Ballon d’Or is an annual award that is regarded as one of the most presitigious individual honour in the world of football. It is presented by the French magazine, France Football. (Pics | More Football News)
The first-ever Ballon d'Or was presented in the year 1956 and since then, the tradition has continued in the football world. Englishman Stanley Matthews was the first recipient of the award back then.
However, the Ballon d'Or has been hogged by the Messi vs Ronaldo rivalry, that has dominated the prestigious award for over 15 years. The duo have won the award 13 times among them. The Argentinian won his first-ever Ballon d'Or 14 years ago, just five years after making his professional debut with FC Barcelona.
On Monday night, Inter Miami's Lionel Messi grabbed his eighth Ballon d'Or after leading Argentina to the FIFA World Cup title in Qatar last year.
Here’s a look at the full list of men’s Ballon d’Or winners since 1956:
- Year / Player / (Club)
- 1956: Stanley Matthews (Blackpool)
- 1957: Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)
- 1958: Raymond Kopa (Real Madrid)
- 1959: Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)
- 1960: Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
- 1961: Omar Sivori (Juventus)
- 1962: Josef Masopust (Dukla Prague)
- 1963: Lev Yashin (Dynamo Moscow)
- 1964: Denis Law (Manchester United)
- 1965: Eusebio (Benfica)
- 1966: Bobby Charlton (Manchester United)
- 1967: Florian Albert (Ferencvaros)
- 1968: George Best (Manchester United)
- 1969: Gianni Rivera (AC Milan)
- 1970: Gerd Muller (Bayern Munich)
- 1971: Johan Cruyff (Ajax)
- 1972: Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)
- 1973: Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)
- 1974: Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)
- 1975: Oleg Blokhin (Dynamo Kyiv)
- 1976: Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)
- 1977: Allan Simonsen (Borussia Monchengladbach)
- 1978: Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)
- 1979: Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)
- 1980: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)
- 1981: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)
- 1982: Paolo Rossi (Juventus)
- 1983: Michel Platini (Juventus)
- 1984: Michel Platini (Juventus)
- 1985: Michel Platini (Juventus)
- 1986: Igor Belanov (Dynamo Kyiv)
- 1987: Ruud Gullit (AC Milan)
- 1988: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)
- 1989: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)
- 1990: Lothar Matthaus (Internazionale)
- 1991: Jean-Pierre Papin (Marseille)
- 1992: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)
- 1993: Roberto Baggio (Juventus)
- 1994: Hristo Stoichkov (Barcelona)
- 1995: George Weah (AC Milan)
- 1996: Matthias Sammer (Borussia Dortmund)
- 1997: Ronaldo (Internazionale)
- 1998: Zinedine Zidane (Juventus)
- 1999: Rivaldo (Barcelona)
- 2000: Luis Figo (Real Madrid)
- 2001: Michael Owen (Liverpool)
- 2002: Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
- 2003: Pavel Nedved (Juventus)
- 2004: Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan)
- 2005: Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
- 2006: Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid)
- 2007: Kaka (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: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
- 2019: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
- 2020: Cancelled
- 2021: Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain)
- 2022: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
- 2023: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)
