The Ballon d'Or is a prominent individual award for football players that is presented annually by the French news magazine France Football. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious individual awards for football players. The Ballon d'Or has been a distinct award given out by France Football since 1956, except for a six-year merger with FIFA between 2009 and 2015. Since its establishment, the Ballon d'Or winners list has included the finest footballers of each generation. The Ballon d'Or, which is given to the best footballer in a given year, is the pinnacle of the sport, and every player aims to win it at some time during their professional career.
From 1956 to 2006, the Ballon d'Or award was decided by a vote of football journalists. Coaches and captains of national teams were given the right to vote after 2007. The inaugural recipient of the Ballon d'Or was Blackpool's Stanley Matthews. Before 2007, the award was recognized in English-language and worldwide media as the continental European Footballer of the Year award. While playing for Barcelona, Lionel Messi has won the award a record six times, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won five times. Johan Cruyff of Ajax and Barcelona, Michel Platini of Juventus, and Marco van Basten of Milan have all won the award three times apiece. The Dutch, German, and Portuguese players have won the most Ballons d'Or, each with seven. With twelve and eleven wins, respectively, two Spanish clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid lead the standings for most winners. The most Ballon d'Or winners have come from Spain's La Liga.
Here is a list of all the winners of the prestigious Ballon d'Or award :
1. 1956: Stanley Matthews (Blackpool)
2. 1957: Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)
3. 1958: Raymond Kopa (Real Madrid)
4. 1959: Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid)
5. 1960: Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
6. 1961: Omar Sivori (Juventus)
7. 1962: Josef Masopust (Dukla Prague)
8. 1963: Lev Yashin (Dynamo Moscow)
9. 1964: Denis Law (Manchester United)
10. 1965: Eusebio (Benfica)
11. 1966: Bobby Charlton (Manchester United)
12. 1967: Florian Albert (Ferencvaros)
13. 1968: George Best (Manchester United)
14. 1969: Gianni Rivera (AC Milan)
15. 1970: Gerd Muller (Bayern Munich)
16. 1971: Johan Cruyff (Ajax)
17. 1972: Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)
18. 1973: Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)
19. 1974: Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)
20. 1975: Oleg Blokhin (Dynamo Kyiv)
21. 1976: Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)
22. 1977: Allan Simonsen (Borussia Monchengladbach)
23. 1978: Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)
24. 1979: Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)
25. 1980: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)
26. 1981: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)
27. 1982: Paolo Rossi (Juventus)
28. 1983: Michel Platini (Juventus)
29. 1984: Michel Platini (Juventus)
30. 1985: Michel Platini (Juventus)
31. 1986: Igor Belanov (Dynamo Kyiv)
32. 1987: Ruud Gullit (AC Milan)
33. 1988: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)
34. 1989: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)
35. 1990: Lothar Matthaus (Internazionale)
36. 1991: Jean-Pierre Papin (Marseille)
37. 1992: Marco van Basten (AC Milan)
38. 1993: Roberto Baggio (Juventus)
39. 1994: Hristo Stoichkov (Barcelona)
40. 1995: George Weah (AC Milan)
41. 1996: Matthias Sammer (Borussia Dortmund)
42. 1997: Ronaldo (Internazionale)
43. 1998: Zinedine Zidane (Juventus)
44. 1999: Rivaldo (Barcelona)
45. 2000: Luis Figo (Real Madrid)
46. 2001: Michael Owen (Liverpool)
47. 2002: Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
48. 2003: Pavel Nedved (Juventus)
49. 2004: Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan)
50. 2005: Ronaldinho (Barcelona)
51. 2006: Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid)
52. 2007: Kaka (Milan)
53. 2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
54. 2009: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
55. 2010: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
56. 2011: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
57. 2012: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
58. 2013: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
59. 2014: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
60. 2015: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
61. 2016: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
62. 2017: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
63. 2018: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
64. 2019: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
65. 2020: Not awarded due to COVID outbreak
