List of Ballon d’Or Winners

football (soccer)

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History

The Ballon d’Or is an annual award for football (soccer) players presented by the French magazine France Football, a monthly publication covering football news. First awarded in 1956, it quickly became one of the sport’s most prestigious individual honors. The Ballon d’Or is awarded to football players based on their individual brilliance, team success, and fair play during a single European football season, which typically runs for 11 months, from August of one year to July of the next.

Initially limited to European players at European clubs, eligibility expanded in 1995 to include all players at European clubs, and in 2007 to players worldwide. Between 2007 and 2015 captains and managers of more than 200 national football teams recognized by FIFA joined journalists in the voting process. From 2010 to 2015 the award was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year and called the FIFA Ballon d’Or. The award reverted to being called the Ballon d’Or in 2016. The Ballon d’Or was not awarded in 2020 because of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022 France Football shifted the award’s assessment period from performances during a calendar year to players’ records during a single full football season (from August to July). Since 2024 the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has hosted the annual Ballon d’Or gala, during which the awards are presented, while France Football has retained both the voting system and the award’s name.

Ballon d’Or Award Process

French publications France Football and L’Équipe produce a 30-player short list of candidates. A specialized panel, comprising one journalist from each of the countries ranked in the top 100 by FIFA (for the Ballon d’Or Féminin, only one journalist from each ranked in the top 50), then votes to determine the winner. Each voter ranks their top 10 players, in order, from the short list. Players are awarded 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point, respectively, depending on their ranking in each list. The total points for each player are tallied, and the one with the biggest total wins the award. Ties are resolved by counting the number of first-place votes the tied candidates received. If there is still a tie, the number of second-place votes will be tallied and so on until the deadlock is broken.

The inaugural Ballon d’Or was presented to English forward Stanley Matthews in 1956. The list of winners includes some of the game’s most celebrated figures. As of August 2025 Lionel Messi of Argentina holds the record for the most awards, with eight, followed by Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo with five. Three-time title winners include Michel Platini of France and Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten, both from the Netherlands. In 1963 Lev Yashin of the Soviet Union became the only goalkeeper ever to win the award.

The Ballon d’Or Féminin for women footballers was introduced in 2018. The winner is chosen by votes cast by a panel of journalists comprising one representative from each of the top 50 countries in the FIFA rankings. Ada Hegerberg, striker for Norway and for women’s professional football club Olympique Lyonnais Féminin (now OL Lyonnes), became the first recipient. U.S. and Reign FC (now Seattle Reign FC) player Megan Rapinoe, and Spain and FC Barcelona Féminin players Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí, are the other players who have won the award as of September 2025.

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All of the winners are provided in the tables below:

List of Ballon d’Or Winners (Men)
year	player	club	country
1956	Stanley Matthews	Blackpool FC	England
1957	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Real Madrid	Argentina
1958	Raymond Kopa	Real Madrid	France
1959	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Real Madrid	Argentina
1960	Luis Suárez	FC Barcelona	Spain
1961	Omar Sívori	Juventus	Italy
1962	Josef Masopust	Dukla Prague	Czechoslovakia
1963	Lev Yashin	Dynamo Moscow	Soviet Union
1964	Denis Law	Manchester United	Scotland
1965	Eusébio	Benfica	Portugal
1966	Bobby Charlton	Manchester United	England
1967	Flórián Albert	Ferencvaros	Hungary
1968	George Best	Manchester United	Northern Ireland
1969	Gianni Rivera	AC Milan	Italy
1970	Gerd Müller	Bayern Munich	West Germany
1971	Johan Cruyff	Ajax	Netherlands
1972	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich	West Germany
1973	Johan Cruyff	FC Barcelona	Netherlands
1974	Johan Cruyff	FC Barcelona	Netherlands
1975	Oleg Blokhin	Dynamo Kyiv	Soviet Union
1976	Franz Beckenbauer	Bayern Munich	West Germany
1977	Allan Simonsen	Borussia Mönchengladbach	Denmark
1978	Kevin Keegan	Hamburger SV	England
1979	Kevin Keegan	Hamburger SV	England
1980	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Bayern Munich	West Germany
1981	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Bayern Munich	West Germany
1982	Paolo Rossi	Juventus	Italy
1983	Michel Platini	Juventus	France
1984	Michel Platini	Juventus	France
1985	Michel Platini	Juventus	France
1986	Igor Belanov	Dynamo Kyiv	Soviet Union
1987	Ruud Gullit	AC Milan	Netherlands
1988	Marco van Basten	AC Milan	Netherlands
1989	Marco van Basten	AC Milan	Netherlands
1990	Lothar Matthäus	Inter Milan	Germany
1991	Jean-Pierre Papin	Olympique de Marseille	France
1992	Marco van Basten	AC Milan	Netherlands
1993	Roberto Baggio	Juventus	Italy
1994	Hristo Stoichkov	FC Barcelona	Bulgaria
1995	George Weah	AC Milan	Liberia
1996	Matthias Sammer	Borussia Dortmund	Germany
1997	Ronaldo	Inter Milan	Brazil
1998	Zinedine Zidane	Juventus	France
1999	Rivaldo	FC Barcelona	Brazil
2000	Luís Figo	Real Madrid	Portugal
2001	Michael Owen	Liverpool FC	England
2002	Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Brazil
2003	Pavel Nedvěd	Juventus	Czech Republic
2004	Andriy Shevchenko	AC Milan	Ukraine
2005	Ronaldinho	FC Barcelona	Brazil
2006	Fabio Cannavaro	Real Madrid	Italy
2007	Kaká	AC Milan	Brazil
2008	Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	Portugal
2009	Lionel Messi	FC Barcelona	Argentina
2010	Lionel Messi	FC Barcelona	Argentina
2011	Lionel Messi	FC Barcelona	Argentina
2012	Lionel Messi	FC Barcelona	Argentina
2013	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Portugal
2014	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Portugal
2015	Lionel Messi	FC Barcelona	Argentina
2016	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Portugal
2017	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Portugal
2018	Luka Modrić	Real Madrid	Croatia
2019	Lionel Messi	FC Barcelona	Argentina
2020	not awarded
2021	Lionel Messi	Paris Saint-Germain	Argentina
2022	Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	France
2023	Lionel Messi	Inter Miami	Argentina
2024	Rodri	Manchester City	Spain
2025	Ousmane Dembélé	Paris Saint-Germain	France

List of Ballon d’Or Féminin Winners
year	player	club	country
2018	Ada Hegeberg	Olympique Lyonnais Féminin (now OL Lyonnes)	Norway
2019	Megan Rapinoe	Reign FC (now Seattle Reign FC)	USA
2020	not awarded
2021	Alexia Putellas	FC Barcelona Femení	Spain
2022	Alexia Putellas	FC Barcelona Femení	Spain
2023	Aitana Bonmatí	FC Barcelona Femení	Spain
2024	Aitana Bonmatí	FC Barcelona Femení	Spain
2025	Aitana Bonmatí	FC Barcelona Femení	Spain

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Tushaar Kuthiala.