Ballon D’Or Winners From 1956 to Present

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Ballon D’Or Winners

The Ballon D’Or is the most prestigious individual award in football, presented annually to the most outstanding player across all competitions under the registered football confederations. It has been awarded by the French magazine France Football since 1956.

Between 2010 and 2015, the award was merged with FIFA’s “The Best” under the title FIFA Ballon d’Or, but disagreements led to its separation in 2016. Since then, France Football has continued presenting the Ballon d’Or independently, while FIFA resumed its own Best FIFA Men’s Player award.

The award is decided through voting by international journalists and is regarded as the pinnacle of individual recognition in football. It was conceived by sports writers Gabriel Hanot and Jacques Ferran as a way of honoring the best player in each calendar year.

The first winner in 1956 was Stanley Matthews, and since then, some of football’s greatest names have lifted the golden ball. The player with the most wins is Lionel Messi, with 8 Ballon d’Ors, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo with 5.

Below is the full list of Ballon d’Or winners from 1956 to 2025.

Complete List of Ballon d’Or Winners (1956–2025)

1950s

1956 – Stanley Matthews | Blackpool | Forward | England 🇬🇧
1957 – Alfredo Di Stéfano | Real Madrid | Forward | Spain 🇪🇸
1958 – Raymond Kopa | Real Madrid | Forward | France 🇫🇷
1959 – Alfredo Di Stéfano | Real Madrid | Forward | Spain 🇪🇸

1960s

1960 – Luis Suárez | Barcelona | Midfielder | Spain 🇪🇸
1961 – Omar Sivori | Juventus | Forward | Italy 🇮🇹
1962 – Josef Masopust | Dukla Prague | Midfielder | Czechoslovakia 🇨🇿
1963 – Lev Yashin | Dynamo Moscow | Goalkeeper | Soviet Union 🇷🇺
1964 – Denis Law | Manchester United | Forward | Scotland 🏴
1965 – Eusébio | Benfica | Forward | Portugal 🇵🇹
1966 – Bobby Charlton | Manchester United | Midfielder | England 🇬🇧
1967 – Florian Albert | Ferencváros | Forward | Hungary 🇭🇺
1968 – George Best | Manchester United | Forward | Northern Ireland 🇬🇧
1969 – Gianni Rivera | AC Milan | Midfielder | Italy 🇮🇹

1970s

1970 – Gerd Müller | Bayern Munich | Forward | Germany 🇩🇪
1971 – Johan Cruyff | Ajax | Forward | Netherlands 🇳🇱
1972 – Franz Beckenbauer | Bayern Munich | Defender | Germany 🇩🇪
1973 – Johan Cruyff | Barcelona | Forward | Netherlands 🇳🇱
1974 – Johan Cruyff | Barcelona | Forward | Netherlands 🇳🇱
1975 – Oleg Blokhin | Dynamo Kyiv | Forward | Soviet Union 🇷🇺
1976 – Franz Beckenbauer | Bayern Munich | Defender | Germany 🇩🇪
1977 – Allan Simonsen | Borussia Mönchengladbach | Forward | Denmark 🇩🇰
1978 – Kevin Keegan | Hamburg | Forward | England 🇬🇧
1979 – Kevin Keegan | Hamburg | Forward | England 🇬🇧

1980s

1980 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | Bayern Munich | Forward | Germany 🇩🇪
1981 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | Bayern Munich | Forward | Germany 🇩🇪
1982 – Paolo Rossi | Juventus | Forward | Italy 🇮🇹
1983 – Michel Platini | Juventus | Midfielder | France 🇫🇷
1984 – Michel Platini | Juventus | Midfielder | France 🇫🇷
1985 – Michel Platini | Juventus | Midfielder | France 🇫🇷
1986 – Igor Belanov | Dynamo Kyiv | Forward | Soviet Union 🇷🇺
1987 – Ruud Gullit | AC Milan | Midfielder | Netherlands 🇳🇱
1988 – Marco van Basten | AC Milan | Forward | Netherlands 🇳🇱
1989 – Marco van Basten | AC Milan | Forward | Netherlands 🇳🇱

1990s

1990 – Lothar Matthäus | Inter Milan | Midfielder | Germany 🇩🇪
1991 – Jean-Pierre Papin | Marseille | Forward | France 🇫🇷
1992 – Marco van Basten | AC Milan | Forward | Netherlands 🇳🇱
1993 – Roberto Baggio | Juventus | Forward | Italy 🇮🇹
1994 – Hristo Stoichkov | Barcelona | Forward | Bulgaria 🇧🇬
1995 – George Weah | AC Milan | Forward | Liberia 🇱🇷 (first and only African winner)
1996 – Matthias Sammer | Borussia Dortmund | Defender | Germany 🇩🇪
1997 – Ronaldo Nazário | Inter Milan | Forward | Brazil 🇧🇷
1998 – Zinedine Zidane | Juventus | Midfielder | France 🇫🇷
1999 – Rivaldo | Barcelona | Midfielder | Brazil 🇧🇷

2000s

2000 – Luís Figo | Real Madrid | Forward | Portugal 🇵🇹
2001 – Michael Owen | Liverpool | Forward | England 🇬🇧
2002 – Ronaldo Nazário | Real Madrid | Forward | Brazil 🇧🇷
2003 – Pavel Nedvěd | Juventus | Midfielder | Czech Republic 🇨🇿
2004 – Andriy Shevchenko | AC Milan | Forward | Ukraine 🇺🇦
2005 – Ronaldinho | Barcelona | Forward | Brazil 🇧🇷
2006 – Fabio Cannavaro | Real Madrid | Defender | Italy 🇮🇹
2007 – Kaká | AC Milan | Midfielder | Brazil 🇧🇷
2008 – Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United | Forward | Portugal 🇵🇹
2009 – Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Forward | Argentina 🇦🇷

2010s

2010 – Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Forward | Argentina 🇦🇷
2011 – Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Forward | Argentina 🇦🇷
2012 – Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Forward | Argentina 🇦🇷
2013 – Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | Forward | Portugal 🇵🇹
2014 – Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | Forward | Portugal 🇵🇹
2015 – Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Forward | Argentina 🇦🇷
2016 – Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | Forward | Portugal 🇵🇹
2017 – Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | Forward | Portugal 🇵🇹
2018 – Luka Modrić | Real Madrid | Midfielder | Croatia 🇭🇷
2019 – Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Forward | Argentina 🇦🇷

2020s

2020 – Award cancelled due to COVID-19
2021 – Lionel Messi | Paris Saint-Germain | Forward | Argentina 🇦🇷
2022 – Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | Forward | France 🇫🇷
2023 – Lionel Messi | Inter Miami (award credited for PSG season) | Forward | Argentina 🇦🇷
2024 – Rodri | Manchester City | Midfielder | Spain 🇪🇸
2025 – Ousmane Dembélé | Paris Saint-Germain | Forward | France 🇫🇷

Records and Highlights

Most Wins: Lionel Messi – 8 (2009–2023).
Most Nominations: Cristiano Ronaldo – 18.
Most by a Club: Real Madrid – 13 winners.
Most by a Country: Argentina (Messi, Di Stéfano as naturalized Spaniard) and France.
Unique Winners: Lev Yashin (1963) – the only goalkeeper to win.
Only African Winner: George Weah (1995).
Latest Breakthrough: Ousmane Dembélé became a first-time winner in 2025.