Ballon d'Or explained

Ballon d'Or
Presenter:	France Football
Holder:	Lionel Messi (8th award)
Most Awards:	Lionel Messi (8 awards)
Most Nominations:	Cristiano Ronaldo (18 nominations)
Previous:	2023
Main:	Ballon d'Or
Next:	2024
Related:	Additional awards

The Ballon d'Or (in French pronounced as /balɔ̃ dɔʁ/;) is an annual football award presented by French magazine France Football since 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.

Conceived by sports writers Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran, the Ballon d'Or was based exclusively on voting by football journalists up until 2006. Originally, it was awarded only to players from Europe and was widely known as the European Footballer of the Year award. In 1995, the Ballon d'Or was expanded to include all players of any origin that have been active at European clubs. The award became a global prize in 2007 with all professional footballers from around the world being eligible; additionally, coaches and captains of national teams were also given the right to vote, before reverting to just journalists in 2016.

Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was known as the FIFA Ballon d'Or. That partnership ended in 2016, and the award reverted to the Ballon d'Or, while FIFA also reverted to its own separate annual award, The Best FIFA Men's Player. In 2022, France Football modified the rules for the Ballon d'Or. The timing was changed so that awards were given not for achievements during a calendar year, but for a football season, and it was also determined that only a single journalist from each country in the top 100 of the FIFA Men's World Ranking would be allowed to vote. UEFA co-organizes the Ballon d'Or gala since 2024, with France Football retaining the voting system and the Ballon d'Or name.

Lionel Messi won the award a record eight times, and he is also the current holder of the Ballon d'Or, having won its most recent edition in 2023. Cristiano Ronaldo won it five times and amassed a record eighteen nominations in his career. Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten each won the award three times, while Franz Beckenbauer, Ronaldo, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Kevin Keegan and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge have each won it twice.

Overview

The Ballon d'Or is widely regarded as football's most prestigious and valuable individual award. Nevertheless, critics have occasionally described the award as a "popularity contest", criticizing its voting process, its bias in favour of attacking players, and the idea of systematically singling out an individual in a team sport.

Stanley Matthews of England was the inaugural winner of the Ballon d'Or. Prior to 2007, the award was based exclusively on voting by football journalists and was generally known as the continental European Footballer of the Year award in English language and much international media. Even after 2007, it was usually identified with and referred to by that name because of its origin as a European award, until it was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year award cementing its new worldwide claim. Liberia's George Weah, the only African recipient, became the first non-European to win the award in 1995, the year that rules of eligibility were changed and the Ballon d'Or was expanded to include all players of any origin, active at European clubs; two years later, Ronaldo of Brazil became the first South American to claim the award, and he is still the youngest winner ever at 21 years and 96 days old. The award became a global prize in 2007 with all professional footballers from clubs around the world being eligible; additionally, coaches and captains of national teams were also given the right to vote, before reverting to just journalists in 2016.

Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or a record eight times, while five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo earned the most nominations with eighteen. Messi is the only player to win the award with three different teams and also the only one to win it while playing outside Europe, as well as being the player with the most podiums, finishing in the top-three a record fourteen times. Three players have won the award three times each: Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten. With seven awards each, Dutch, German, Portuguese and French players have won the second most Ballons d'Or, underneath Argentina in first with eight. Players from Germany (1972, 1981) and the Netherlands (1988) occupied the top-three spots in a single year. German (1972) and Italian (1988–1990) clubs achieved the same feat, including two individual years dominated by Milan players (1988, 1989), a unique record until Spanish clubs experienced an unprecedented dominance (2009–2012, 2015, 2016) and Barcelona (2010) became the second club to occupy the top-three. The award shows a bias in favour of attacking players, and, over time, it has gone to a more exclusive set of leagues and clubs. Prior to 1995, ten leagues supplied Ballon d'Or winners, whereas only England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States have supplied winners since then. Spain's La Liga has the most Ballon d'Or winners overall, with twenty-four wins shared between Barcelona and Real Madrid; with twelve wins each, the two Spanish clubs also lead the overall club ranking for producing the most winners.

Between 2010 and 2015 inclusive, the award was merged with a similar one, the FIFA World Player of the Year award, to create the FIFA Ballon d'Or, which was awarded to the world's best male player before FIFA and France Football decided not to continue the merging agreement. The recipients of the joint FIFA Ballon d'Or are considered as winners by both award organizations. After 2011, UEFA created the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award to maintain the tradition of the original Ballon d'Or of specifically honouring a football player from Europe. In 2020, Groupe Amaury, to which France Football belongs, decided that no award would be given for the year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on association football. The widespread public opinion is that the 2020 Ballon d'Or should have been awarded to Robert Lewandowski.

France Football modified the rules for the Ballon d'Or in 2022. They changed the timing so that awards were given not for achievements during a calendar year, but for a football season. It was also decided that only a single journalist from each country in the top 100 of the FIFA Men's World Ranking would be allowed to vote. The plebiscite had previously been open to all countries since 2007. This brought the Ballon d'Or into line with the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award which was slightly less dominated by exclusive leagues and, in particular, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the 2010s. UEFA co-organizes the Ballon d'Or gala since 2024, with France Football retaining the voting system and the Ballon d'Or name.

Winners

Note: Until 2021, the Ballon d'Or was awarded based on player performance during the calendar year. Since 2022, jurors have been instructed to take into account the previous season.

Player	Denotes the number of times the player had won the award at that time (for players with more than one award)

Ballon d'Or winners!Year!Rank!Player!Team!
Ballon d'Or (1956–2009)
1956	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Stanley Matthews	Blackpool	47
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Real Madrid	44
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Raymond Kopa	Real Madrid	33

1957	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Real Madrid	72
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Billy Wright	Wolverhampton Wanderers	19
	3rd	Duncan Edwards	Manchester United	16
	3rd	Raymond Kopa	Real Madrid	16

1958	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Raymond Kopa	Real Madrid	71
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Helmut Rahn	Rot-Weiss Essen	40
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Just Fontaine	Reims	23

1959	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Real Madrid	80
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Raymond Kopa	Reims	42
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	John Charles	Juventus	24

1960	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Luis Suárez	Barcelona	54
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Ferenc Puskás	Real Madrid	37
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Uwe Seeler	Hamburger SV	33

1961	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Omar Sívori	Juventus	46
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Luis Suárez	Inter Milan	40
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Johnny Haynes	Fulham	22

1962	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Josef Masopust	Dukla Prague	65
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Eusébio	Benfica	53
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Karl-Heinz Schnellinger	1. FC Köln	33

1963	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Lev Yashin	Dynamo Moscow	73
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Gianni Rivera	Milan	55
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Jimmy Greaves	Tottenham Hotspur	50

1964	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Denis Law	Manchester United	61
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Luis Suárez	Inter Milan	43
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Amancio	Real Madrid	38

1965	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Eusébio	Benfica	67
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Giacinto Facchetti	Inter Milan	59
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Luis Suárez	Inter Milan	45

1966	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Bobby Charlton	Manchester United	81
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Eusébio	Benfica	80
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich	59

1967	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Flórián Albert	Ferencváros	68
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Bobby Charlton	Manchester United	40
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Jimmy Johnstone	Celtic	39

1968	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	George Best	Manchester United	61
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Bobby Charlton	Manchester United	53
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Dragan Džajić	Red Star Belgrade	46

1969	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Gianni Rivera	Milan	83
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Gigi Riva	Cagliari	79
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Gerd Müller	Bayern Munich	38

1970	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Gerd Müller	Bayern Munich	77
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Bobby Moore	West Ham United	70
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Gigi Riva	Cagliari	65

1971	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Johan Cruyff	Ajax	116
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Sandro Mazzola	Inter Milan	57
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	George Best	Manchester United	56

1972	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich	81
	2nd	Gerd Müller	Bayern Munich	79
	2nd	Günter Netzer	Borussia Mönchengladbach	79

1973	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Johan Cruyff	Barcelona	96
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Dino Zoff	Juventus	47
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Gerd Müller	Bayern Munich	44

1974	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Johan Cruyff	Barcelona	116
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich	105
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Kazimierz Deyna	Legia Warsaw	35

1975	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Oleg Blokhin	Dynamo Kyiv	122
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich	42
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Johan Cruyff	Barcelona	27

1976	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich	91
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Rob Rensenbrink	Anderlecht	75
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Ivo Viktor	Dukla Prague	52

1977	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Allan Simonsen		74
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Kevin Keegan	Hamburger SV	71
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Michel Platini	Nancy	70

1978	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Kevin Keegan	Hamburger SV	87
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Hans Krankl	Barcelona	81
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Rob Rensenbrink	Anderlecht	50

1979	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Kevin Keegan	Hamburger SV	118
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Bayern Munich	52
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Ruud Krol	Ajax	41

1980	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Bayern Munich	122
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Bernd Schuster	Barcelona	34
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Michel Platini	Saint-Étienne	33

1981	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Bayern Munich	106
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Paul Breitner	Bayern Munich	64
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Bernd Schuster	Barcelona	39

1982	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Paolo Rossi	Juventus	115
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Alain Giresse	Bordeaux	64
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Zbigniew Boniek	Juventus	39

1983	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Michel Platini	Juventus	110
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Kenny Dalglish	Liverpool	26
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Allan Simonsen	Vejle	25

1984	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Michel Platini	Juventus	110
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Jean Tigana	Bordeaux	57
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Preben Elkjær	Hellas Verona	48

1985	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Michel Platini	Juventus	127
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Preben Elkjær	Hellas Verona	71
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Bernd Schuster	Barcelona	46

1986	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Igor Belanov	Dynamo Kyiv	84
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Gary Lineker	Barcelona	62
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Emilio Butragueño	Real Madrid	59

1987	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Ruud Gullit	Milan	106
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Paulo Futre	Atlético Madrid	91
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Emilio Butragueño	Real Madrid	61

1988	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Marco van Basten	Milan	129
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Ruud Gullit	Milan	88
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Frank Rijkaard	Milan	45

1989	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Marco van Basten	Milan	129
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Franco Baresi	Milan	80
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Frank Rijkaard	Milan	43

1990	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Lothar Matthäus	Inter Milan	137
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Salvatore Schillaci	Juventus	84
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Andreas Brehme	Inter Milan	68

1991	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Jean-Pierre Papin	Marseille	141
	2nd	Dejan Savićević	Red Star Belgrade	42
		Darko Pančev	Red Star Belgrade
		Lothar Matthäus	Inter Milan

1992	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Marco van Basten	Milan	98
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Hristo Stoichkov	Barcelona	80
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Dennis Bergkamp	Ajax	53

1993	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Roberto Baggio	Juventus	142
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Dennis Bergkamp	Inter Milan	83
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Eric Cantona	Manchester United	34

1994	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Hristo Stoichkov	Barcelona	210
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Roberto Baggio	Juventus	136
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Paolo Maldini	Milan	109

1995	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	George Weah	Milan	144
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Jürgen Klinsmann	Bayern Munich	108
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Jari Litmanen	Ajax	67

1996	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Matthias Sammer	Borussia Dortmund	144
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Ronaldo	Barcelona	143
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Alan Shearer	Newcastle United	107

1997	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Ronaldo	Inter Milan	222
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Predrag Mijatović	Real Madrid	68
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Zinedine Zidane	Juventus	63

1998	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Zinedine Zidane	Juventus	244
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Davor Šuker	Real Madrid	68
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Ronaldo	Inter Milan	66

1999	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Rivaldo	Barcelona	219
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	David Beckham	Manchester United	154
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd		Milan	64

2000	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Luís Figo	Real Madrid	197
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Zinedine Zidane	Juventus	181
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Andriy Shevchenko	Milan	85

2001	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Michael Owen	Liverpool	176
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Raúl	Real Madrid	140
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Oliver Kahn	Bayern Munich	114

2002	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Ronaldo	Real Madrid	169
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Roberto Carlos	Real Madrid	145
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Oliver Kahn	Bayern Munich	110

2003	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Pavel Nedvěd	Juventus	190
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Thierry Henry	Arsenal	128
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Paolo Maldini	Milan	123

2004	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Andriy Shevchenko	Milan	175
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Deco	Barcelona	139
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Ronaldinho	Barcelona	133

2005	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Ronaldinho	Barcelona	225
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Frank Lampard	Chelsea	148
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Steven Gerrard	Liverpool	142

2006	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Fabio Cannavaro	Real Madrid	173
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Gianluigi Buffon	Juventus	124
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Thierry Henry	Arsenal	121

2007	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Kaká	Milan	444
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	277
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	255

2008	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	446
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	281
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Fernando Torres	Liverpool	179

2009	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	473
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	233
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Xavi	Barcelona	170
FIFA Ballon d'Or (2010–2015)
2010	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	22.65%
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Andrés Iniesta	Barcelona	17.36%
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Xavi	Barcelona	16.48%

2011	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	47.88%
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	21.60%
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Xavi	Barcelona	9.23%

2012	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	41.60%
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	23.68%
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Andrés Iniesta	Barcelona	10.91%

2013	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	27.99%
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	24.72%
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Franck Ribéry	Bayern Munich	23.36%

2014	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	37.66%
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	15.76%
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Manuel Neuer	Bayern Munich	15.72%

2015	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	41.33%
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	27.76%
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Neymar	Barcelona	7.86%
Ballon d'Or (2016–present)
2016	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	745
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	316
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Antoine Griezmann	Atlético Madrid	198

2017	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	946
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	670
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Neymar	Paris Saint-Germain	361

2018	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Luka Modrić	Real Madrid	753
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Juventus	476
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Antoine Griezmann	Atlético Madrid	414

2019	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	686
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Virgil van Dijk	Liverpool	679
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Cristiano Ronaldo	Juventus	476

2020	Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic

2021	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Lionel Messi	Paris Saint-Germain	613
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	580
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Jorginho	Chelsea	460

2022	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	549
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Sadio Mané	Bayern Munich	193
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Kevin De Bruyne	Manchester City	175

2023	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	Lionel Messi	Inter Miami	462
	scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd	Erling Haaland	Manchester City	357
	scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd	Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain	270

2024	The winner will be announced on 28 October 2024<				--	-	2024	scope=col style="background-color:gold"	1st	'
scope=col style="background-color:silver"	2nd
scope=col style="background-color:#cc9966"	3rd			-->

Notes

Wins by player

Player	Winner	Second place	Third place
Lionel Messi	8 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023)	5 (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)	1 (2007)
Cristiano Ronaldo	5 (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)	6 (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2018)	1 (2019)
Michel Platini	3 (1983, 1984, 1985)		2 (1977, 1980)
Johan Cruyff	3 (1971, 1973, 1974)		1 (1975)
Marco van Basten	3 (1988, 1989, 1992)
Franz Beckenbauer	2 (1972, 1976)	2 (1974, 1975)	1 (1966)
Ronaldo	2 (1997, 2002)	1 (1996)	1 (1998)
Alfredo Di Stéfano	2 (1957, 1959)	1 (1956)
Kevin Keegan	2 (1978, 1979)	1 (1977)
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	2 (1980, 1981)	1 (1979)
Luis Suárez	1 (1960)	2 (1961, 1964)	1 (1965)
Eusébio	1 (1965)	2 (1962, 1966)
Bobby Charlton	1 (1966)	2 (1967, 1968)
Raymond Kopa	1 (1958)	1 (1959)	2 (1956, 1957)
Gerd Müller	1 (1970)	1 (1972)	2 (1969, 1973)
Zinedine Zidane	1 (1998)	1 (2000)	1 (1997)
Gianni Rivera	1 (1969)	1 (1963)
Ruud Gullit	1 (1987)	1 (1988)
Lothar Matthäus	1 (1990)	1 (1991)
Roberto Baggio	1 (1993)	1 (1994)
Hristo Stoichkov	1 (1994)	1 (1992)
Andriy Shevchenko	1 (2004)		2 (1999, 2000)
George Best	1 (1968)		1 (1971)
Allan Simonsen	1 (1977)		1 (1983)
Ronaldinho	1 (2005)		1 (2004)
Stanley Matthews	1 (1956)
Omar Sivori	1 (1961)
Josef Masopust	1 (1962)
Lev Yashin	1 (1963)
Denis Law	1 (1964)
Flórián Albert	1 (1967)
Oleg Blokhin	1 (1975)
Paolo Rossi	1 (1982)
Igor Belanov	1 (1986)
Jean-Pierre Papin	1 (1991)
George Weah	1 (1995)
Matthias Sammer	1 (1996)
Rivaldo	1 (1999)
Luís Figo	1 (2000)
Michael Owen	1 (2001)
Pavel Nedvěd	1 (2003)
Fabio Cannavaro	1 (2006)
Kaká	1 (2007)
Luka Modrić	1 (2018)
Karim Benzema	1 (2022)

Wins by country

Country	Players	Wins
	1	8
	5	7
	5	7
	3	7
	3	7
	5	5
	4	5
	4	5
	3	3
	2	3
	1	1
	1	1
	1	1
	1	1
	1	1
	1	1
	1	1
	1	1
	1	1
	1	1

Wins by club

Club	Players	Wins
Real Madrid	8	12
Barcelona	6	12
Juventus	6	8
Milan	6	8
Bayern Munich	3	5
Manchester United	4	4
Dynamo Kyiv	2	2
Inter Milan	2	2
Hamburger SV	1	2
Ajax	1	1
Benfica	1	1
Blackpool	1	1
Borussia Dortmund	1	1
Borussia Mönchengladbach	1	1
Dukla Prague	1	1
Dynamo Moscow	1	1
Ferencváros	1	1
Inter Miami	1	1
Liverpool	1	1
Marseille	1	1
Paris Saint-Germain	1	1

Additional awards

Seasonal awards

Ballon d'Or Féminin

See main article: Ballon d'Or Féminin. First awarded in 2018, the Ballon d'Or Féminin honours the female player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.

Kopa Trophy

See main article: Kopa Trophy. Since 2018 France Football has given out the Kopa Trophy to the best performing player under the age of 21. The award is named after 1958 Ballon d'Or winner Raymond Kopa.

Yashin Trophy

See main article: Yashin Trophy. First awarded in 2019, the Yashin Trophy is presented to the best goalkeeper of the season. The award is named after Soviet goalkeeper and 1963 Ballon d'Or winner Lev Yashin.

Gerd Müller Trophy

See main article: Gerd Müller Trophy. In 2021, France Football awarded Robert Lewandowski with a Striker of the Year award for scoring the most goals the previous season. Following Gerd Müller's death in 2021, the award was renamed for the 2022 edition to the Gerd Müller Trophy.

Sócrates Award

See main article: Sócrates Award. Starting from 2022, France Football gives out the Sócrates Award, which acknowledges footballers for their humanitarian work. The award is named after late Brazilian footballer Sócrates, who co-founded the Corinthians Democracy movement, in opposition to the ruling military dictatorship in Brazil during the 1980s.

Men's Club of the Year

France Football first gave out the Men's Club of the Year award in 2021, with the inaugural winner being Chelsea. Manchester City won back-to-back in 2022 and 2023.

Women's Club of the Year

France Football first gave out the Women's Club of the Year award in 2023, with the inaugural winner being FC Barcelona Femení.

Men's Coach of the Year

France Football is set to give out the Men's Coach of the Year award starting in 2024.

Women's Coach of the Year

France Football is set to give out the Women's Coach of the Year award starting in 2024.

Special awards

Super Ballon d'Or

See main article: Super Ballon d'Or. An honorary award, under the name Super Ballon d'Or, was awarded to Alfredo Di Stéfano in 1989, who was voted the best multiple-time Ballon d'Or winner ahead of Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini.

In addition Diego Maradona received an honorary Ballon d'Or in 1995 for his services to football dubbed the Golden Ballon d'Or. Pelé also received a similar award during the 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or ceremony dubbed the FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur.

Football Player of the Century

In 1999, France Football voted Pelé as the Football Player of the Century after consulting their former Ballon d'Or recipients. Among the 34 previous winners, 30 cast their votes, while Stanley Matthews, Omar Sívori and George Best refused to vote, and Lev Yashin had died. Each voter was allotted five votes worth up to five points; however, Di Stéfano only chose a first place, Platini a first and second place, and George Weah two players for fifth place. Pelé was named the greatest by 17 voters, receiving almost double the number of points earned by the second place, Diego Maradona.

Football Player of the Century
Player		1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
Pelé	122	17	5	4	2	1
Diego Maradona	65	3	6	5	5	1
Johan Cruyff	62	1	4	7	9	2
Alfredo Di Stéfano	44	4	3	3	1	1
Michel Platini	40	1	5	1	3	6

Le nouveau palmarès

To coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Ballon d'Or in 2016, France Football published an internationalized reevaluation of the awards presented before 1995, when only European players were eligible to win the award. 12 out of the 39 Ballons d'Or presented during this time period would have been awarded to South American players; in addition to Pelé—seven times—and Diego Maradona—twice—Garrincha, Mario Kempes, and Romário were retrospectively recognized as worthy winners. The original recipients, however, remain unchanged.

*Le nouveau palmarès* (internationalized reevaluation)
Year	Original winner	Alternative
1958	Raymond Kopa	Pelé
1959	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Pelé
1960	Luis Suárez	Pelé
1961	Omar Sívori	Pelé
1962	Josef Masopust	Garrincha
1963	Lev Yashin	Pelé
1964	Denis Law	Pelé
1970	Gerd Müller	Pelé
1978	Kevin Keegan	Mario Kempes
1986	Igor Belanov	Diego Maradona
1990	Lothar Matthäus	Diego Maradona
1994	Hristo Stoichkov	Romário

Ballon d'Or Dream Team

See main article: Ballon d'Or Dream Team. An all-time all-star team, the Ballon d'Or Dream Team, was published in December 2020 by France Football, honouring football's greatest players of all time. A second and a third team were also published.

Ballon d'Or Dream Team
Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
First Team
Lev Yashin	Cafu Franz Beckenbauer Paolo Maldini	Xavi Lothar Matthäus Diego Maradona Pelé	Lionel Messi Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo
Second Team
Gianluigi Buffon	Carlos Alberto Franco Baresi Roberto Carlos	Andrea Pirlo Frank Rijkaard Zinedine Zidane Alfredo Di Stéfano	Garrincha Johan Cruyff Ronaldinho
Third Team
Manuel Neuer	Philipp Lahm Sergio Ramos Paul Breitner	Johan Neeskens Didi Michel Platini Andrés Iniesta	George Best Marco van Basten Thierry Henry

Criticism

Despite its popularity, critics have described the award as a "popularity contest",^[1] ^[2] criticizing its voting process, its bias in favour of attacking players,^[3] and the idea of systematically singling out an individual in a team sport.^[4] ^[5] ^[6]

Notes and References

Web site: Thomas . Joshua . Mourinho's Ballon d'Or belief proven right as Messi edges out Haaland in 'popularity contest' . 31 October 2023 . 1 November 2023 . . 1 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231101122623/https://sport.optus.com.au/news/ballon-dor/os65301/mourinho-ballon-dor-messi-haaland-popularity-contest . live.
Web site: 14 January 2016 . Lahm criticises Ballon d'Or process . 1 November 2023 . . 2340-0595 . 1 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231101122621/https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2016/01/14/5696da1de2704e19738b45ce.html . live.
Web site: Verschueren . Gianni . Cristiano Ronaldo Ballon D'Or Win Labelled 'Absurd' by Johan Cruyff . 19 January 2015 . 1 November 2023 . . 1 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231101122622/https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2334706-cristiano-ronaldo-ballon-dor-win-labelled-absurd-by-johan-cruyff . live.
Web site: Doyle . Paul . Why the Ballon d'Or is stupid and quite possibly evil . 1 November 2023 . . 1756-3224 . 1 December 2008 . 20 January 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150120145958/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2008/dec/01/cristiano-ronaldo-ballon-dor-football . live.
Web site: Parimal . 22 November 2021 . 5 legends who slammed the Ballon d'Or over the years . 1 November 2023 . Sportskeeda . 1 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231101122621/https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/5-legends-slammed-ballon-d-or-wenger-ribery . live.
Web site: Tiluk . Daniel . Weekly Why: FIFA's Ballon d'Or and the Absurdity of Glorifying Individual Awards . 1 November 2023 . . 1 November 2023 . 12 January 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231101122621/https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2607070-weekly-why-fifas-ballon-dor-and-the-absurdity-of-glorifying-individual-awards . live.