The Golden Ball is considered the most prestigious individual recognition in football, synonymous with the title of best player in the world.
The list of previous winners is a real honor roll of superstars past and present. Winning a Ballon d’Or is considered the pinnacle of individual success in a player’s career.
But winning several editions of the Ballon d’Or is a legend. In fact, there are only 10 players who have done this and their names are what most fans recognize.
A look back at these past winners clearly shows the high standards players must achieve to get their hands on the Ballon d’Or. This is an exclusive club.
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Who has won the most Ballon d’Ors?
The player with the most Ballon d’Ors of all time is Lionel Messi who has won it seven times. Behind him, Messi’s longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo with five Golden Balls.
Only 10 players of all time have won more Ballon d’Ors. There have been 34 other players who have won the Ballon d’Or once in their career.
| Sound | Player | Golden Ball win |
Years earned |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Lionel Messi | 7 | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 |
| 2. | Cristiano Ronaldo | 5 | 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 |
| 3. | Michele Platini | 3 | 1983, 1984, 1985 |
| Johan Cruyff | 3 | 1971, 1973, 1974 | |
| Marco Van Basten | 3 | 1988, 1989, 1992 | |
| 6. | 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 |
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Winners of the men’s Ballon d’Or
The first Ballon d’Or was awarded in 1956 to the Blackpool legend. Stanley Matthewsone of the greatest English players.
Dutch giant Johan Cruyff became the first to win it three times in the 1970s. The French star Michele Platini won three times in a row – the first to achieve this feat – in the 1980s.
Most recently, Messi won the 2021 Ballon d’Or, narrowly beating Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho for his seventh trophy.
Messi and Ronaldo have won 12 of the last 13 Ballon d’Ors, with solo Luca Modric able to stop this winning streak in 2018. These three are the only active players to have won a Ballon d’Or.
| Year | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Stanley Matthews | Blackpool |
| 1957 | Alfredo Di Stefano | real Madrid |
| 1968 | Raymond Kopa | real Madrid |
| 1959 | Alfredo Di Stefano | real Madrid |
| 1960 | Luis Suarez | Barcelona |
| 1961 | Omar Sivori | Juve |
| 1962 | Josef Masopust | Dukla Prague |
| 1963 | Lev Yashin | Dynamo Moscow |
| 1964 | Dennis reads | Manchester United |
| 1965 | Eusebius | Benfica |
| 1966 | Bobby Charlton | Manchester United |
| 1967 | Floriano Alberto | Ferencvaros |
| 1968 | Giorgio Best | Manchester United |
| 1969 | Gianni Rivera | AC Milan |
| 1970 | Gerd Müller | Bayern Monaco |
| 1971 | Johann Cruyff | Ajax |
| 1972 | Franz Beckenbauer | Bayern Monaco |
| 1973 | Johann Cruyff | Barcelona |
| 1974 | Johann Cruyff | Barcelona |
| 1975 | Oleg Blokhin | Dynamo Kiev |
| 1976 | Franz Beckenbauer | Bayern Monaco |
| 1977 | Allan Simonsen | Gladbach |
| 1978 | Kevin Keegan | Hamburg |
| 1979 | Kevin Keegan | Hamburg |
| 1980 | Karl Heinz Rummenigge | Bayern Monaco |
| 1981 | Karl Heinz Rummenigge | Bayern Monaco |
| 1982 | Paolo Rossi | Juve |
| 1983 | Michele Platini | Juve |
| 1984 | Michele Platini | Juve |
| 1985 | Michele Platini | Juve |
| 1986 | Igor Belanov | Dynamo Kiev |
| 1987 | Ruud Gullit | AC Milan |
| 1988 | Marco Van Basten | AC Milan |
| 1989 | Marco Van Basten | AC Milan |
| 1990 | Lothar Matthäus | Inter Milan |
| 1991 | Jean Pierre Papin | Marseille |
| 1992 | Marco Van Basten | AC Milan |
| 1993 | Roberto Baggio | Juve |
| 1994 | Hristo Stoichkov | Barcelona |
| 1995 | Giorgio Weah | AC Milan |
| 1996 | Mattia Sammer | Borussia Dortmund |
| 1997 | Ronaldo | Inter Milan |
| 1998 | Zinedine Zidane | Juve |
| 1999 | Rivaldo | Barcelona |
| 2000 | Luigi Figo | real Madrid |
| 2001 | Michael Owen | Liverpool |
| 2002 | Ronaldo | real Madrid |
| 2003 | Pavel Nedved | Juve |
| 2004 | Andriy Shevchenko | AC Milan |
| 2005 | Ronaldinho | Barcelona |
| 2006 | Fabio Cannavaro | real Madrid |
| 2007 | Kaka | AC Milan |
| 2008 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United |
| 2009 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2010 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2011 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2012 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2013 | Cristiano Ronaldo | real Madrid |
| 2014 | Cristiano Ronaldo | real Madrid |
| 2015 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2016 | Cristiano Ronaldo | real Madrid |
| 2017 | Cristiano Ronaldo | real Madrid |
| 2018 | Luca Modric | real Madrid |
| 2019 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2020 | – | – |
| 2021 | Lionel Messi | PSG |
The women’s Ballon d’Or has been awarded since 2018, with the 2020 edition canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Female Golden Ball
| Year | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Ada Hegerberg | Lyon |
| 2019 | Megan Rapinoe | OL United |
| 2020 | – | – |
| 2021 | Alessia Putella | Barcelona |
What is the Golden Ball?
The Golden Ball is the most prestigious individual award in world football. Reward the best player or the best player on the planet for the current season.
The award was created by French publication France Football in 1956 and has since been awarded every season except in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ballon d’Or was absorbed by FIFA in 2010 in a six-year partnership that lasted until 2015. On that date, it once again became the exclusive property of France Football, with FIFA launching its own end-of-season awards. season for players, called FIFA The Best Awards.
The Ballon d’Or has recognized male players since its inception. In 2018 France Football created the Féminin Golden Ball to reward the best female player in the world.
The Ballon d’Or has historically recognized player performance in a calendar year, but this has recently changed to more closely align with the European club season schedules.
The 2022 award will be awarded in October 2022 to recognize the best player of the 2021/22 season, which ran from August 2021 to June 2022.
