The Ballon d’Or is a prestigious football award given to the best footballer each year since 1956. Aside from a six-year merger with FIFA between 2009 and 2015, the Ballon d’Or has been a separate award given out by France Football. The Ballon d’Or winners list features the best footballers of every generation since it’s inception.
Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or award six times while Cristiano Ronaldo has won the award five times, with the duo sharing 11 of 12 awards since 2008. Messi is the only player to win the award four consecutive seasons, ahead of Michel Platini’s hat-trick of awards in 1983-85.
In 2020, the Ballon d’Or was not awarded to anyone, but the 2021 Ballon d’Or is hotly contested and expected to provide a new winner in either Robert Lewandowski (who should have won in 2020) or Kylian Mbappe, assuming he fires France to victory in the Euros.
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Men’s Ballon d’Or Winners List
| year | player | Nationality | club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Milan |
| 2006 | Fabio Cannavaro | Italy | Real Madrid |
| 2005 | Ronaldinho | Brazil | Barcelona |
| 2004 | Andriy Shevchenko | Ukrain | 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 | Internazionale |
| 1996 | Matthias Sammer | Germany | Borussia Dortmund |
| 1995 | George Weah | Liberia | Milan |
| 1994 | Hristo Stoichkov | Bulgaria | Barcelona |
| 1993 | Roberto Baggio | Italy | Juventus |
| 1992 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | Milan |
| 1991 | Jean-Pierre Papin | France | Marseille |
| 1990 | Lothar Matthäus | Germany | Internazionale |
| 1989 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | Milan |
| 1988 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | Milan |
| 1987 | Ruud Gullit | Netherlands | Milan |
| 1986 | Igor Belanov | Soviet Union | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 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 M”nchengladbach |
| 1976 | Franz Beckenbauer | West Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 1975 | Oleg Blokhin | Soviet Union | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 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 | Milan |
| 1968 | George Best | Northern Ireland | Manchester United |
| 1967 | Flórián Albert | Hungary | Ferencv rosi TC |
| 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 |
Women’s Ballon d’Or (Ballon d’Or Féminin) Winners List
| year | player | Nationality | club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Megan Rapinoe | USA | Reign FC |
| 2018 | Ada Hegerberg | Norway | Olympique Lyonnais |
