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List of All Ballon d’Or Winners: The Ballon d’Or is France Football magazine’s highest individual football award, given to the best footballer of the year. All Ballon d’Or winners – from Matthews to Messi.
List of All Ballon d’Or Winners
From 1956 to 1995, the Golden Ball was awarded to the best European player, and since 1995, the award could be received by a player of any nationality, but playing for a European club. Since 2007, the prize has been awarded regardless of nationality and club.
In 2010, France Football’s Ballon d’Or was combined with the FIFA Player of the Year award, resulting in a new prize, the FIFA Ballon d’Or. But in 2016, the awards were divided again, now FIFA chooses FIFA Player of the Year, and France Football issues the Golden Ball.
All Golden Balls are made by the Parisian jewelry house Mellerio dits Meller. The ball is made of brass, set on a pyrite base, and covered with a gold layer.
Who and How Chooses The Owner of The Golden Ball
Sports journalists from all over the world vote for the France Football Ballon d’Or.
FIFA selects “FIFA Best Player” and all national team captains and coaches vote, plus one journalist from each country of FIFA’s 211 federations, and fans vote on fifa.com.
Everyone chooses three players: the winner, second and third place. The winner of FIFA is awarded five points, the second player – three, and the third – one point. Then the points are added up, and the player with the most points wins the award.
The History of the Golden Ball
Stanley Matthews of Blackpool became the first Ballon d’Or. Milan’s George Weah became the only African and the first non-European player to receive an award following the rule change. Ronaldo of Internazionale became the first Ballon d’Or from South America.
Lionel Messi has won the award six times, Cristiano Ronaldo five. Three players received the Ballon d’Or three times: Johan Cruyff from Ajax and Barcelona, Michel Platini from Juventus, and Marco Van Basten from Milan.
Representatives of Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal have received the Golden Ball seven times. Most often, the players of Real Madrid and Barcelona became the best: Madrid has 11 awards, and the Catalans have 12.
Eight players have won the World Cup, European Cup / UEFA Champions League, and received the Ballon d’Or in their football careers: Bobby Charlton, Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Paolo Rossi, Zinedine Zidane, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, and Kaka.
Who Received The Golden Ball in 2018
In 2018, 30 players competed for the Ballon d’Or, including Croatian Luca Modric, Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, Argentinean Lionel Messi, and Brazilian Neymar. Received the award Luka Modric, who won the Champions League with Real Madrid, and at the World Championship reached the final with Croatia and became the best player in the 2018 World Cup.
Modric broke the ten-year hegemony of Ronaldo and Messi. Cristiano took second place, Antoine Griezmann was third, Kylian Mbappé was fourth, and Messi was only fifth in the ranking.
Who received the Golden Ball in 2019 and 2021
Lionel Messi received the award. The Argentinian beat Virgil van Dyck, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane. This “Ballon d’Or” became the sixth for the Argentinean, more often not a single player won the award.
List of Golden Ball Holders Throughout History By Year
“Ballon d’Or” France Football (1956-2009)
| 1956 | England | Stanley Matthews | Blackpool |
| 1957 | Spain | Alfredo di Stefano | “Real Madrid” |
| 1958 | France | Raymond Copa | “Real Madrid” |
| 1959 | Spain | Alfredo di Stefano | “Real Madrid” |
| 1960 | Spain | Luis Suarez | Barcelona |
| 1961 | Italy | Omar sivori | Juventus |
| 1962 | Czechoslovakia | Joseph masopust | Dukla (Prague) |
| 1963 | the USSR | Lev Yashin | Dynamo (Moscow) |
| 1964 | Scotland | Denis Lowe | “Manchester United” |
| 1965 | Portugal | Eusebio | Benfica |
| 1966 | England | Bobby Charlton | “Manchester United” |
| 1967 | Hungary | Florian Albert | “Ferencvaros” |
| 1968 | Northern Ireland | George Best | “Manchester United” |
| 1969 | Italy | Gianni Rivera | “Milan” |
| 1970 | FRG | Gerd Müller | Bayern Munich |
| 1971 | Netherlands | Johan Cruyff | “Ajax” |
| 1972 | FRG | Franz Beckenbauer | Bayern Munich |
| 1973 | Netherlands | Johan Cruyff | Barcelona |
| 1974 | Netherlands | Johan Cruyff | Barcelona |
| 1975 | the USSR | Oleg Blokhin | Dynamo (Kiev) |
| 1976 | FRG | Franz Beckenbauer | Bayern Munich |
| 1977 | Denmark | Allan Simonsen | Borussia (Mönchengladbach) |
| 1978 | England | Kevin Keegan | Hamburg |
| 1979 | England | Kevin Keegan | Hamburg |
| 1980 | FRG | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | Bayern Munich |
| 1981 | FRG | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | Bayern Munich |
| 1982 | Italy | Paolo Rossi | Juventus |
| 1983 | France | Michelle Platini | Juventus |
| 1984 | France | Michelle Platini | Juventus |
| 1985 | France | Michelle Platini | Juventus |
| 1986 | the USSR | Igor Belanov | Dynamo (Kiev) |
| 1987 | Netherlands | Ruud Gullit | “Milan” |
| 1988 | Netherlands | Marco van Basten | “Milan” |
| 1989 | Netherlands | Marco van Basten | “Milan” |
| 1990 | Germany | Lothar Matthäus | “Internationale” |
| 1991 | France | Jean-Pierre Papin | Olympic Marseille |
| 1992 | Netherlands | Marco van Basten | “Milan” |
| 1993 | Italy | Roberto Baggio | Juventus |
| 1994 | Bulgaria | Hristo Stoichkov | Barcelona |
| 1995 | Liberia | George weah | “Milan” |
| 1996 | Germany | Matthias Sammer | “Borussia Dortmund) |
| 1997 | Brazil | Ronaldo | “Internationale” |
| 1998 | France | Zinedine Zidane | Juventus |
| 1999 | Brazil | Rivaldo | Barcelona |
| 2000 | Portugal | Luis Figo | “Real Madrid” |
| 2001 | England | Michael Owen | “Liverpool” |
| 2002 | Brazil | Ronaldo | “Real Madrid” |
| 2003 | Czech | Pavel Nedved | Juventus |
| 2004 | Ukraine | Andrey Shevchenko | “Milan” |
| 2005 | Brazil | Ronaldinho | Barcelona |
| 2006 | Italy | Fabio Cannavaro | “Real Madrid” |
| 2007 | Brazil | Cocoa | “Milan” |
| 2008 | Portugal | Cristiano Ronaldo | “Manchester United” |
| 2009 | Argentina | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
FIFA Ballon d’Or (2010–2015)
| 2010 | Argentina | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2011 | Argentina | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2012 | Argentina | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2013 | Portugal | Cristiano Ronaldo | “Real Madrid” |
| 2014 | Portugal | Cristiano Ronaldo | “Real Madrid” |
| 2015 | Argentina | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
France Football Ballon d’Or since 2016
| 2016 | Portugal | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid” |
| 2017 | Portugal | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid” |
| 2018 | Croatia | Luka Modric | Real Madrid” |
| 2019 | Argentina | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2021 | Argentina | Lionel Messi | PSG |
“Super Golden Ball”
This prize went to Alfredo Di Stefano in 1989 for surpassing Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini in the France Football vote.
Revision of Awards Until 1995
In 2016 France Football revised the awards until 1995 when only European players received the Ballon d’Or. The original winners were not deprived of their awards, but two winners were appointed for one year. Garrincha, Mario Kempes, and Romario were added to the list with Maradona and Pele.
Results of the revision of awards before 1995:
| Year | First winner | Second |
| 1958 | Raymond Copa | Pele |
| 1959 | Alfredo di Stefano | Pele |
| 1960 | Luis Suarez | Pele |
| 1961 | Omar sivori | Pele |
| 1962 | Joseph masopust | Garrincha |
| 1963 | Lev Yashin | Pele |
| 1964 | Denis Lowe | Pele |
| 1970 | Gerd Müller | Pele |
| 1978 | Kevin Keegan | Mario Kempes |
| 1986 | Igor Belanov | Diego Maradona |
| 1990 | Lothar Matthäus | Diego Maradona |
| 1994 | Hristo Stoichkov | Romario |
Record Holders in Golden Balls Throughout History
Despite the departure of the era of Cristiano and Leo, they remain in first place in terms of the number of Ballon d’Or.
| Player | Number of golden balls |
| Lionel Messi | 6 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021) |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 5 (18, 13, 14, 16, 17) |
| Michelle Platini | 3 (1983, 1984, 1985) |
| Johan Cruyff | 3 (1971, 1973, 1974) |
| Marco van Basten | 3 (1988, 1989, 1992) |
| Franz Beckenbauer | 2 (1972, 1976) |
| Ronaldo | 2 (1997, 2002) |
| Alfredo di Stefano | 2 (1957, 1959) |
| Kevin Keegan | 2 (1978, 1979) |
| Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | 2 (1980, 1981) |
The rest of the players won once.
List of Owners By Country
The Soviet Union has three Golden Ball winners: Lev Yashin from Dynamo Moscow, Oleg Blokhin from Dynamo Kyiv, and his teammate Igor Belanov.
| Country | Players | Balls |
| Germany | 5 | 7 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 7 |
| Portugal | 3 | 7 |
| France | 4 | 6 |
| Argentina | 1 | 6 |
| Italy | 5 | 5 |
| Brazil | 4 | 5 |
| England | 4 | 5 |
| The USSR | 3 | 3 |
| Spain | 2 | 3 |
Football players from other countries have won the Ballon d’Or once.
List of Owners By Club
Thanks to the victory of Luka Modric, Real Madrid became the leader the holders of the Ballon d’Or. Horvath became the seventh representative of the Madrid club after Alfredo di Stefano (1957, 1959), Raymond Copa (1958), Luis Figo (2000), Ronaldo (2002), Fabio Cannavaro (2006) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2013, 2014, 2016 , 2017)).
Most often, the “Golden Ball” was won by Barcelona players – 12 times, while Lionel Messi received half.
| Club | Owners | Balls |
| Real Madrid | 7 | 11 |
| Barcelona | 6 | 12 |
| Juventus | 6 | 8 |
| Milan | 6 | 8 |
| Bayern Munich) | 3 | 5 |
| Manchester United | 4 | 4 |
| Dynamo (Kiev) | 2 | 2 |
| Internazionale | 2 | 2 |
| Hamburg | 1 | 2 |
The players of the other clubs won one Ballon d’Or.
