List of all men’s Ballon d’Or winners from 1956-2023
Lionel Messi of Argentina is the most recipient of the men’s award. With eight awards in total, he holds the record for the most number of wins.
Published : Oct 28, 2024 10:00 IST , Chennai - 1 MIN READ
FILE - Argentina’s Lionel Messi receives the 2023 Ballon d’Or trophy during the 67th Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) award ceremony at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France, on Oct. 30, 2023. | Photo Credit: AP
Ballon d’Or is an annual award given by France Football to the best male and female footballers over the previous year.
Lionel Messi of Argentina is the most recipient of the men’s award. With eight awards in total, he holds the record for the most number of wins.
Messi’s arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo has won it five times.
Both Messi and Ronaldo have been left off the list of nominees for 2024, the first time this has happened since 2003.
The FIFA Player of the Year award was merged with the Ballon d’Or between 2010 and 2015 to create the FIFA Ballon d’Or, but it is now a separate award.
Following is the list of all the men’s Ballon d’Or winners, starting from 1956, when it was given for the first time, with England’s Stanley Matthews winning it.
| Player | Nationality | Year |
| Stanley Matthews | England | 1956 |
| Alfredo Di Stefano | Argentina/Spain | 1957 |
| Raymond Kopa | France | 1958 |
| Alfredo Di Stefano | Argentina/Spain | 1959 |
| Luis Suárez | Spain | 1960 |
| Omar Sivori | Italy | 1961 |
| Josef Masopust | Czechoslovakia | 1962 |
| Lev Yashin | Soviet Union | 1963 |
| Denis Law | England | 1964 |
| Eusébio | Portugal | 1965 |
| Bobby Charlton | England | 1966 |
| Flórián Albert | Hungary | 1967 |
| George Best | Northern Ireland | 1968 |
| Gianni Rivera | Italy | 1969 |
| Gerd Müller | West Germany | 1970 |
| Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | 1971 |
| Franz Beckenbauer | West Germany | 1972 |
| Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | 1973 |
| Johan Cruyff | Netherlands | 1974 |
| Oleg Blokhin | Soviet Union | 1975 |
| Franz Beckenbauer | West Germany | 1976 |
| Allan Simonsen | Denmark | 1977 |
| Kevin Keegan | England | 1978 |
| Kevin Keegan | England | 1979 |
| Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany | 1980 |
| Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany | 1981 |
| Paolo Rossi | Italy | 1982 |
| Michel Platini | France | 1983 |
| Michel Platini | France | 1984 |
| Michel Platini | France | 1985 |
| Igor Belanov | Soviet Union | 1986 |
| Ruud Gullit | Netherlands | 1987 |
| Marco van Basten | Netherlands | 1988 |
| Marco van Basten | Netherlands | 1989 |
| Lothar Matthäus | Germany | 1990 |
| Jean-Pierre Papin | France | 1991 |
| Marco van Basten | Netherlands | 1992 |
| Roberto Baggio | Italy | 1993 |
| Hristo Stoichkov | Bulgaria | 1994 |
| George Weah | Liberia | 1995 |
| Matthias Sammer | Germany | 1996 |
| Ronaldo | Brazil | 1997 |
| Zinedine Zidane | France | 1998 |
| Rivaldo | Brazil | 1999 |
| Luís Figo | Portugal | 2000 |
| Michael Owen | England | 2001 |
| Ronaldo | Brazil | 2002 |
| Pavel Nedvěd | Czechia | 2003 |
| Andriy Shevchenko | Ukraine | 2004 |
| Ronaldinho | Brazil | 2005 |
| Fabio Cannavaro | Italy | 2006 |
| Kaká | Brazil | 2007 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 2008 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 2009 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 2010 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 2011 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 2012 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 2013 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 2014 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 2015 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 2016 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 2017 |
| Luka Modric | Croatia | 2018 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 2019 |
| Not awarded | ------ | 2020 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 2021 |
| Karim Benzema | France | 2022 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 2023 |