Lev Yashin	Soviet Union	Dynamo Moscow
1962	Josef Masopust	Czechoslovakia	Dukla Prague
1961	Omar Sívori	Italy	Juventus
1960	Luis Suárez	Spain	Barcelona
1959	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Spain	Real Madrid
1958	Raymond Kopa	France	Real Madrid
1957	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Spain	Real Madrid
1956	Stanley Matthews	England	Blackpool

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

1. Lionel Messi (7)

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)

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 4^th 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

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)

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)

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.

Football Ballon d'Or AC Milan