Ballon d'Or: Full list of men's award winners from 1956 to 2020

Ahead of the 2021 Ballon d'Or awards in Paris on Monday, here's a look at all the men's award winners from 1956 to 2020.

Lionel Messi with the trophy of the Golden Ball when he won the Ballon d'Or for sixth time in 2019. (FILE PHOTO)

Ballon d’Or is an annual award, presented by the French magazine France Football , regarded as the most prestigious individual honour in the sport.

The elite accolade was presented for the first time in 1956 and the tradition has been continued ever since. England's Stanley Matthews was the first-ever recipient of the award.

Lionel Messi won the award for a record seventh time in 2021 after France Football scrapped the honours in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

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Here's a look at the full list of men's Ballon d'Or winners since 1956: